Antitrust Chronicle® – Developing Competition Regimes – Evolving Perspectives

Dear Readers,

This CPI issue focusses on different challenges facing different of relatively (as compared to the U.S./EU counterparts) young competition regimes, viz. India, Pakistan, Israel, and Iran while dealing with myriad issues ranging from abuse of dominance cases, private enforcement and political influence.

While the articles discuss several diverse operational and procedural challenges faced by the disparate competition regimes, some common themes emerge. These include the need to be mindful of political interference in competition matters, ringfencing the scope and jurisdiction of competition authorities, and the need for a consistent approach. In the Indian context, we look at the political challenges faced by the Competition Commission of India, how it seeks to regulate state-owned enterprise and deal with cutting edge cases where it is required to assess if a patent litigation is vexatious and therefore anti-competitive. Turning to its neighbor, we discuss how Pakistan’s government may be getting involved in telecom sector and affecting competition. We also look at Iran, its new competition regime that is part of the privatization statute, and is fashioned in likeness of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. The contributions discuss how these rules could be made more effective. In the context of Israel, we look at the emerging trend of class actions based on alleged global cartels being filed with the Israeli District Courts and the procedural and substantial ques