| (a) | receiving or initiating a complaint, the Competition Commission may certify, in the prescribed manner and form, and with or without conditions, that any particular respondent, or any particular person contemplated in section 73A, is deserving of leniency in the circumstances, and |
| (b) | initiating a complaint, the Commission may refer the complaint to the Competition Tribunal in respect of any respondent, to the extent that the respondent has not been certified as being deserving of leniency in terms of paragraph (a). |
[Section 50(1) substituted by section 8(a) of Notice No. 875, GG 32533, dated 28 August 2009]
| (2) | Within one year after a complaint was submitted to it, or such longer time as may be agreed or allowed in terms of subsection (4), the Competition Commission must— |
| (a) | refer the complaint to the Competition Tribunal, subject to subsection (3), in respect of any respondent, to the extent that the respondent has not been certified as being deserving of leniency, if the Commission has determined that a prohibited practice, or the implementation of a merger contrary to Chapter 3, has been established; or |
[Section 50(2)(a) substituted by section 8(a) of Notice No. 875, GG 32533, dated 28 August 2009]
| (3) | When the Competition Commission refers a complaint to the Competition Tribunal in terms of subsection (2)(a), it— |
| (i) | refer all the particulars of the complaint as submitted by the complainant; |
| (ii) | refer only some of the particulars of the complaint as submitted by the complainant; or |
| (iii) | add particulars to the complaint as submitted by the complainant; and |
| (b) | must issue a notice of non-referral as contemplated in subsection (2)(b) in respect of any particulars of the complaint that have not been either— |
| (i) | referred to the Competition Tribunal in terms of subsection (2)(a); or |
| (ii) | certified as deserving of leniency. |
[Section 50(3)(b) substituted by section 8(b) of Notice No. 875, GG 32533, dated 28 August 2009]
(4) In a particular case—
| (a) | the Competition Commission and the complainant may agree to extend the period allowed in subsection (2); or |
| (b) | on application by the Competition Commission made before the end of the period set out in subsection (2), or such longer period as agreed in terms of paragraph (a) or previously granted in terms of this paragraph, the Competition Tribunal may extend that period. |
[Section 50(4)(b) substituted by section 8(c) of Notice No. 875, GG 32533, dated 28 August 2009]
| (5) | If the Competition Commission has not taken any action contemplated in subsection (3) within the time contemplated in subsection (2), or the extended period contemplated in subsection (4), the Commission must be regarded as having issued a notice of non-referral on the expiry of the relevant period. |
[Section 50(5) substituted by section 8(d) of Notice No. 875, GG 32533, dated 28 August 2009]
| (6) | A decision by the Competition Commission in terms of this section to certify that a respondent, or any other person, is deserving of leniency does not preclude the complainant, if any, from applying for— |
| (b) | an award of civil damages in terms of section 65. |
[Section 50(6) inserted by section 8(e) of Notice No. 875, GG 32533, dated 28 August 2009]
| (7) | Nothing in this section directly or indirectly establishes any right of a person to— |
| (a) | be certified as being deserving of leniency, in whole or in part, or with or without any conditions; or |
| (b) | require or demand that the Competition Commission issue such a certificate, or consider doing so. |
[Section 50(7) inserted by section 8(e) of Notice No. 875, GG 32533, dated 28 August 2009]
