Book review: 'competition law and practice' by Vincent Power (Butterworths)

• Author: Nicholas Kearns
• Position: Judge of the High Court
• Pages: 244-247

BOOK REVIEW:

“COMPETITION LAW AND PRACTICE”

BY VINCENT POWER

(BUTTERWORTHS)

THE HON. MR. JUSTICE NICHOLAS KEARNS*

It is easy to run out of superlatives in describing this

magnificent and scholarly work by Vincent Power. Other

reviewers have described this book as both monumental and

magisterial. Running to almost 2,000 pages, it so

comprehensively addresses all aspects of competition law as

to merit the description of being a Pickwick Papers of legal

authorship.

It would certainly be a mistake to think that the book

loses anything in relevance or readability because of the

passing of the Competition Act, 2002, which took place some

months after the publication of this volume. No practitioner

can make sense of the new legislation without understanding

the philosophy and concepts which underpin competition

law, together with the history of the evolution of competition

law principles, all of which are admirably dealt with in this

book.

It is important to remember that the Competition Act,

2002, is largely mechanical in nature. It eliminates

notifications and provides essentially a system of

self-assessment for undertakings involved in business

agreements and practices. It provides for tougher enforcement

measures and additional powers for the Competition

Authority where infringements of the Act have occurred.

However, the underlying principles remain untouched.

The first part of the book explores the concepts,

underlying principles and objectives of competition law.

There is a chapter on the economics of competition. This

2002] Book Review: "Competition Law and Practice"244

* Judge of the High Court.