Competition Anti-competitive agreements and abuse of a dominant position in a market
The Competition Act 1998 replaced the Restrictive Practices Court Act 1976, the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976, the Resale Prices Act 1976 and the restrictive Trade Practices Act 1977. Part 1 of the Act established two central prohibitions: the Chapter I prohibition against anti-competitive agreements and the Chapter II prohibition against the abuse of a dominant position in a market which came into force on 1 March 2000.
	Chapter 3 of Part 1 of the Competition Act 1998 makes provision regarding the investigation and enforcement of the prohibitions by the CMA. Amendments to provisions in Chapter 3 were made by the Competition Act 1998 and Other Enactments (Amendment) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/1261) in order to implement EU obligations set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty, and for the alignment of the domestic competition regime with the new European regime. The majority of those amendments came into force on 1 May 2004.
	Chapter 4 of Part 1 of the Competition Act 1998 deals with both appeals against CMA decisions, which are made to the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("the CAT") and proceedings and settlements in relation to competition law. Private law claims may be pursued for breaches of the infringements and such claims may be made before the courts or the CAT. Amendments to provisions in Chapter 4 were made by the Claims in respect of Loss or Damage arising from Competition Infringements (Competition Act 1998 and Other Enactments)(Amendment) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017.385) in order to implement in part Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union ("the Damages Directive") and for the alignment of the domestic competition regime with the provisions in the Damages Directive.
	Further amendments were made to both Chapters 3 and 4 of Part 1 of the Competition Act 1998 by the Competition (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/93) to correct deficiencies arising as a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union and ensure the domestic regime operates on a freestanding basis. These amendments took effect on Implementation Period Completion Day.
	Part 6 of the Enterprise Act 2002 which came into force on 20 June 2003 makes provision for an offence relating to hard-core cartels. The offence may be committed by individuals who enter into serious cartel arrangements, that is if they agree with one or more other persons to make or implement certain prohibited cartel arrangements in relation to two or more undertakings, namely price fixing, market sharing, bid rigging and limiting output. Part 6 of the Enterprise Act 2002 contains specific provisions regarding investigation of the offence by the CMA and the powers available to it for that purpose. The offence was modified by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 to remove a requirement that a person must act dishonestly in order to commit the offence, set out particular circumstances in which the offence is not committed and provide defences to the commission of the offence. The amendments further required the CMA to prepare and publish guidance on the principles to be applied to determine, in any case, whether proceedings for the offence should be instituted. Those amendments came into force on 1 April 2014.