Introduction

This guide is intended to assist with researching foreign and international antitrust issues. It will provide information on treatises, journals, databases and other sources useful to antitrust research. Researchers may want to consult another one of our guides, Foreign and Comparative Law, for more assistance with foreign research methods, and general foreign legislation and case law research.

Remember, words to describe antitrust law vary among foreign jurisdictions. For example, unfair competition, restraint of trade and monopolies are common words to describe antitrust activities in other countries. We recommend that you become familiar with the foreign legal system. Is it civil, common, mixed, Islamic, etc. To quickly determine the type of legal system, see the World Legal Systems site at the University of Ottawa.

For guidance on U.S. antitrust research, please visit the U.S. Antitrust Research Guide.

Materials marked with are recommended and have been very useful to the librarians. If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Wolff Library reference desk at 202-662-4195 or by email: intlref@law.georgetown.edu. You may also submit your question via this online form.

Getting Started: Selected Materials

Treatises often summarize, quote, reprint or cite legislation, as well as provide commentary and analysis on countries and legal topics. The selected treatises below are available in the law library and can provide a useful overview of your topic. In addition to commentary, many of these sources offer bibliographic references for further research. To locate more resources, search the online catalog (try our NEW catalog interface) using keywords, especially if you are interested in a specific jurisdiction or aspect of antitrust law. For example, < unfair competition japan > or < vertical agreements competition >.

• Competition Law and Policy in Latin America INTL KG421.C66 2009
  Includes chapters on general topics of competition (cartels, policy, etc) in Latin America and chapters on specific jurisdictions (Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and several others).
• Competition Law and Practice: a Review of Major Jurisdictions INTL K3850.C6535 2009
  Useful overview of antitrust and relevant competition authorities in Brazil, China, Europe, India, Korea, Mexico, Russia and the United States.
• Competition Law of the European Community INTL KJE6456.V36 2010
  This extensive treatise offers in-depth chapters on all aspects of EU competition law including vertical and horizontal agreements, intellectual property, mergers, procedure, and much more.
• Faull & Nikpay The EC Law of Competition INTL KJE6456.F38 2007
  This is another comprehensive treatise covering similar subjects. There are also chapters on special sectors such as energy communications, and financial services.
• Comparative Law of Monopolies (updated regularly) INTL K3856.R39 1988
• International Antitrust Cooperation Handbook INTL K3850.I568 2004

European Union

Antitrust activities and polices in the European Union are of high interest to most researchers and there is a wealth of information available. This section will provide some specific information on locating E.U. legislation, cases, and other useful materials.

• European Commission on Competition
  Best place to start your research on antitrust and competition law in the EU. Use the policy areas at the top (antitrust, mergers, cartels, etc) to access legislation, cases, statistics, studies and much more. There are links to national court decisions too! It includes links to treaty provisions, legislation and case law relating to competition as well as background materials. See the Key Issues section on the right for recent hot topics (Microsoft, pharmaceuticals, Intel, etc).

EU Cases & Commission Decisions

The European Commission on Competition serves as the monitoring and enforcement power and issues decisions. The European Court of Justice also rules on antitrust cases.

• C.M.L.R. Antitrust Reports INTL KJE925.5.C853
  This monthly reporter includes Commission decisions, court judgments, latest actions, and status of pending cases in the area of antitrust.
• Competition Cases from the European Union INTL KJC6456.A54 2008
  The subtitle of this book is "the ultimate guide to leading cases of the EU and all 27 member states" and it offers country by country summaries of major cases on anti-competitive practices, abuse of dominance, and merger control.
• European Commission Competition case law database - Electronic
  This is a database of antitrust commission decisions only. The search function is somewhat complicated, but does offer searching by sector (and then even more specific to document type, decision type or by legal basis). It would be useful for locating information and documents if you have a particular company name as there is no keyword text searching.
• European Court of Justice Case-Law Curia Database
  This comprehensive database includes all published ECJ case law since mid-June 1997 and some unpublished decisions since May 2004. Most materials are in English.
• Reports of the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance INTL KJE324.5C68
  This is the official print reporter for ECJ cases. There is a significant time lag from what is available on the court web site.

Foreign Law

The sources below are good starting points for your research and they are a mix of general and antitrust specific materials. Most foreign governments provide some laws on their web sites, however, they are often not in English. Case law and administrative rulings are rarely translated into English. For more extensive guidance on locating foreign law, see our Foreign & Comparative Law Research Guide.

• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Competition Policy & Law Database
  This database provides useful materials such as policy guidelines, competition laws, decision guidelines, case summaries, and much more for APEC member countries.
• Competition Law in Western Europe and the USA INTL K3850.C64 1976 (updated regularly)
  This looseleaf set has over 30 volumes and includes translated laws and commentary. It also has an extensive collection of EU materials. Note: this print resource will soon be replaced with an online database with the same materials.
• Foreign Law Guide database (Georgetown Law Only)
  The best source for information on the sources of law for many foreign jurisdictions. Just select your jurisdiction from the pull down menu and then browse to the "antitrust" subject heading. This source includes complete bibliographic citations to legislation and the existence of English translations whenever possible.
• Global Competition Forum
  This forum is part of the International Bar Association and maintains informational pages on most jurisdictions. Many include a summary of recent events and provide legislation.
• Organization of American States Competition Policy National Legislation
  Nice collection of competition laws from member countries and some are available full text. Also provides links to national competition agencies.
• World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII)
  The wealth of information here is maintained collaboratively by several legal research institutes around the world. We suggest clicking on "All Countries" on the left side and then selecting your jurisdiction for relevant links. For many countries, there are legislation and case law databases, but also try links listed under subject or legislation.

Journal Articles

Periodical literature is a good way to obtain background information, locate the text of a foreign law, a citation, or locate information about a subject. Westlaw and Lexis provide excellent coverage of U.S. law reviews, but you should consider expanding your journal research to foreign journals and indexes for more comprehensive and global coverage. For information on other journal databases, see our Using Articles for Legal and Non-Legal Research for a complete list.

If you already have a citation and would like to read the article, simply type the journal name as a title search in the library catalog. The results will tell you if we have print, electronic, or both. Be sure to check coverage dates or volume numbers to determine if your particular volume or issue is available. If the library does not have the journal article, you may request the article through interlibrary loan and we will ask another library to make a photocopy.

• Cambridge University Press (Georgetown only)
  Full text access to journals published by Cambridge University Press. Search by title, abstract, or by full text. You can also limit by journal title or subject. Some relevant subjects besides law include African studies, history, Latin American studies and history.
• Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (Georgetown only)
  This is an index (full text must be obtained from other library sources) of foreign law reviews. Searching, citations, and index terms are in English, but the articles may not be in English. This is one of the few ways to electronically search foreign law journals. To locate the full text of the articles, just search the journal title in the library catalog.
• Oxford University Press (Georgetown only)
  Online access to journals covering legal, regional affairs, social sciences, and other subjects. Search by title, abstract, or by full text. You can also limit by journal title or subject.
• Kluwer Law International Journals (Georgetown only)
  Kluwer journals have a business focus and would be a good place to begin antitrust research. Try the advanced search screen. NOTE: The Library does not subscribe to all titles that are listed on the Kluwer web site. Please visit the reference desk if you need an article that is not accessible on KLI Journals.

Below are some selected journals that focus on antitrust. We've provided links to the electronic version when available. However, please note that we have most back issues in print at the Wolff Library.

• OECD Journal of Competition Law & Policy Available online.
• European Competition Law Review : ECLR Available in print in Wolff at INTL K5.U65 and selected articles available on Westlaw.
• Journal of Competition Law & Economics Available online
• World Competition Available online.

More Useful Resources

• British Institute of International & Comparative Law
  Useful working papers and other information produced by their Competition Law Forum. Some materials may require login.
• Social Science Research Network
  This is a great resource for academic working papers and most are available full text. Papers are submitted from all over the world. Use general search terms in the QuickSearch box as searching is limited to titles and abstracts.

Current Awareness

Below is a collection of electronic resources related to antitrust law. Most are freely available on the Internet, some are available only to the GULC community and are labeled "GULC only". These sites provide a variety of current information, documents, and links to other relevant sites. No list of links can ever be complete; use these sites to start your research on the Internet.

• Antitrust & Competition Policy Blog
  This law professor blog covers some international issues.
• Antitrust & Trade Regulation Report - (Georgetown Law only)
  Great for current awareness. Mainly federal and state news, but also includes some international coverage of competition and deceptive trade practices law. You can see recent headlines using the "countries" section on the left menu or browse the index to locate older stories. Also available on Westlaw [BNA-ATRR].
• Antitrust Sites Worldwide
  This is a list of foreign government web sites and other antitrust associations, many of which have their laws, policies and regulations in English.
• International Competition Network
  This group of agencies seeks to promote cooperation and best practices. Numerous working groups meet on various topics and useful can be found in the document library.
• OECD Competition Page
  This web site provides relevant information such as committee reports, statistics, country reviews, and other useful materials. The Law Library also subscribes to SourceOECD (Georgetown Law) only which is a comprehensive database of OECD publications.