A Short Note on Plea Agreements in Canadian Antitrust Cases

Graham Reynolds, Q.C. (Osler) provides A Short Note on Plea Agreements in Canadian Antitrust Cases.

ABSTRACT: To date, most Canadian antitrust cartel cases have been resolved by means of guilty pleas by defendants. The means of accomplishing this in Canada is through the mechanism of a plea agreement which is negotiated with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (“PPSC”), the independent prosecuting authority charged with bringing Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) cases before the courts. This brief article aims at describing the process and procedure for resolving criminal antitrust cases in Canada, with some comments on distinctions from other jurisdictions.