Barriers lifted for competition law breaches

Law suits against companies breaching competition laws will no longer have to be brought by competition authorities if new proposals from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) are adopted.

The OFT wants UK laws changed to allow representative bodies to bring actions on behalf of consumers and businesses, irrespective of whether a competition authority has previously taken public enforcement action.
Tom Morrison, an associate at Rollits Solicitors, says the OFT has long stated that it has finite resources which need to be targeted on discouraging those practices which cause the greatest harm to consumers and the UK economy as a whole, and that this announcement is a logical extension of that philosophy.

Morrison comments: “By concentrating efforts on detecting and prosecuting the worst offenders, there is a risk that organisations which are not so high profile will feel they are less likely to be noticed if they infringe competition legislation, or that even if they are noticed they will not be pursued by the authorities.” 

He adds that the balance is theoretically restored by allowing private organisations and associations to bring their own actions for breach of competition legislation.