Criminal liability for breaching Competition Law

The aim of this paper is to analyze criminal liability for breaching competition law. The main part of this thesis is dedicated to criminalization of cartels in the Czech Republic analysis which uses comparison to other jurisdictions such as USA and EU because it is trying to answer the question whether criminalization of uncompetitive conduct in the Czech Republic has a potential to become an efficient mechanism for fighting cartels in particular. And this criminalization has a positive effect on other competition law enforcement systems. The first chapter is dedicated to the explanation of basic terms related to the competition and competition law. Second chapter explains what cartel agreements are and what types of public and private enforcement exists to fight them. Also it points out to the trend of cartel criminalization. Third chapter analyzes cartel enforcement in USA as a model country in this area of law. Chapter number four looks into the EU legislation since it applies to the Czech Republic. Also it looks at individual member states steps towards fighting cartels. The last chapter dealing with cartel agreement analyzes the Czech Republic's legislation. This analysis is supported by previously acquired knowledge of US and EU legislations which is used to make comparisons. Final chapter continues with the analysis of Czech legislation however this time with unfair competition in order to provide a complete picture of criminal liability when breaching the competition law