To take this forward and to offer a substantial contribution to the current Scottish constitutional debate we wish now to canvass your views on a range of key questions which we have identified as coming out of the April event.   For our questionaire please see the attached file.  We aim to prepare a discussion paper reflecting (in a non-attributable manner) the responses to these questions and to submit this to Government (in particular the Scottish Government and the Calman Commission) for consideration.

Please provide us with your responses, addressed to Gordon Downie, by no later than Monday 25 August 2008.  If there are any other queries regarding the questionnaire, please do not hesitate to let us know via the same email address.

• Spring Discussion Note
• Questionnaire

Competition in the professions is the subject of considerable debate and development at European and national levels.  The summer SCLF event, hosted by the Faculty of Advocates, will give an opportunity to examine, across a range of professions, issues such as:

• Competing considerations of safeguarding ethics and introducing liberalisation; and
• The role and limits of self regulation.

With speakers from law, medicine and accountancy, and from the European Commission, we will have a full agenda for discussion which will also be relevant to many other sectors.

Programme:

17:15 - Registration
17:30 - Welcome from Richard Keen QC, Faculty of Advocates
17:35 - Introduction by the chairperson, Karina McTeague (Lloyds TSB)
17:45 - Presentation by John Madill (European Commission)
18:05 - Question and answer session
18:15 -  Panel discussion with Richard Keen QC, Janet Hamblin (Baker Tilley), Dr John Garner (former chair of BMA Scottish Council), Frank Stephen (University of Manchester)(TBC) and Sarah O’Neill (SCC)
19:15 - Wine reception
20:00 - Close

The event is taking place at The Mackenzie Building, Old Assembly Close, 172 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1QX.

If you have not already signed up and are interested in attending, please contact Dawn Hendry (dawn.hendry@shepwedd.co.uk).

• Click to download flyer for this event

Programme

17.15 Registration

17.30 In conversation with Eleanor Fox

19.00 Drinks reception

19.30 Close

If you are interested in attending and have not yet signed up, please email Dawn Hendry (dawn.hendry@shepwedd.co.uk) as soon as possible to secure your place.

For directions to Paterson’s Land

Professor Eleanor Fox has an outstanding reputation as a competition law scholar and is currently the Walter J. Derenberg Professor of Trade Regulation at New York University Law School. She has also served as a member of the International Competition Policy Advisory Committee to Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust of the US Department of Justice and has a keen interest in European competition law, being a frequent visitor and lecturer at the Competition Directorate of the European Commission. The event will therefore be an excellent opportunity to hear from, and engage in discussion with, such an esteemed speaker.

The event will take place in the Old College, University of Edinburgh on Tuesday 27 May 2008 with registration starting at 5.15pm. If you are interested in attending, please email Dawn Hendry (dawn.hendry@shepwedd.co.uk) to secure your place.

Date/time: 17 June 2008, 17.15 - 20.00

Venue: The Mackenzie Building, Old Assembly Close, 172 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1QX

Link to the flyer for this event

To register please contact: dawn.hendry@shepwedd.co.uk

Once again we have excellent speakers throughout the two days of the conference. The programme includes the following topics:

Evolution of policy in relation to private actions
Evolution of policy in relation to settlement of cases
A review of cartel and merger developments
A Commission and Industry perspective on the Third Energy Package
A perspective from inside the Competition Commission on market investigations
Rebates issues under Articles 82.

In addition, Nadia Calvino, Deputy Director General, Mergers and Antitrust, DG Competition, European Commission has kindly agreed to give a keynote address.  The guest speaker at the conference dinner will be The Honourable Judge Nicolas Forwood.  The dinner will be held in the Kasteel Van Ruisbroeck, a peaceful and spacious 18th century country house 10 minutes outside of Brussels.

Please do not hesitate to contact Paula Riedel or Hannah Walker at Everyevent (LSEG@everyevent.co.uk, telephone 01905 724 734) if you have any questions concerning the conference.

Annual Conference Programme 2008

Please see below the programme for the SCLF Spring meeting, which takes place this Friday (11 April) at the Court Senate Suite, Strathclyde University, 22 Richmond Street, Glasgow.  Please note the discussion will start at 09.10.

As you will see we have an impressive range of speakers from far and wide, with chairman Iain McMillan of CBI Scotland keeping our focus on the practical rather than political. Our job is to unpick the experiences of competition and consumer protection bodies working in central/reserved roles and in devolved contexts to discover what arrangements may best contribute to the economic success of Scotland. We look forward to a rich and stimulating discussion of significant issues not regularly appearing in other conversations or commissions.

For those already signed up, we look forward to seeing you there.  If you are still thinking about it and have not yet registered, don’t delay in emailing ashley.e.smith@strath.ac.uk to secure your place.

Programme

09:00 Registration

09:10 Welcome from Barry Rodger, University of Strathclyde

09:15 Introduction by the Chairman, Iain McMillan, Director of CBI Scotland

09:25 Presentation by John Fingleton, Chief Executive of the OFT

09:45 Presentation by Cristina Pellise de Urquiza, member of the Catalan Competition Tribunal

10:05 Presentation by Eleanor Gill, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland

10:25 Tea/Coffee

10:45 Panel discussion with Fod Barnes (Oxera Consulting), Martyn Evans (Director of the Scottish Consumer Council), Catriona Munro (Partner, Maclay Murray & Spens) and our principal speakers

11:45 Close

• Click here to view the full agenda in pdf format.  

If you have any queries about the event please contact Dawn Hendry at dawn.hendry@shepwedd.co.uk

The Spring SCLF discussion is a timely contribution to consideration of how Scotland best takes opportunities to promote its economic success. The role of markets and competition, and operation of competition frameworks at different levels of governance, will be explored with experts from central and devolved authorities.

There will be opportunity to hear the perspectives of central and devolved authorities and to join in discussion about the impact of different models on consumers, business, the economy and governance.

The seminar will be chaired by Iain McMillan, Director CBI Scotland.

Our speakers include:

• John Fingleton, Chief Executive of the Office of Fair Trading, (previously head of the Irish Competition Authority);
• Sra Cristina Pellise de Urquiza, member of the Catalan Competition Tribunal, Barcelona;
• Eleanor Gill, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland;
• Fod Barnes, Oxera Consulting,
• Martyn Evans, Director of the Scottish Consumer Council
• an MEP (tbc).

Programme:

09.00 - Registration
09.15 - Introduction by the Chairman, Iain McMillan and presentation by John Fingleton, Cristina Pellise and Eleanor Gill
10.30 - Tea/coffee
10.50 - Panel discussion with Fod Barnes, Martyn Evans, an MEP and the principal speakers
11.50 - Close

The event is taking place at Court Senate Suite, University of Strathclyde, 22 Richmond Street, Glasgow.

To register, please contact Ashley Smith

• Flyer for the event

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.