79032 Competition and Consumer Law

Description

This subject provides a comprehensive and engaging examination of the economic and legal principles of competition law (also known as antitrust law or restrictive trade practices law) and consumer law (also known as deceptive trade practices law) in Australia. It examines statute law, Part IV and Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cwlth) (CCA) (formerly the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth)(TPA)), the decisions of the common law courts in interpreting the Act, as well as some international treaties on antitrust and consumer law enforcement, of which Australia is a party. Current issues and recent cases on competition and consumer laws and policies in Australia are also examined.

The subject covers the economic functioning of markets; the relationship between the competition and consumer laws (including both statute law and common law) and economics; the evolution and objectives of Australian competition law and consumer law; and the administration and enforcement of competition law and consumer law, both nationally and internationally.

This subject includes three parts. Part I focuses on competition law. It covers the evolution of competition law; the legislative feature of the Australian competition law; major anti-competitive conduct in Part IV of the CCA, such as monopolistic agreements, misuse of market power, mergers/acquisitions; and enforcement issues in Australia, including authorisation and notification regimes, remedies and other related matters. Part II focuses on consumer law. It covers the policy objective of consumer law; general prohibitions in Schedule 2 of the CCA, such as misleading or deceptive conduct, unconscionable conduct, and unfair contract terms; as well as enforcement issues. Part III examines major international treaties on consumer protection and competition enforcement, and some major international cases in which Australia is involved.