Law

To what extent should public services (for example public utilities such as telecommunications, energy, public transport, and postal services) be subject to ordinary competition law? This question has assumed great importance in the context of the activities of the European Union. On the one hand, it is argued (particularly in France) that competition law is a threat to the values of public services that underlie their distinctive objectives. On the other, the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ argument is that protecting public services from competition gives them an unfairly protected position and can mask their inefficiencies. This book examines the philosophical, political, economic, and social principles involved. It contrasts the mainly economic and utilitarian justifications for the use of competition law, with rights- and citizenship-based arguments for the special treatment of public services, and examines the varied conceptions of the differing traditions in the UK, France, and Italy. The book then considers the developing European law in this area. It examines decisions of the European Court of Justice, considers the development of the concept of ‘services of general interest’ by the Commission, and reviews the liberalization process in telecommunications, energy, and postal services. It also provides a detailed case-study of public service broadcasting. The book concludes by drawing general principles from the debates about the extent to which public services merit distinctive treatment and the extent to which competition law must be amended or limited to respect their distinctive roles.

This book shows how traditional problems of philosophy can be understood more clearly when considered in terms of law, economics, and political science. The discussion is divided into four sections. The first offers a new version of legal positivism and an original theory of legal rights. The second critically evaluates the economic approach to law, while the third considers the relationship of justice to liability for unintentional harms and to the practice of settling disputes rather than fully litigating them. Finally, the book explores formal social choice in democratic theory, the relationship between market behaviour and voting, and the view that morality itself, like law, is a solution of the problem of market failure.

Economic theory implies that financial markets play a prominent role in the efficient allocation of resources in the modern world. Financial markets can fulfil this role if they enjoy the confidence of investors and are free of abuse. The financial frauds associated with the collapse of Enron and the major crises in world leading corporations such as WorldCom, Adelphia, Tyco, and the ‘Wall Street financial scandals’ have shown that fraud, manipulation, and insider dealing retain a catastrophic presence in modern financial markets. Proper deterrence of market abuse is necessary not only for the effective operation of modern financial markets, but also for regaining investor confidence. This book analyses the mechanics and regulation of two of the most harmful market practices in the modern financial world: insider dealing and market manipulation, which together comprise the offence of market abuse. This book examines the United Kingdom and European Union regimes from an interdisciplinary perspective, also making extensive and critical use of United States case law. It emphasises the economic analysis of anti-fraud manipulation regulations and their effects upon market welfare and explores the possible deterrent benefits of civil law remedies.

The book provides a critical discussion and analysis of that area of European (EU) competition regulation dealing with those serious anti-competitive infringements now commonly referred to as the activity of ‘hard core cartels’. Such prohibited activity typically involves large and economically significant corporate producers and traders operating across Europe and often also in a wider international context, and comprises practices such as price fixing, bid rigging, market sharing, and limiting production, intended to ensure ‘market stability’ and maintain and increase profits. There is now little argument in both competition theory and practice regarding the damaging effect of such activities on public and consumer interests. Globally, over the last thirty years or more, such cartels have been subject to increasing condemnation in the legal process of regulating and protecting competition. The focus of this study is the development of the European-level regulation of such anti-competitive business cartels. The discussion traces the historical development of cartel control in Europe, comparing the more pragmatic and empirical approach historically favoured in Europe with the more dogmatic and uncompromising American policy. In particular, the book considers critically the move more recently in Europe towards criminal law analogies and also fully-fledged criminal proceedings in some areas of legal control, evaluating evolving aspects of enforcement policy such as the use of leniency programmes and the deployment of a range of criminal law and other sanctions. A major theme in the discussion concerns the way in which the subject has evolved from being a section of competition law to a significant and dynamic amalgam of supranational regulatory law, criminal justice strategies, penal competence and basic rights protection.

Resolving Disputes in Telecommunications: Global Practices and Challenges not only introduces the concept of dispute resolution, but also stresses the urgent need to revise the various laws in telecommunication. This book is composed of eight chapters, each of which addresses a particular topic on dispute resolution and the telecom sector. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to the present situation of telecommunications, while Chapter 2 examines the theoretical background of dispute resolutions. Chapter 3 presents the various methods of dispute resolution that are being used today, including the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods. Chapter 4 then looks at some countries and the methods they use for dispute resolution and dispute management. Chapters 5 and 6 are concentrated on the policy and regulatory initiatives and considerations, while a thorough assessment of the dispute resolution mechanisms is provided in Chapter 7. The last chapter in the book looks at some suggestions for dispute resolution mechanisms.