E LAW - MURDOCH UNIVERSITY ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF LAW
ISSN 1321-8247
Volume 7 Number 2 (June, 2000)
Copyright E Law and/or authors
File: seah72.txt
ftp://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/pub/elaw/issues/v7n2/seah72.txt
http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v7n2/seah72.html
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Review of Bruce, Butterworths Student Companions: Restrictive Trade
Practices Law (Sydney: Butterworths, 1999)

Weeliem Seah
Associate Editor, E Law

  1. Restrictive trade practices, commonly referred to as 'anti-trust' and
     'competition' law, has assumed greater significance in the last few
     years following the passage of the Competition Policy Reform Act 1995
     (Cth) and the introduction of the Competition Code. The effect of the
     Competition Code was to create a 'Schedule version' of the restrictive
     trade practices provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) which
     applied to 'persons'. It therefore extended the scope of Part IV, the
     Part containing the restrictive trade practices provisions, beyond
     'corporations' as the Trade Practices Act was originally limited
     (except for a complex and limited extension based on s 6 of the Act)
     due to its reliance on the Commonwealth Constitution's corporations
     power.

  2. Bruce's Restrictive Trade Practices Law is one in the 'Butterworths'
     Student Companions' series, which aims to provide a 'quick reference
     tool' of the 'most important and recent cases in the field of
     Restrictive Trade Practices Law.' It achieves this aim by listing
     close to a hundred cases in alphabetical order, providing catchwords,
     background facts and holdings for each of them. It does so in a
     straightforward and clear manner. This allows Restrictive Trade
     Practices Law to be an effective study aid.

  3. It is however, not intended to be a treatise or a 'cases and
     commentary' text and cannot be used as such. It does not delve into
     the restrictive trade practices provisions themselves nor into the
     depth of the case law. Its greatest strength is that its format
     permits students to immediately identify the context of a case and the
     general principle for which it stands. In this regard, it is useful
     for research and study, allowing students to decide which cases are
     relevant to the matter under scrutiny and therefore which cases to
     read in detail. It will not solely and directly assist students in
     gaining a depth of understanding in the area of restrictive trade
     practices necessary for academic success, but as was said, this is not
     the aim of the book.

  4. The only criticism, if one could be made, is that it has poor timing.
     With very few misuse of market power cases so far being handed down,
     the recent publication of Restrictive Trade Practices Law has
     unfortunately missed the opportunity to include the pending decision
     in ACCC v Boral Ltd, a decision which is likely to have significant
     implications for the concept of predatory pricing and market
     definition under s 46 of the Trade Practices Act.