Transnational Hardcore Competition Cartels: Criminalization According to Transnational Criminal Law

Abstract

This thesis provides a comprehensive discussion of the criminal character of transnational hardcore competition cartels in accordance with a transnational criminal law framework. It examines different sources of international law, including customary law, general principles of law, treaty law, national law, and soft law. It concludes that transnational hardcore competition cartels are transnational crimes with domestic concerns and that they are prohibited and criminalized based on national criminal law. The thesis justifies criminalizing transnational hardcore competition cartels based on well-established criminal law theories, including utilitarianism, legal liberalism, legal moralism, and legal perfectionism. Further discussion focuses on the appropriate type of sanction, whether administrative or criminal. The thesis examines this issue based on two well-established sentencing theories: retributivism and general deterrence. The thesis suggests that the criminal sanction of imprisonment is desirable based on both proportionality grounds, in which the sanction fits the severity of the crime, and practical considerations, in which imprisonment serves as an effective sanction for suppressing those crimes.