Competition Authority Inspections without Judicial Intervention. What the CJEU Decided

The Court of Justice of the European Union decided that inspections carried out by the Competition Authority do not necessarily require judicial intervention to be compatible with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The CJEU considered that the intervention of the Public Prosecutor's Office is sufficient to guarantee the legality of such inspections. This decision establishes that, although some form of external control over competition authorities is necessary, this control does not necessarily have to be exercised by a judicial authority. However, the Court clarified that this compatibility with the Charter does not imply that national legislations must obligatorily assign the authorizing competence to a judge, leaving room for different national approaches within the bounds of EU law.