Cartels and Competition Law

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

Objectives:

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

• Understand the current law on the prohibitions of cartel conduct under the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (price fixing and exclusionary provisions)
• Understand the amendments to the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) for the criminalisation of serious cartel conduct and the introduction of new per se civil penalty prohibitions
• Be familiar with the main legal and economic criticisms of the prohibitions against price fixing and exclusionary provisions in Australia when compared with models from other jurisdictions
• Understand the powers of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for investigating possible cartel conduct in criminal and/or civil proceedings
• Have a clear grasp of what is required for a cogent theory of a cartel case and the evidentiary challenges that often arise
• Be able to advise corporations and their employees on liability and related issues, including applications for immunity.

Syllabus:

Principal topics will include:

• The economics of collusion
• Collusion as a prime element of the prohibitions against cartel conduct
• Fixing, controlling or maintaining a price
• Exclusionary provisions
• Cartel offences
• Individual and corporate responsibility and ancillary liability (including liability for being knowingly concerned)
• Defences and exemptions (joint ventures, collective bargaining, intellectual property and export arrangements)
• Enforcement and investigation (enforcement policy and guidelines, powers of investigation, immunity and cooperation, concurrent and sequential criminal and civil proceedings, offences relating to powers of investigation)
• Damages and class actions
• Civil and criminal sanctions against corporate and individual defendants, and compliance programs.

• Class participation (10%)
• Research paper in two parts (each 4,000 words) (90%) (29 October)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Objectives:

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

• Understand the current law on the prohibitions of cartel conduct under the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (price fixing and exclusionary provisions)
• Understand the amendments to the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) for the criminalisation of serious cartel conduct and the introduction of new per se civil penalty prohibitions
• Be familiar with the main legal and economic criticisms of the prohibitions against price fixing and exclusionary provisions in Australia when compared with models from other jurisdictions
• Understand the powers of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for investigating possible cartel conduct in criminal and/or civil proceedings
• Have a clear grasp of what is required for a cogent theory of a cartel case and the evidentiary challenges that often arise
• Be able to advise corporations and their employees on liability and related issues, including applications for immunity.

Syllabus:

Principal topics will include:

• The economics of collusion
• Collusion as a prime element of the prohibitions against cartel conduct
• Fixing, controlling or maintaining a price
• Exclusionary provisions
• Cartel offences
• Individual and corporate responsibility and ancillary liability (including liability for being knowingly concerned)
• Defences and exemptions (joint ventures, collective bargaining, intellectual property and export arrangements)
• Enforcement and investigation (enforcement policy and guidelines, powers of investigation, immunity and cooperation, concurrent and sequential criminal and civil proceedings, offences relating to powers of investigation)
• Damages and class actions
• Civil and criminal sanctions against corporate and individual defendants, and compliance programs.

• Class participation (10%)
• Research paper in two parts (each 4,000 words) (90%) (29 October)