Seminar on Experiences of Competition Law from Around the World (CPS.07)

Seminar on Experiences of Competition Law from Around the World, (CPS.07)
New Delhi, March 21, 2007

Organized by
CUTS Institute for Competition and Regulation (CIRC) in collaboration with Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) an Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI)

Pradeep Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS International and Lalit Bhasin, Co-Chairman FICCI’s Committee on Corporate Law & Legal Affairs and President, Society of Indian Law Firms welcomed a gathering of experienced competition law practitioners and experts in the said seminar. In his welcome address, Mr. Mehta emphasised that the seminar has got together experts from various countries, who would share their experience in dealing with competition regimes. This would help participants better understand the functioning of competition regimes and derive necessary lessons for implementing the same in India.

Mr. Lalit Bhasin further spoke about the importance of having a Competition Act in place in India. He emphasised that there is a urgent requirement to have the CCI operational and he looks forward to seeing the same in near future. 

Frederic Jenny, Judge, French Supreme Court, in his keynote address briefly described the various aspects and elucidated on the requirement for implementing a Competition Law. He emphasised that there is a need to create awareness among the general public about competition and benefits of having a competition policy/law in a country.

Vinod Dhall, Member, Competition Commission of India (CCI) in his inaugural address, gave a brief snapshot of history of Competition Law in India and the important role of CCI in carrying the agenda ahead. 

The objectives of the training seminar were:

– Understand jurisprudence that exists in other competition jurisdictions
– Develop an understanding on compliance and procedural issues
– Understand cases that discuss adjudications with an impact on interpretation of language in the Indian competition law

The one day training seminar was organised to discuss the ‘process’ of implementing Competition Law and covered panel discussions on related areas: Merger Regulation, Anti-Competitive Agreements, Abuse of Dominance and Competition-Sectoral Regulation interface.

The seminar was organised on the sidelines of the international research symposium, 22-24th March, which was organised to deliberate on political economy constraints that developing countries face in implementing their competition and regulatory regimes. Considering the presence of several experts/practioners on Competition Law, CUTS International, FICCI and SILF organised this interactive seminar.

The seminar was widely attended by representatives from Indian law firms, CCI, business houses and media. This reflects the keen interests that various stakeholders in India have in wanting to understand and know competition issues and its effects on the market and on their behaviour.

Several eminent competition experts, lawyers and economists from various parts of the world participated as resource persons in the seminar. The resource persons were:

Allan AsherChief Executive Officer, Energywatch, UK, and Non-executive Member, Office of Fair Trading, UK
Amit KapurPartner, J Sagar & Associates, India
Anand PathakAdvocate, P&A Law Offices, India
Camila SafatleHead of Mergers, Secretariat for Economic Law, Brazil
Cezley SampsonDirector of National Energy Efficiency, and Regulatory Governance Adviser to Government of Jamaica, Jamaica
Eleanor Fox Professor, New York University School of Law, USA
Frederic JennyJudge, Cour de Cassation (Supreme Court, France), Former Vice-chairman, Counseil de la Concurrence, (French Competition Authority)
John PrestonCompetition Policy Consultant, Private Sector Policy Department, DFID, UK
Joseph Seon HurYoon Yang Kim Shin & Yu, Seoul
Michal S. GalSenior Lecturer and Director of Law and MBA Programme, University of Haifa, Israel
R S KhemaniAdvisor, Competition Policy, Private Sector Development-Vice Presidency, The World Bank Group USA, Former Chief Economist, Canadian Competition Bureau
S ChakravarthyAdviser/Consultant on Competition Policy and Law, and Former Member, MRTP Commission, India
S L Rao Chairman, Institute for Social and Economic Change, India
Santiago Roca TProfessor Principal, ESAN University, Peru, Former Chairman, Peruvian Competition Authority
Subir GokarnChief Economist, Credit Rating Information Services of India Ltd. (CRISIL) India
Thula KairaDirector, Merger & Acquisitions Division, Zambia Competition Commission, Zambia
Vinod DhallCompetition Commission of India

For more details please click: Event Agenda Event Flyer