Suppliers to a sellers’ cartel and the boundaries of the right to damages in U.S. versus EU competition law

While customer damage claims against price-cartels receive much attention, it is unresolved to what extent other groups that are negatively affected may claim compensation. This paper focuses on probably the most important one, suppliers to a downstream sellers’ cartel. The paper first identifies three economic effects that determine whether suppliers suffer losses due to a cartel by their customers. We then examine whether suppliers are entitled to claim net losses as damages in the U.S. and the EU, with exemplary looks at England and Germany, delineating the boundaries of the right to damages in the two leading competition law jurisdictions. We find that, while the majority view in the U.S. denies standing, the emerging position in the EU approves of cartel supplier damage claims. We show that this is consistent with the ECJ case law and in line with the new EU Damages Directive. From a comparative law and economics perspective, we argue that more generous supplier standing in the EU compared to the U.S. is justified in view of the different institutional context and the goals assigned to the right to damages in the EU. We demonstrate that supplier damage claims are also practically viable by showing how supplier damages can be estimated econometrically.     

Social movement

Since the nineteenth century psychiatry has become increasingly involved in the problem of crime. This article attempts to explain what is distinctive about the way psychiatry conceptualizes and manages delinquents and delinquent conduct. It points to the inadequacies in existing accounts of this development and proposes an alternative way of looking at psychiatric penality; exploring its links, not with the principles of medical rationality, but with moral treatment, a complex mode of intervening into psychological problems that was practiced in early nineteenth century medical psychology. The argument is illustrated by studies of psychiatric interventions into the problems of psychopathic and alcoholic offenders.     

THE SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA

The aim of this article is to give an overview of the tasks and the function of the Supreme Court of Justice in interaction with the other two “Highest Courts” of the Republic of Austria on the one hand, and the European Court of Human Rights as well as the Court of Justice of the European Union on the other hand. For this purpose introductory remarks will examine the Austrian understanding of the judiciary as a state power and judicial independence. The closing part of the article will particularly look into the role of the Supreme Court as highest instance in criminal matters.     

Victims and offenders of criminal violence

In order to test the hypothesis that victims and offenders of criminal violence are linked by means of the same life-style, a representative sample of 172 sentenced offenders and their victims was analyzed. It could be demonstrated that the pairs were systematically asymmetric: the offenders were younger, more often males, less wealthy, and more socially deviant than their victims, in spite of the fact that the victims were not representative for a normal population with regard to social deviance. The results of the study are more compatible with the supposition that violence can arise when certain situations are misinterpreted by the offender than with the proposal that violence is a result of similar life-styles in special segments of the population.     

Financial planning in metropolitan municipalities—lessons for South Africa from selected countries

In South Africa, municipalities are central to government's service delivery efforts to its communities. Because of inadequate revenue collection processes or impoverished communities that are unable to supply necessary operational revenues, both national and provincial government need to transfer funds to the local government to achieve delivery of priority services and economic development infrastructure. This study investigates, through a desktop study, the best financial planning practices for municipalities to implement in order to be financially viable, by reviewing and comparing the legislative and legal frameworks relating to financial planning and the financial planning practices in Australia and New Zealand, whose legislation served as an example for the drafting of current South African legislation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mining strategies in the Middle East and North Africa

This article provides a mapping exercise of the economic importance of non-hydrocarbon minerals (nhm) in the Middle East and North Africa (mena) and shows how governments in the region increasingly perceive them as strategic resources. The focus is on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, Turkey, Morocco and Iran. nhm like iron ore, phosphates, aluminium and uranium are important for development models in the region, either as export commodities or as vital input factors. Since the 1990s, and as elsewhere in the world, the sector has witnessed privatisation and the promulgation of new mining codes. Yet governments have retained core capabilities and manage most key commodities themselves either directly or indirectly. Mining projects have met with opposition from labour representatives. They also have considerable environmental impact. The article discusses rentier state and resource curse theories, but argues that nhm have also increased development options and have contributed to economic diversification rather than being just a curse.