PRIVATE ACTION OF THE INJURED PARTY AS MEANS OF COMPLEMENTARY ENSURANCE OF COMPETITION ON THE MARKET
PRIVATE ACTION OF THE INJURED PARTY AS MEANS OF COMPLEMENTARY ENSURANCE OF COMPETITION ON THE MARKET

Summary/Abstract: It is becoming clear that it is necessary to provide some form of class action in the protection of competition rules and market participants who suffer damage due to their violation, being that smaller claims otherwise have no hope of success. In other words, interim buyers and final consumers that the Law primarily attempts to protect need to be able to demand protection of their rights and compensation for damages suffered due to unlawful actions of market participants. Development of consumer protection policies in a certain jurisdiction, awareness raising on established rights and developed consumer protection groups and organisations that would unify individual compensation claims are very important for the development of competition protection and damage compensation through private action In ideal conditions, competition protection rules would primarily be monitored and applied efficiently and completely by public figures, i.e. competition protection bodies, which would have all the necessary material and human resources at their disposal. In such a system, participants to the agreement, who suffer damage due to unlawful actions, would also have the option of filing a compensation claim for damages caused by unlawful actions, as is the case in a criminal procedure. However, regardless of the existing faults of private prosecution for compensation of damages resulting from competition rules violation at the national/EU level, there is a need for such a system, to compensate all those who have suffered damage due to an intentional violation of established business rules by large, powerful corporations. On the other hand, the form and scope of rights will largely depend on the internal legal system, history, judicial system as well as culture and the degree of development of each judicial system. Allowing private parties - natural and/or legal persons - to initiate proceedings through private prosecution for compensation of damages before the national courts, also contributes to raising the awareness of all participants on the market on the necessity of conforming to the established competition rules. Private prosecution for compensation of damages will certainly become more numerous once the proper instruments are adopted at the EU level and once an acceptable legal and institutional framework for its implementation is put in place in member states. In addition to all the previously described instruments, formation of a support system for the model of independence of public and private prosecution, with the objective of ensuring the respect of competition protection rules, on the level of both EU and member states, is to be expected.

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