Conflict of laws in torts arising out of breach of competition laws

With effect from 11 January 2009, Europe has a new system of private international law in unfair competition and restriction in competition cases. The Rome II Regulation1 determines the applicable law in all civil and commercial actions to which it applies, in all courts of all members of the EU.This article is to canvass some aspects of the new phenomenon of conflict of laws in non-contractual obligations arising out of unfair competition or restriction in competition raised in Art.6 of the regulation Rome II. The purpose of the rules against unfair competition is to protect fair competition by obliging all participants to play the game by the same rules. Moreover the modern competition law seeks to protect not only competitors (horizontal dimension) but also consumers and the public in general (vertical relations). This three-dimensional function of competition law must be reflected in a modern conflict-of-lawsinstrument.