The Design of Competition Law Institutions by Eleanor M Fox;Michael J Trebilcock;

Author:Eleanor M Fox;Michael J Trebilcock;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Oxford Introductions to U.S. Law
Publisher: OUP Premium
Published: 2013-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

4. Reasonable predictability in application of law

The Commission’s approach to its task is reasonably predictable in that it will investigate all complaints lodged with it and analyze all mergers that are notified. Nevertheless, because of resource constraints, it has had to prioritize certain aspects of its work. The Commission regularly communicates these priorities to the public. It has noted that it prioritizes its work based on the potential and actual impact of anticompetitive conduct on low income consumers and it attempts to align its activities with government’s economic policy. It notes that the investigation and prosecution of cartels are almost always a priority.217

In addition, the Commission has identified four broad sectors in which it will undertake proactive analysis of possible competition related problems. These are: food, agro-processing, and forestry; infrastructure and construction; intermediate industrial products; and financial services (banking).

The Commission’s approach to settlements is slightly less predictable than its approach to investigations and prosecutions. There is very little clarity as to which considerations are applied by the Commission in determining what fine to offer respondents in settlement negotiations.

There is a severe dearth of guidelines issued by the Commission indicating how it will apply the law. The Commission has issued no substantive enforcement guidelines. The Commission used to issue so-called “Practice Notes,”218 but have ceased doing so.

The Tribunal’s application of the law is less predictable, especially since the bulk of its decisions relate to procedural issues and interim relief applications rather than final decisions on cartel and abuse of dominance conduct. There is thus little precedent to guide parties regarding these contraventions of the Act.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.