Miyakawa, Hiromitsu --- "Japan" [2010] ELECD 773; in Foer, A. Albert; Cuneo, W. Jonathan (eds), "The International Handbook on Private Enforcement of Competition Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: The International Handbook on Private Enforcement of Competition Law

Editor(s): Foer, A. Albert; Cuneo, W. Jonathan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848448773

Section: Chapter 33

Section Title: Japan

Author(s): Miyakawa, Hiromitsu

Number of pages: 9

Extract:

33 Japan
Hiromitsu Miyakawa1


Introduction
Under the Japanese laws, which are primarily based on civil law systems, antitrust vio-
lations, including acts of private monopolization, unreasonable restraint of trade and
unfair trade practices, are considered to constitute torts. Private antitrust enforcement
seeking damages against corporations violating the antitrust law has been gradually
increasing in Japan since the government promoted and expanded the civil antitrust liti-
gation system by introducing injunctive relief and expanding the scope of anticompeti-
tive conduct subject to strict liability. Moreover, section 83-4 of the 2009 amendments to
the Anti-Monopoly Act (AMA) newly established a special rule for an order to produce
documents for an injunction in order to help antitrust plaintiffs to collect evidence.
Nevertheless, the status of private antitrust enforcement in Japan is not very active yet,
particularly compared with the United States.
It is widely recognized that private antitrust enforcement has great significance in
that: (i) monetary and injunctive relief are available for victims of anticompetitive
practices; (ii) private enforcement may cover illegal activities not detected by the Japan
Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) and thereby can supplement public enforcement; and
(iii) the accumulation of judgments may play an important role in establishing clearer
guidelines and increasing transparency.2 It is expected that private antitrust enforcement
will further expand into more diverse areas, such as monopolization and unfair trade
practices, although most private litigation filed so far relates to unreasonable restraint of
trade, such as cartels and bid riggings. The JFTC has expressed ...