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Abstract

During the last years, one of the most controversial issues in Spain has consisted of private enforcement of antitrust law in (obviously) disputes between individuals, what has traditionally been being referred to as judicial enforcement of competition law. This phenomenon arises in Spain from the First Additional Provision of the current Law on Competition, Law 15/2007, of July 3, where the faculty to enforce this matter is assigned to the Commercial Courts. But the fact is that in Spain and continental Europe has always dominated the defense of public interest in antitrust law, and therefore a system of enforcement by the competent administrative authorities. United States, however, is the paradigm of prosecution and has always encouraged private lawsuits, to the point of representing ninety percent of cases in which antitrust law is applied in the North American continent. The introduction into our system of such an instrument outside our legal tradition could lead into problems which are worthy of reflection, taking into account the objectives traditionally pursued by the law of competition on both sides of the Atlantic.