Soft Laws Nature and Employability in Competition Law

Abstract

The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 brought in several changes to the Indian competition law regime with special emphasis on the need to restructure the Competition Commission of India's enforcement strategies. With rapid technological advancement and evolving business dynamics, there seems a renewed emphasis on the adoption of soft law instruments to complement the existing hard law and act as, what is opined as a 'stop-gap measure' used by the agencies. An analysis of the soft law enforcement tools existing in prominent jurisdictions such as the European Union and the United States reveals the role of soft law tools in fostering stakeholders' collaborations, self-regulation, and information-sharing. However, the questions pertaining to its placement within the legal framework and interaction with the hard law still persist. The present research aims at dissecting the role of different soft law instruments within the competition law toolkit while studying their ability across nations. With the Amendment granting the Commission the powers to issue guidelines and undertake enhanced advocacy measures, it would be crucial to assess how soft law measures can be better incorporated within the legal system while yielding flexibility and legal certainty