Fine imposed on Saint Benoît High School

A new decision has been reached in the competition investigation concerning French high schools operating in Istanbul. The Competition Board has reinstated the administrative fines previously issued against the Private Saint Benoît French High School, which had been cancelled by a judicial ruling.

In the Board's 2024 investigation, it was assessed that the Saint-Joseph, Saint Benoît, Notre-Dame de Sion, Saint-Michel, and Sainte Pulchérie high schools had acted in concert in areas such as school registration fees, scholarship rates, and Turkish teacher salaries. In this context, an administrative sanction decision was issued on the grounds that the Competition Law had been violated.

In the lawsuit filed by the Saint Benoît administration, the 8th Administrative Litigation Chamber of the Ankara Regional Administrative Court issued a cancellation decision on procedural grounds in April 2026. The court emphasized that, following the initial decision, the new Penalty Regulation that entered into force on December 27, 2024, should be compared with the previous regulation and that the provision more favorable to the offender should be applied.

Re-evaluating the file following the court's decision, the Competition Board compared the provisions of the old and new regulations. Within the framework of the principles of "prohibition of imposing unfavorable provisions" and "application of the more favorable legislation," the Board concluded that the penalty amounts determined according to the previous regulation were more favorable to the school.

Accordingly, an administrative fine of 3 million 279 thousand 720 Turkish Lira and 74 kuruş was imposed on the Private Saint Benoît French High School for determining school registration fees and related financial elements in coordination with competitors, and an administrative fine of 2 million 186 thousand 480 Turkish Lira and 49 kuruş was imposed for the coordinated determination of Turkish teacher salaries.

It was reported that an appeal against the decision can be filed in administrative courts within 60 days.

News Source: 12punto