Competition Appeal Court - 2019

5 judgments
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5 judgments
Citation
Judgment date
October 2019
Applicant's broad long‑term exclusivity contracts constituted exclusionary abuse of dominance without sufficient efficiency justification.
Competition — Abuse of dominance — Section 8(d)(i) — Long‑term, broad exclusivity in standard contracts — Exclusionary act; effects‑based inquiry — substantial/likely foreclosure sufficient; two‑sided platform dynamics; efficiency defence must show relationship‑specific, non‑contractible gains and less restrictive means.
19 October 2019
July 2019
Identical bids by closely related firms do not equal collusive tendering absent an agreement or independent controllers.
Competition law – section 4(1)(b) – price-fixing and collusive tendering – characterisation required; section 4(5)(b) exemption – 'single economic entity similar in structure' to holding company/wholly-owned subsidiary – interpretive weight to Companies Act 2008 control-test; identical bids by commonly administered firms do not automatically establish collusion without an agreement or concerted practice
2 July 2019
The applicant failed to prove post‑Act implementation of a pre‑Act market‑allocation agreement; appeal dismissed.
Competition Act s 4(1)(b)(ii) – market allocation – requirement to establish existence and implementation/continuing conduct after commencement of the Act.* Characterisation – horizontal versus vertical relationship – objective assessment of economic substance.* "Agreement" in competition law – consensus suffices; implementation evidence often central to proof of continuing contravention.* Economic successor liability – requires pleaded and proven evidentiary basis for transfer of liability.* Pre‑Act regulation (GN 801) proscribing market sharing – raised but not decided as unnecessary to outcome.
2 July 2019
May 2019
Whether the Tribunal properly balanced s12A(3) public‑interest employment concerns when approving a major mining merger.
Competition law – Mergers – Public interest under s12A(3) – Employment impact – Distinction between merger‑specific and operational retrenchments – Rationality and counterfactual inquiries – Conditions on merger approval – Locus standi to appeal Tribunal merger decisions (s17) – Admission of new evidence on appeal.
17 May 2019
April 2019
Reported
Section 67(1) is a three‑year limitation from cessation of the prohibited practice and is not subject to condonation.
Competition Act s.67(1) – limitation/expiry period measured from cessation of prohibited practice – no knowledge requirement – no scope for Tribunal condonation; initiation/amendment of complaints – whether later initiation extends earlier initiation; pleaded discrete bilateral agreements may be treated as separate practices for limitation analysis.
3 April 2019