Kriminalisering av den hårda kärnans karteller - en transatlantisk jämförelse
(2016) JURM02 20161Department of Law
- Abstract
- The issue of criminalization of hard core cartels has been considered three times in Swedish Government Official Reports since the turn of the millen- nium. The proposition was rejected every time. In the United States, collusion in restraint of trade has been criminalized since 1890. Harsh punishments are applied, some companies have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars and many individuals have received lengthy prison sentences.
The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the criminalization proposition consi- dered by the Modernization investigation in 2004, with a starting point in the American experiences of criminalized antitrust violations. The Swedish and American regulations are compared and analyzed. Furthermore, the... (More) - The issue of criminalization of hard core cartels has been considered three times in Swedish Government Official Reports since the turn of the millen- nium. The proposition was rejected every time. In the United States, collusion in restraint of trade has been criminalized since 1890. Harsh punishments are applied, some companies have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars and many individuals have received lengthy prison sentences.
The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the criminalization proposition consi- dered by the Modernization investigation in 2004, with a starting point in the American experiences of criminalized antitrust violations. The Swedish and American regulations are compared and analyzed. Furthermore, the potential problems and consequences that a criminalization may bring from a Swedish perspective are considered, to answer the question whether a criminalization of hard core cartels is efficient, necessary and appropriate.
The legal dogmatic method has been used to establish the content of current law and a comparative method has been used to compare and analyze the Swedish and American systems. The mechanics of cartel formation and how cartels should be combated have also been considered from a criminological and behavioral economic perspective.
The investigation has shown that hard core cartels cause great harm to the economy as well as to individual parties, though it is difficult to accurately estimate the extent of the harm.
The investigation has also shown that many of the misgivings that were put forward when a criminalization was last considered in Sweden, are unfoun- ded, and that a criminalization can be compatible with EU law and European human rights law. The investigation has further shown that the American ex- periences with criminalized antitrust violations are positive.
The American experiences have also shown that some form of plea bargai- ning system is essential to the success of criminalizing antitrust violations. The Swedish leniency program is efficient, and would have to be extended to include criminal sanctions to not disincentivize individuals from cooperating with the authorities.
The issue of plea bargaining or crown witnesses touches something funda- mental in Swedish law, and has been ruled out by lawmakers. For this reason, it is currently not possible to criminalize hard core cartel violations in an ef- ficient way. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Frågan om en kriminalisering av karteller inom den hårda kärnan har sedan millennieskiftet utretts tre gånger inom ramen för statens offentliga utred- ningar. Varje gång har detta avstyrkts. I USA har kartellsamarbeten däremot varit kriminaliserade sedan 1890. Idag tillämpas hårda straff, enskilda förtag har fått betala hundratals miljoner dollar i böter och många personer har dömts till långa fängelsestraff.
Syftet med detta arbete är att utvärdera det lagförslag som övervägdes av Moderniseringsutredningen 2004, med utgångspunkt i de amerikanska erfarenheterna av ett kriminaliserat kartellförbud. I arbetet jämförs och analyseras de svenska respektive amerikanska rättsreglerna kring kartellsamarbeten. Vidare behandlas eventuella problem... (More) - Frågan om en kriminalisering av karteller inom den hårda kärnan har sedan millennieskiftet utretts tre gånger inom ramen för statens offentliga utred- ningar. Varje gång har detta avstyrkts. I USA har kartellsamarbeten däremot varit kriminaliserade sedan 1890. Idag tillämpas hårda straff, enskilda förtag har fått betala hundratals miljoner dollar i böter och många personer har dömts till långa fängelsestraff.
Syftet med detta arbete är att utvärdera det lagförslag som övervägdes av Moderniseringsutredningen 2004, med utgångspunkt i de amerikanska erfarenheterna av ett kriminaliserat kartellförbud. I arbetet jämförs och analyseras de svenska respektive amerikanska rättsreglerna kring kartellsamarbeten. Vidare behandlas eventuella problem och konsekvenser som en kriminalisering kan medföra för svenskt vidkommande, för att slutligen svara på frågan huruvida en kriminalisering av karteller inom den hårda kärnan är effektivt, nödvändigt och eftersträvansvärt.
