Paragraph 1 Interpretation

In these Rules—

• “the Act” means the Competition Act 1998;

• “confidential information” means—

  1. (a)

     commercial information whose disclosure the OFT or a regulator thinks might significantly harm the legitimate business interests of the undertaking to which it relates, or

  2. (b)

     information relating to the private affairs of an individual whose disclosure the OFT or a regulator thinks might significantly harm the individual’s interests, or

  3. (c)

     information whose disclosure the OFT or a regulator thinks is contrary to the public interest;

• “infringement decision” means a decision that one or more of the Chapter I prohibition, the Chapter II prohibition, the prohibition in Article 81(1) and the prohibition in Article 82 has been infringed;

• “internal document” means—

  1. (a)

     a document produced by, or exchanged between, any of the OFT, a regulator or another public authority, or

  2. (b)

     a document produced by any person from time to time retained under a contract for services by any of the OFT, a regulator or another public authority in connection with such a contract;

• “public authority” includes—

  1. (a)

     in the United Kingdom, a court or tribunal and any person exercising functions of a public nature, and

  2. (b)

     in any country or territory outside the United Kingdom, a court or tribunal and any person or body which appears to the OFT or a regulator to be exercising functions of a public nature;

• “writing” includes text that is—

  1. (a)

     transmitted by electronic means,

  2. (b)

     received in legible form, and

  3. (c)

     capable of being used for subsequent reference.

In these Rules, any reference to:

Except where these Rules otherwise provide, expressions used in the Act which are also used in these Rules have the same meaning in these Rules as they have in section 59 of the Act.

Except in this rule and rule 20, any reference in these Rules to the OFT means the OFT or a regulator.