COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM ACTIVITIES 241 “Article 19: The Institute shall act in the National Consumer Office and in any other office, as supporter or representative of the tourists that are harmed by actions of the companies dedicated to Tourism, registered or not under such regime. In case the Institute knows of a claim against the functioning of a tourism company, being that it has or not a Tourism declaration, and the violation is among those stated in the Promotion Law, it should forward such claim to the Commission mentioned in the previous paragraph, and give it the appropriate follow-up”. Once the claim has been received at the Consumer Protection Office, they will call for an audience between the parties involved to try to conciliate (it usually takes no more than two months to summon the audience, but once again since most of the time the tourist is no longer in the country, ICT assumes the position of the tourist in this audience). If no conciliation is reached between the parties, ICT will request the Commission to follow the normal procedures for claims. There is a socalled Ordinary Hearing, which is a normal process with evidence from both sides, witnesses, etc. Once the hearing has passed, the Commission makes a resolution of the case that is communicated to both parties, having both 3 days to appeal the ruling of the Commission. In case a claim has already been presented to the Commission, without the participation or knowledge of ICT, any of the parties can apply for ICT’s participation. It is also important to clarify that the affected party can go directly to the judicial system, without passing through the administrative process, or can use both options at the same time, as stated in Article 46: “Article 46. Judicial Process Access: To claim its rights, the consumer can go through the administrative or judicial way, and they will not exclude each other, except if he opts for the judicial way. In the judicial way, the summary process established in the Civil Procedural Code must be followed. The processes established to claim the annulment of adhesion contracts or to claim damages because of the violation of this law, over which the National Consumer Commission has no jurisdiction, shall only be known by the competent judicial bodies, in accordance with this Article”.
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