Regional Competition Center for Latin America presents: First Seminar for Latin American Judges to Discuss Rulings on Competition Cases

Regional Competition Center for Latin America Presents: First Seminar for Latin American Judges to Discuss Rulings on Competition Cases – Alain De Remes and Rodrigo Ríos (CRCAL)

This month, the Regional Competition Center for Latin America (or CRCAL by its acronym in Spanish) presents a summary of the first seminar of competition for Latin American Judges to discuss rulings on competition cases.¹

One of the central goals of the Regional Competition Center for Latin America (or CRCAL, by its acronym in Spanish) is to build a bridge of communication between competition authorities and the judiciary, since a great number of competition cases end in courts. This informal exchange of communication does not intend to tell judicial authorities how they should rule on competition cases, but rather to establish a common language and ground that facilitates an understanding of the complex economic factors that competition authorities assess before reaching their verdicts.

Two factors make judicial rulings on competition in Latin America a complex task. First, competition is a relatively new subject in Latin America since the most experienced competition agencies have around 20 years (and some of them are much younger), and in many cases courts that review competition cases are dealing with topics in which there is no precedent or jurisprudence. Second, the civil law tradition that is prevalent in most Latin American j