Abstract
The main objective of this article is to identify a plaintiff (the injured person) and a defendant (the person obliged to pay damages) in actions for damages caused by forbidden agreements and abuse of a dominant position. The first part is devoted to the position of the plaintiff and his right to compensation for damages.
The term "anyone" used in Directive 2014/104/EU is interpreted and specific groups of persons, such as parties to an anticompetitive agreement, umbrella plaintiffs and indirect customers are addressed. The contribution also briefly discusses the limitation of potential claimants.
The second part deals with the identification of the defendant and the person obliged to compensate for the damage. An undertaking (in Czech "a competitor") within the meaning of EU competition law as an infringer of competition rules typically consists of several natural or legal persons, e.g. parent and subsidiary companies.
Hence, it is key to determine the obligation to pay damages on the part of an individual legal entity (entities) forming that undertaking. The attribution of liability to a parent company for a conduct committed by its subsidiary is typically applied in public enforcement of competition law.
The contribution discusses various options that could be applied by civil courts and argues that it would be preferable, due to the principle of legal certainty and consistency of legal system, to apply the principles developed in administrative proceedings also in private enforcement of competition law. Legal and economic arguments for introducing such approach to Czech civil law reflect the wording of EU Directive 2014/104/EU, Act No. 262/2017 Coll. implementing the directive into the Czech legal system, as well as case-law of the CJEU and the principles of EU law.