PUBLIC LAW FOUNDATIONS OF COMPETITION LAW

Competition law is one of the most important parts of economic law and regulation. A historical review of the developments of the economics and public law indicates that public law principles of competition law are influenced by theories of state and theories of justice. In this respect, various legal and political systems on the basis of some philosophical and political principles have tried to justify and apply competition law. The classical liberals relying on the principle of not inflecting harm on others justifies competition law while the proponents of distributive justice on the basis of concepts of equality and just distribution of wealth defend competition law. The advocates of the theories of justice are in favor of competition law to extent that it lead to justice in the market place. This paper investigates how competition law is justified under the above theories.