The Competition Amendment Act, 1996 - Background to the 1996 Act

The 1996 Act makes two fundamental changes to the existing competition law framework introduced by the Competition Act, 1991 ("the 1991 Act"). Before the 1996 Act was introduced ,Section 4 of the 1991 Act prohibited agreements, decisions or concerted practices between undertakings which have the object or effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competition ("anti-competitive arrangements") and Section 5 of the 1991 Act prohibited the abuse of a dominant position. The first change is that the 1996 Act makes it a criminal offence to enter into or implement an anti-competitive arrangement or to abuse a dominant position and penalises participants and, in the case of companies, the management.

The second very significant change is in relation to enforcement. The primary method of enforcement of the 1991 Act is through private civil actions - Section 6 of the 1991 Act confers on third parties a right of action for relief by way of injunction or damages against any party to an anti-competitive arrangement. The 1996 Act changes this by conferring an additional right of action on the Competition Authority to enable it to commence proceedings against a party to an anti-competitive arrangement to restrict the operation of the arrangement and confers additional powers on the Competition Authority as outlined below.

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