Vijay Kumar Singh

‘Issues in Emerging Area of Sports Law: Lex Sportiva’

While commentating upon the ‘law as a system of rules’, Salmond took ‘contract bridge’ as an example . At that time, Salmond would not have imagined that the rules of game would take such a proportion that it would necessitate a separate branch of study called ‘sports law’. Well, now sports law has a definite position in legal system and new sports law jurisprudence – lex sportiva is emerging. Increasing interaction between the sports and law has led to the development of sports law. Sports touches varied areas of law and the legal principles are adapted to the situation in sports. Areas of law like contract, tax, competition, discrimination share a boundary with sports when issues arises relating to performance of a contract or selection of a player on the basis of racial discrimination. There are larger issues of match-fixing, doping, and violence too. However, there is a haphazard development of sports law, reason being most of the rules being governed by various organization and as Salmond said ‘a person is subject to the rules of the game only when he plays the game.’ There are other areas like advertising rights, restraint clauses for players in contracts. The problem gets still larger when it comes to international sports where we already are under the porous roof of international law. The present article traces the development of sports law and points out key issues in sports law. The paper has five parts. First part deals with the introduction of sports law which includes the development of ‘sports law’ from ‘sports and law’; difference between amateur and professional sports, international sports law and global sports law. The second and third part discusses about the international sports federations and international sports organizations respectively. Fourth part discusses various issues involved in sports law and the paper ends with discussion on status of sports law in India.

Failed WTO Platform for Competition Law Convergence: Evolving Alternate Regime of Mous on Internationalization of Competition Law

In July 2004, the Working Group on Interaction between Trade and Competition Policy at WTO was made inactive post decision by General Council at Cancun as the proposal to have a formal multilateral framework to enhance the contribution of competition policy to international trade and development agreed to at Doha could not be taken forward. WTO Platform could not be an appropriate forum for having international competition law regime because of the inherent conflict between national competition legislations and international trade principles. For example, in cases of export cartels, while the national trade measure by a country may be perfectly right, under WTO scene, it facilitates anticompetitive conduct. Further, the conflict between developed and developing countries posed another problem. However, international business requires convergence on at least basic principles of competition law which was attempted by UNCTAD long back in 1980s by proposing a Model Law on Competition which is still being negotiated. WTOs failure led to evolution of the regime of MOUs in which the countries entered into soft agreements in the nature of bilateral (EU-US 1991 agreement), multilateral (ICN, OECD), and regional (ASEAN) including the recent class of Free Trade Agreements (India-EU FTA). This evolution has given rise to a fresh concept of internationalization of competition law which aims towards convergence. The International Competition Network (ICN) has further evolved as a specialized though informal venue for about 120 plus competition agencies to thrash out completion principles aiming towards convergence. The present paper seeks to trace this evolution and evaluate the present position in this regard. The paper would be divided into four parts. The first part would provide an introduction and historical background to internationalization of competition law. Second part would deal with WTO work. The third part would discuss the bilateral MOUs and the fourth part would delve into the newer forms of platform leading to convergence. The paper would seek to assess how far these platforms have been successful in achieving convergence especially in view of hard-core cartels and some of the latest trends of extraditing the violators of competition law across countries like Ian Norris.

Types of Directors and Other Managerial Personnel in a Company

A significant role is played by Directors and other Managerial Personnel in a company in running the affairs of the company which has already been seen in the previous modules on director’s position, powers and duties as well as director’s responsibility statement and their duties laying accounts before the shareholders. There are different types of directors and managerial personnel in a company having different roles, responsibilities and powers. The present module would delve into the types of directors and managerial personnel in a company.

A Primer on ‘Sports and Competition Law Interface’ in India

Mr. Sachin Tendulkar is awarded with the India’s highest civilian award, the ‘Bharat Ratna’. This sets the tone for this paper; now sports as a ‘profession’ may not be whisked away. Sports as a ‘profession’ in India have moved from amateurism and calls for a serious consideration both in terms of its regulation and legal requirements. The industry associations have demanded to grant it as a status of ‘industry’ as it involves huge amount of investment and flow of money, as has been observed by all of us in relation to IPL matches. This has given birth to a new branch of law, i.e. the ‘sports law’ which is a development from ‘sports and law’ in India. Though this development has long happened in other countries in the world, specifically in European Union, in India the things are slowly holding the ground. There are several legal issues that emerge in the context of sports like match fixing, doping, conflict of sports governing bodies, contract of employment of players etc., however, the focus of the present paper is on the ‘sports and competition law interface’. India now has completely new competition legislation in place in the form of Competition Act, 2002 which prohibits practices having adverse effect on competition in markets in India, and the sports sector has not been spared from its application as a market. This can be seen from the cases brought against BCCI, the regulator of ‘cricket’, before the Competition Commission of India in which CCI had imposed a penalty of Rs. 52 Crores for abuse of dominant position. Two other cases relating to the sports of ‘hockey’ and ‘chess’ have also come up before CCI. These developments bring us to the debate as to what extent competition law can change the sports law landscape and what role it can play in the development of sports in India. The present paper would explore these issues as a primer.

