Academic literature on the topic 'Competition law'

Competition between trade rivals in a marketplace operating within a common law-based legal system is regulated primarily by two fairly distinct branches of the law: the prohibitions against anti-competitive conduct imposed by the competition law framework, and the common law restraints against acts of “unfair competition” that attract liability under the economic torts. This dissertation aims to critically examine both these legal frameworks and provide an integrated account of how these branches of the law distinguish between lawful and unlawful modes of competitive conduct. By scrutinising the doctrinal and policy foundations that underlie each of these legal frameworks, common thematic strands that may not be immediately apparent to lawyers working exclusively in either field will be exposed, while fundamental differences between their respective inner workings will also be uncovered in the process. Engaging in such a comparative exercise will facilitate a deeper understanding of the contrasting objectives and jurisprudential approaches associated with each legal framework which, in turn, sheds some light on the nature of their relationship with each other and the extent to which legal developments in one field ought to influence, or be influenced by, the other. Besides evaluating how and why the common law economic torts operate differently from the competition law prohibitions in circumscribing the liberty of individual competitors to inflict economic harm upon their trade rivals, this dissertation will also analyse selected types of commercial conduct which are regarded as lawful under one framework but unlawful by the other, and contrast them with scenarios which could attract overlapping legal liability under both legal frameworks. In addition, this dissertation will explore a selection of legal issues arising from the doctrinal interaction between these areas of the law that may confront the courts as these two legal frameworks continue to develop in tandem with each other.

Arbitrating of competition law claims has generated a substantial tension between the policies served by promoting international arbitration and those protected by the national competition law. Despite the legal tension and unpredictability associated with arbitrating competition law issues, the arbitrator should, in principle, resolve such issues. This study analyses the main concerns when arbitrating competition law issues, such as jurisdiction, choice of law and, in particular, the position of national jurisdiction regarding the enforcement of the award conflicting national competition law.<br>This study proposes the functional approach to choice of law problems according to which the arbitrator will decide on the applicable competition law bearing in mind the content of mandatory norm, its connection with a dispute and the consequences of its application and non-application. In that regard, this thesis will examine how an arbitrator should address the extraterritorial effect of the competition law. The study will suggest that if the competition law policies of states connected with a dispute serve opposing and conflicting goals, the arbitrator should, in order to preserve his/her neutral function refuse to decide whose competition policy is "better" and should consequently decline jurisdiction.

Includes bibliographical references.<br>This dissertation paper is based on the decision of the Wal-Mart cases in respect to competition law, mergers and acquisition in Namibia. Owing to the fact that Namibian law is mostly derived from South African law, the exploration and analysis will be based on both Wal-Mart cases in Namibia and South Africa in respect of the subject matter with specific particularity on the significance of the court’s judgment to competition law development in Namibia. The paper will also contain an exposition of the High Court and Supreme Court’s judgment in Namibia as well as the judgment of the South African Court on the same subject respectively. This is aimed at providing an in-depth understanding of the approaches taken by the two courts with respect to mergers and also to derive guidelines from the interpretation of the court in South Africa owing to the fact that the court in South Africa has successfully and efficiently dealt with the same issues many times compared to the Namibian courts. The guidelines that will be looked at will be based on how the courts in Namibia and South Africa have applied and interpreted the provisions within the Act pertaining to statutory granting or refusal of mergers in the sphere of competition law with specific reference to the question of public interest. An analysis on the respective judgments will be provided.

Competition law has become an important legal tool as it plays a significant role in preventing different forms of anti-competitive behaviour and ensures fair competition in the market. For this purpose, the United Arab Emirates has adopted its first comprehensive competition law, named “UAE Federal Law No. 4 of 2012 Concerning Regulating Competition”, to be enforced from 23rd February 2013. The law contains 33 Articles regulating competition in all commercial sectors. This research aims to investigate the UAE competition law in order to answer the main question, which is to what extent does the new law ensure fair competition in the commercial field of the country. It examines the flaws and drawbacks in the competition law and the enforcement mechanism. The research suggests the reforms required to improve the law and the way this could be accomplished. In order to answer the main question, the research applies two main methods, which are the black letter approach and the socio-legal approach. In addition, the research will employ the interview approach. Different issues were found in the UAE competition law in the areas of anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position, mergers and acquisitions, state aid, and enforcement. The findings demonstrate that evidence exists of anti-competitive behaviour in the market, such as monopolistic practices and abuse of dominant position. Furthermore, there is evidence of inadequate implementation of the law against many market players, such as state-owned undertakings. From the findings, the role of the Competition Regulation Committee seems to be weak and inadequate, and there are some conflicts with the role and the Ministry of Economy. Some recommendations have been suggested for policy reform and enhancement of the law and its upcoming regulations. It is hoped that the findings of this research will provide a framework for the UAE and the countries in the region that seek to have more competitive markets. This study is the first to address the competition law of the UAE, thus this study contributes to the understanding of the law and its application, and it is hoped it will add to knowledge in the field of competition law. Furthermore, based on the evidence, the research concludes by suggesting a number of implications and potential future research avenues.

Attempts to regulate competition in Brazil have been made since the early 1960s without much success. However, with the adoption of trade liberalisation measures in the early 1990s, competition has gradually been regarded as an essential element of the process of liberalisation of the economy, and thus efforts have been made to develop and enforce competition law and policy. This thesis describes and evaluates competition law in Brazil during this last period. It critically analyses the legislation, the practices of enforcement agencies and the relevant case law. Emphasis is given to the study of cases which involve restrictive business practices as well as mergers, and which have been decided at the administrative level. This thesis highlights four main points: 1) developing countries should try to develop their own approach to competition law, and avoid adopting models created in other countries that reflect another reality; 2) competition legislation must define the approach to be adopted in the implementation of competition law in order to avoid uncertainty in the market; 3) a well structured institutional framework is necessary for the enforcement of competition law and policy; and 4) competition policy should be part of a coherent set of economic policies adopted by the government. The conclusion of this thesis is that competition policy in Brazil has not yet produced significant results. Factors that undermine competition policy in Brazil are the system for the enforcement of the law, the lack of coherence in case law, and changes in economic policy. On the other hand, there has been some progress: the legislation covers the main aspects of competition; the performance of enforcement agencies is improving; these agencies are co-ordinating their enforcement practices; and there is growing awareness among economic actors in Brazil that competition is desirable and should be protected.

One often meets the view that economic regulation should be understood in terms of Pareto efficiency. Economic theories of law have traditionally focused on concepts such as market failure, efficiency, and inefficiency. Proponents assume that under the conditions of perfect competition, rational economic actors will enact courses of action that tend to induce Pareto outcomes. The idea of perfect competition means that markets which are competitive will induce efficient outcomes. The perfect competition approach has focused on the conception of market failure as the foundation for designing regulatory policy. Until recently, lawyers overwhelmingly relied upon a model of economic contract, developed over the last two decades in law and economics, as a normative structure to guide efficient decision-making.