The Scottish Competition Law Forum celebrated its second anniversary
On 24 January 2008, the Scottish Competition Law Forum celebrated its second anniversary gathering at the prestigious 29 Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow.
Kyla Brand from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) commenced proceedings for the evening by welcoming the guests, providing an overview of the year and thanking all the members for their support and participation throughout 2007. In particular, Kyla noted the strength of the forum in its second year and the popularity of the anniversary dinner.
Peter Willis, a partner at Dundas and Wilson, took to the floor and provided an interesting insight into the value of the SCLF from the perspective of a member. Mr Willis commended the diversity of the forum together with the high calibre of speakers and debate at each of the 2007 events. Gordon Downie, the Forum’s convenor, closed the introductory section of the evening by outlining the proposed 2008 programme of events.
Professor Barry Rodger from Strathclyde University then provided a warm and entertaining introduction to the “competition law guru”, Professor Richard Whish, outlining his extensive list of achievements, before the evening’s first speaker took to the floor.
In his address Professor Whish indicated that, while he is also a Professor at Kings College London, he intended to focus his address on his work as non-executive director of the OFT.
Professor Whish commented, that while during the early years of the Competition Act, there was less activity than anticipated, 2007 has shown the OFT’s strong commitment to enforcement. In particular, Professor Whish noted the hefty fines handed down in the British Airways and Dairy cases and the importance of the settlement procedure for the future of the OFT. Professor Whish also noted the continuing marine hoses and construction cartel cases, emphasising the extent of the OFT’s power’s and their readiness to use them.
While the OFT has been very active in terms of Article 81/ Chapter 1 cases, Professor Whish highlighted that there has been a lack of enforcement in terms of Article 82/ Chapter 2. In response to this he made a call for good abuse of dominance cases to be brought to the OFT’s attention. The OFT’s prioritisation criteria were also highlighted, together with the importance of selecting the right cases and investigating them to conclusion in order to ensure optimum efficiency. In addition, Professor Whish stressed the important role of sector inquiries in relation to ensuring markets work well for consumers.
Professor Whish concluded his address by considering the work of the OFT in Scotland, referring to the Claymore Dairy cartel, the Aberdeen Journals abuse of dominance case and the super complaint into the Scottish Legal Profession. Again, he acknowledged the importance of market investigations, with the BAA inquiry being recognized for its significance in Scotland, and reminded his audience of the Competition Commission’s powers of divestiture.
The evening continued upstairs with more lively discussion over dinner, followed by a dynamic introduction to the evening’s after dinner speaker by the former European Court of Justice judge Sir David Edward. Sir Edward had a threefold message for the evening’s guests: first, the need to stress the importance of competition law to colleagues; second, the need to separate the investigative and decision making bodies of the European Commission; and third, questioning the function of lawyers with regard to legal privilege. Sir Edward then handed over to the “outstanding practitioner of Community Law”, Paul Lasok QC.
Mr Lasok provided the guests with an animated overview of his experience as a competition law Barrister, and delivered entertaining anecdotes about the role of the loquacious client and the true importance of the economic expert. Mr Lasok brought the evening to a close by offering a colourful insight into the attitude of the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg to problems of confidentiality and the rule of law in competition cases.
The evening was kindly sponsored by Dundas & Wilson LLP and the Office of Fair Trading and organised by the SCLF’s planning committee comprising of Kyla Brand from the Office of Fair Trading, Professor Barry Rodger of Strathclyde University and Gordon Downie and Dawn Hendry, both from Shepherd and Wedderburn.
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