Competition Law and Public Interest: A Challenge for Adjudication

Abstract

This paper engages with the increasing concern that competition law can no longer concentrate exclusively on a narrow focus on price increases and output diminution. Within the context of growing global inequality and the exponential increase in economic power in the hands of a few, there is a need to develop a coherent jurisprudence capable of addressing manifest abuses of economic power. These challenges are not confined to any single jurisdiction. One particularly instructive response can be found in South Africa. Faced with an Apartheid‐shaped economy that reflected this global problem, South Africa responded with legislation that expanded the scope of competition law to embrace a range of defined public interest concerns. In analysing the key developments of the public interest jurisprudence that has emerged in response to this legislation, this paper draws on the South African experience as a source of insight for other jurisdictions—including the European Union—seeking to develop a coherent, yet expansive, competition law for the 21st century.