New Paper is Out: A Brief Evaluation on the Legal Foundation of the Responsibility Arising from the Infringement of Competition Law and Associated Issues

New Paper is Out: A Brief Evaluation on the Legal Foundation of the Responsibility Arising from the Infringement of Competition Law and Associated Issues

Another paper of mine on the Legal Foundation of the Responsibility Arising from the Infringement of Competition Law is published by Banking and Commercial Law Journal (BATİDER).  This has lately been one of the hottest topics of the competition law community of Turkey. Generally speaking, under Turkish law the type of liability could be contractual, tort, unjust enrichment or acting without authority. Yet, the type of liability arising from competition law infringements is ambiguous. there are different views in this regard. The vast majority accepts the type of liability arising from competition law infringements as tort liability as the damage does not arise from a contractual relationship between the injurer and the injured but rather from a breach of a general duty owed to everyone. Some others, while agreeing with the initial one, further claim that the type of the liability could also be considered as a quasi-contractual liability where the general provisions of the Law of Obligations concerning contractual liability will also be applicable.  I also believe, the type of liability arising from the infringement of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition is considered as tort liability since the liability arises from the breach of a duty owned to everyone. However, depending on the type of the relationship among the aggrieved party and the undertaking infringing the competition law, the aggrieved party can base its claims on the contractual liability due to the infringement of duty of loyalty. Moreover, it can also breach its duty to act in good faith by not revealing the necessary information truly to aggrieved party. This duty to act in good faith is not one of the contractual duties arising from a contractual relationship but rather a behavioural duty arises from the Article 2 of Turkish Civil Code numbered 4721. The importance of the type of liability is more significant especially for the statute of limitations, burden of proof for the fault; and joint liability of the infringers.


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