Rättsdogmatisk metod har använts för att fastställa gällande rätt och en komparativ metod för att jämföra och analysera de svenska och amerikanska systemen. Mekanismerna bakom kartellbildning och hur dessa bör bekämpas har även behandlats ur ett kriminologiskt och beteendeekonomiskt perspektiv.
Utredningen har visat att karteller inom den hårda kärnan orsakar stora skador på såväl samhällsekonomin som för enskilda parter. Det är dock mycket svårt att exakt uppskatta samhällsekonomiska skadornas omfattning.
Utredningen har även visat att många av de farhågor som lyftes när en kriminalisering senast övervägdes i Sverige är obefogade, och att en kriminalisering kan vara förenlig med EU- och europarätten. Dessutom har det framkommit att de amerikanska erfarenheterna av straffbelagda konkurrensöverträdelser är goda.
De amerikanska erfarenheterna har dock visat att ett plea bargaining- eller kronvittnessystem är helt avgörande för att en straffsanktionerad konkurrens- rätt ska fungera. Det svenska programmet med eftergift och nedsättning av konkurrensskadeavgift är effektivt, och måste utsträckas till att även omfatta de straffrättsliga påföljder som kan komma ifråga vid en kriminalisering för att inte incitamenten att samarbeta med myndigheternas utredning ska försvinna.
Frågan om införande av ett kronvittnessystem berör dock något fundamentalt i den svenska rätten, och detta har uteslutits av lagstiftarna. Av detta skäl är det i dagsläget inte möjligt att med önskvärd effektivitet kriminalisera kartell- förbrytelser inom den hårda kärnan. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8874294
- author
- Berkesköld, Viktor LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Criminalization of hard core cartels - a transatlantic comparison
- course
- JURM02 20161
- year
- 2016
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Straffrätt, criminal law, konkurrensrätt, antitrust law, competition law, rättsekonomi, law and economics, konkurrensbrott, kartell, karteller, cartel, cartels
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 8874294
- date added to LUP
- 2016-06-10 14:11:52
- date last changed
- 2017-08-21 08:05:10
@misc{8874294,
abstract = {{The issue of criminalization of hard core cartels has been considered three times in Swedish Government Official Reports since the turn of the millen- nium. The proposition was rejected every time. In the United States, collusion in restraint of trade has been criminalized since 1890. Harsh punishments are applied, some companies have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars and many individuals have received lengthy prison sentences.
The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the criminalization proposition consi- dered by the Modernization investigation in 2004, with a starting point in the American experiences of criminalized antitrust violations. The Swedish and American regulations are compared and analyzed. Furthermore, the potential problems and consequences that a criminalization may bring from a Swedish perspective are considered, to answer the question whether a criminalization of hard core cartels is efficient, necessary and appropriate.
The legal dogmatic method has been used to establish the content of current law and a comparative method has been used to compare and analyze the Swedish and American systems. The mechanics of cartel formation and how cartels should be combated have also been considered from a criminological and behavioral economic perspective.
The investigation has shown that hard core cartels cause great harm to the economy as well as to individual parties, though it is difficult to accurately estimate the extent of the harm.
The investigation has also shown that many of the misgivings that were put forward when a criminalization was last considered in Sweden, are unfoun- ded, and that a criminalization can be compatible with EU law and European human rights law. The investigation has further shown that the American ex- periences with criminalized antitrust violations are positive.
The American experiences have also shown that some form of plea bargai- ning system is essential to the success of criminalizing antitrust violations. The Swedish leniency program is efficient, and would have to be extended to include criminal sanctions to not disincentivize individuals from cooperating with the authorities.
The issue of plea bargaining or crown witnesses touches something funda- mental in Swedish law, and has been ruled out by lawmakers. For this reason, it is currently not possible to criminalize hard core cartel violations in an ef- ficient way.}},
author = {{Berkesköld, Viktor}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Kriminalisering av den hårda kärnans karteller - en transatlantisk jämförelse}},
year = {{2016}},
}