The ACCC Immunity Policy for Cartel Conduct: Due for Review

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission regards its Immunity Policy for Cartel Conduct as its most important tool in detecting, stopping and prosecuting cartel conduct and as significant also in deterring such conduct. The ACCC has announced that it is conducting a review of the policy. The review is significant because, amongst other things, it will examine the way in which dual civil/criminal applications for immunity are being handled in a process involving the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, introduced in 2009. Drawing on a broader research project relating to immunity policies, this article seeks to provide substantial input to and prompt informed debate concerning issues that should be regarded as relevant in the review.

ABLR version not freely available for download

See also: Caron Beaton-Wells, 'The ACCC Immunity Policy for Cartel Conduct: Due for Review' [2013] UMelbLRS 1 (Paper for Competition Law Conference, Sydney, 4 May 2013)