The Commerce Commission has today published its revised Enforcement Response Guidelines (ERG), which now include new Criminal Prosecutions Guidelines as an attachment.

The Enforcement Response Guidelines were originally released in November 2012 and are designed to help New Zealanders understand more about how the Commission’s Competition Branch enforces its consumer and competition legislation. They also explain what enforcement responses are available to the Commission, and what criteria and considerations are taken into account when deciding which response to use.

The Criminal Prosecution Guidelines provide additional guidance on the circumstances in which the Commission will initiate a criminal prosecution, and the principles and practices applicable to a criminal prosecution.

They are an addition to a suite of resources produced by the Commission which includes the Enforcements Response Guidelines themselves, as well as the Enforcement Criteria and the Model Litigant Policy. You can find all these resources on the Commission’s website on the Commission Policies page.