PUTRAJAYA: A hearing room for the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) was created so that the function and capability of CAT can be boosted said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
He said the setting up of the hearing room was in line with the function and role of CAT which had an exclusive authority to review the decisions made by the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) under Section 35, 39 and 40 of the Competition Act 2010 (Act 712).
‘’The need to create a specific hearing room is also necessary because the number of competition cases investigations by MyCC is continuous and increasing from time to time,‘’ he told reporters after launching the CAT hearing room here today.
Among the potential cases to be brought before CAT following the action of MyCC against the General Insurance Association of Malaysia (GIAM) and its 22 members involving a penalty of RM213.45 million and also the bid rigging case involving eight companies which secretly co-operated to obtain a contract in public procurement, he said.
‘’Much benefits will be obtained with the CAT hearing room not only to CAT itself, in terms of rental costs savings and comfort to the Appeal Hearing Panel, but also to the parties in the appeals cases,‘’ he said.
CAT did not have a specific hearing room since it was first enforced on Jan 1, 2012. It is an independent judicial body established under Section 44 Act 712. — Bernama