Competition Law Dominant Position and Its Abuse: Meaning of Dominant Position

Competition in markets means rivalry between competitors to attract customers which results in enhanced consumer welfare by way of more choices, newer products and low prices. If there is no competition in markets, one or more firms seek to gain monopoly or oligopoly which allows them to disregard the competitive pressure exerted by the competitors, leading to loss of consumer welfare available in a competitive market. Thus, unfair conduct of a dominant enterprise or the conduct of an enterprise to seek dominance unfairly (monopolization) is under scrutiny under the competition laws. These concepts are variously called “abuse of dominant position�? or “monopolization�? or “misuse of market power,�? or some similar term. Prohibition of ‘abuse of dominant position’ forms an important enforcement area for competition agencies around the world; the other areas usually being prohibition of anti-competitive agreements (horizontal agreements including cartels and vertical agreements) and the regulation of combinations (acquisition or mergers and amalgamations). In India, while the MRTP Act provided for control of monopolies and prohibited ‘Monopolistic Trade Practices (MTP)’, derived from the basic philosophy of prohibition ingrained in the Constitutional Directive of ‘prevention of concentration of economic power to the common detriment’; the Competition Act (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) was enacted keeping in view the economic development of the country post liberalization and privatization era. The shift has been from ‘command-and-control’ triggered policies to an open market policy and thus now ‘monopoly’ itself is not per se bad, however an abuse of this ‘monopoly’ is. The practice of prohibiting ‘abuse of dominance’ is a challenging and complex task for the competition agencies around the world for two simple reasons, i.e. there are several practices which may amount to an abuse of dominant position (predatory pricing, offering rebates etc.) and there is a very thin line of difference between the legitimate practice of an enterprise to become dominant in market, which is perfectly justified from a business perspective, and using the dominant position unfairly to the detriment of the competition in markets. In Verizon , the US Supreme Court recognized this by saying “the opportunity to charge monopoly prices – at least for a short period – is what attracts “business acumen�? in the first place, it induces risk- taking that produces innovation and economic growth�?. This is what Schumpeter had said in his theory of economic development.

Corporate Power to Corporate Crimes: Understanding Corporate Criminal Liability in India

‘Corporate Power to Corporate Crimes: Understanding Corporate Criminal Liability in India’ is about the hypothesis being tested positive that “the corporations are increasing in magnitude and power; however, the law is not able to meet the demands of prosecuting the corporate offenders in absence of a clear picture on corporate criminal liability.” Thus, the cloud surrounding this area has to be removed to make the sky of corporate crime clean and evident to the public like rainwater. The sensitization of public towards these crimes has to be done in a similar way as those of ‘street crimes’ like murder, rape etc. The problem of corporate crime is unique and complex due to several reasons, the primary one being the nature of corporate form. The corporate form has now become the dominant institution in the society. The corporations wield enormous powers by virtue of its independent existence. The part owners, as public shareholders, are scattered and ultimately the management lies in the hands of few who have been identified as ‘alter ego’, ‘directing mind and will’ at various times by various courts. The extension of the vicarious liability to offences of mens rea led to the development of corporate criminal liability. The present book traces these developments and presents a comprehensive position in terms of case laws and examples of corporate crimes.

Competition Policy and Financial Regulations — Case of a Unified Competition Regulator

There is no doubt that increased competition improves a country’s economic performance, opens business opportunities to its citizens and reduces the cost of goods and services throughout the economy. This fact has been recognised by the governments around the world including India which is evident from the market reforms being carried out especially in sectors like telecom, electricity, airlines, banking and insurance. With each of these sectors being reformed, an independent regulator is set-up for the purpose with mandate to regulate the respective sector, which in majority of occasions include even “regulating competition issues�?. Thus, the question is no more on the necessity and relevance of promotion of competition, but is on who should regulate the matter involving “competition issues�? in light of a specialised body, CCI in place.

Competition Law and Policy for Rural Consumers

Rural markets comprises of a major market in India. About 70% of the population stay in villages/rural areas and are consumers of various products and services. With growing technological know-how and communication channels the flow of goods and services from urban to rural areas have potentially increased. This has given birth to the concept of rural marketing. As ‘market’ is central to the concept of rural marketing, it is equally important when we look at it from the competition law perspective. The mandate of competition law extends to the whole of India except Jammu & Kashmir, which includes both urban and rural markets. The law does not make a distinction as to its applicability to urban or rural areas and is to prevent practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition in markets, to protect the interest of consumers and to ensure freedom of trade carried on by other participants in markets. However, rural market may be classified as different market under the definition of ‘relevant market’. The present paper would examine the competition law provisions and its applicability specifically to rural markets and rural consumers. It may be noted that 11th Planning Commission has observed that in rural areas only 13% of the population had heard of the Consumer Protection Act. In view of this, awareness about competition law may be gauged. The paper would seek to bring out the areas of competition law relevant for rural markets and how this can be utilized for the benefit of rural areas to protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade. The first part of the paper would deal with the concept of rural markets and rural marketing and draw a distinction from the urban markets. The second part will deal with the competition law provisions broadly and how they apply to the rural markets. The third part would bring forward the issues concerning this area.

Applying ‘Essential Facility Doctrine’ – What's the Right Approach?

The present article explores the evolution and history of Essential Facility Doctrine in US and EU with some reference to other countries also. The prominent divide between the US and EU approaches towards the application of this doctrine is analyzed as well as its present status is traced out with an analysis under the Indian Competition Act, 2002 raising questions for further discussion and debate.

Trends in Safety and Security Regulations of Civil Aviation

Safety and security is one of the important issues involved in development of civil aviation nationally as well as internationally. There is a slight distinction between the concepts of ‘safety’ and ‘security’. Further, the growth of terrorism and terrorists using aircraft as a new tool for perpetrating terrorism is a fresh area of concern. There has to be an effective compliance with the international norms of safety and security not only with regards to the international flights but also with regards to domestic flights. There cannot be a proposition in mutual exclusivity when it comes to matters of aviation security. Moreover, the air carriers should also be responsive to the safety and security needs while they are planning the economic outcome. There needs to be a balance between the safety and security needs with that of the economic burden. The overall trend in the development of safety and security regulations in civil aviation has been good but still it is not the ultimate end. New modes of threat in the form of terrorist attacks would keep on emerging and there would always be a need to have a better oversight of these issues. This paper delves into the laws and issues relating to safety and security regulations of civil aviation.