Antitrust Arbitration Review by Courts: The Czechs Do It Differently, but How Much?

Abstract:      

In the past, an Irish barrister and arbitrator James Bridgeman remarked that the arbitration of competition law is a meeting of two black arts. This perception has not changed since and yet, the adjudication of competition issues in arbitration is an everyday event of real life. This paper touches upon a specific issue in this area, the duty of national courts to review arbitral awards potentially in breach with competition law of their own motion (ex officio). It follows from the case-law of European courts that they have to do this on the grounds of conflict with public policy of EU Member States, provided, however, that States do recognize such grounds. The Czech Arbitration Act has recently been amended to incorporate some sort of grounds of public policy for review of arbitral awards in consumer contracts and it is the argument of this paper that Czech national courts must use these grounds to filter arbitral awards in breach of competition rules of the EU. 

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