Defining "governmental authority" in the Malaysian Competition Act 2010

This paper examines the concept of governmental authority which serves as one of grounds for excluding the application of the Malaysian Competition Act 2010. The concept is not defined in the 2010 Act. Thus this paper explores the methods that help determine that an activity is governmental hence it...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ahamat, Haniff, Abdul Rahman, Nasarudin
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Language:English
English
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/40749/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/40749/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/40749/1/conference_program.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/40749/11/dr_ahaniff.pdf
Description
Summary:This paper examines the concept of governmental authority which serves as one of grounds for excluding the application of the Malaysian Competition Act 2010. The concept is not defined in the 2010 Act. Thus this paper explores the methods that help determine that an activity is governmental hence it is subject to the Malaysian competition legislation. The methods identified so far are (1) the existing definition of “governmental authority” in competition legislation in selected jurisdictions including the EU, (2) the definition of governmental authority under the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and (3) the definition of governmental acts in the context of State immunity under international law. This paper hypothesises that the term governmental authority lacks an established definition at the moment but it has clearly demarcated paradigms that may allow meaning to be given in an objective way despite the need to give attention to the unique political, economic and social environments in Malaysia.