我国反垄断宽大制度中的重要信息保护问题研究

The Protection of the Important Information in Leniency Program of the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law

宽大制度的有效性直接关系到反垄断行政执行是否能有效进行,而宽大制度能维持有效适用的前提之一就是执法机关对于申请人所提供的信息进行全面的保护。然而,对于是否以及如何保护通过宽大程序获得的重要信息,我国《反垄断法》并未明确。目前,《反垄断法》仅规定了商业秘密的保护以及执法机关工作人员泄露商业秘密的法律责任。事实上,宽大程序中的"有关情况的报告"、"重要证据"与"商业秘密"并非完全重合;对于其中非商业秘密的其他重要信息应当进行必要的整体性保护,包括在案件调查过程中以及后继民事诉讼中。在行政调查程序中,对非商业秘密的重要信息进行保护,有利于包括宽大制度在内的行政程序顺利进行;此外,在后继诉讼中,应当在保障宽大制度有效性的前提下,适当缓解原告举证困难这一问题。

The effectiveness of the leniency program is connected directly with the administrative enforcement of the Anti-Monopoly Law. One of the prerequisites of the effective leniency is the protection of the information submitted by the applicants to the authorities. However, it is not clear in Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law as concerning whether and the measures to protect the important information. Currently, Anti-Monopoly Law only provides the protection of commercial secret and the liabilities of the officials of the authorities to divulge the commercial secret. In fact, 'the report' and 'important evidence' in Chinese leniency do not always overlap with the 'commercial secret';it is necessary to protect the important information other than the commercial secret as a whole, including during the investigation and the follow-on action. During the administrative investigation, the protection of important information will ensure the investigation effective;furthermore, the onus of proof of the plaintiff shall be alleviated on the basis of effective leniency program in the follow-on action.