Time limits for considering cases of violation of the legislation on the protection of economic competition as a guarantee of observance of the rights of business entities

It is indicated that the time limits for considering cases of violation of the legislation on the protection of economic competition have the same meaning as the institution of limitation of actions in civil law. The publication examines changes to the antimonopoly legislation in terms of supplementing the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On Protection of Economic Competition” with Article 37-1 “Time limits for considering cases of violation of the legislation on the protection of economic competition”, as well as the role of the Supreme Court in ensuring consistent and uniform judicial practice on this issue. The problematic issues of the application of Article 37-1 of the Law of Ukraine “On Protection of Economic Competition” retrospectively were analyzed, as well as the conclusions of the Supreme Court, given in the resolution of 05/14/2024 in case No. 910/19008/21, which became decisive for law enforcement and began the stage of forming judicial practice that can ensure a balance between the interests of the state represented by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine and the rights of business entities. The subsequent judicial practice of the Court of Cassation was analyzed, concerning compliance with the deadlines for considering cases in the context of legislative amendments introduced by the Law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Improving the Activities of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine”. A comparison was made of the institution of the statute of limitations for bringing to criminal liability and the institution of the statute of limitations for bringing to liability for violations of the legislation on protection of economic competition. The emphasis is on the mechanism provided for in Article 11 of the Economic Procedural Code of Ukraine and allows courts to direct judicial practice in a direction that, in their opinion, corresponds to the Constitution of Ukraine. It is concluded that the terms of consideration of cases of violation of the legislation on the protection of economic competition are a procedural guarantee of observance of the rights of business entities. The development of unified approaches to law enforcement in the new conditions, taking into account European standards and the principle of legal certainty, affects the discipline of participants, imposes on the state body the obligation to act in a timely and appropriate manner.