The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, (UNCTAD) in cooperation with SADC/GIZ and the Competition Authority, will host regional competition workshops for Competition Commissioners and Judges in Gaborone from 24th to 27th September 2013.
On 24th and 25th September 2013 UNCTAD will host a workshop for approximately 30 Judges from the SADC region and it will be officially opened by the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security Dikgakgamatso Seretse.
This will be followed on the 26th and 27th September by a workshop for approximately 30 Competition Commissioners from the SADC region which will be officially opened by the Minister of Trade and Industry Dorcas Makgato-Malesu.
Both workshops will be held at Sanitas Nurseries and Garden Centre in Gaborone.
The training for Judges and Commissioners at the regional level falls within UNCTAD’s framework of institutional capacity building for effective competition law and policy enforcement.
It was one of the recommendations of the Tripartite Peer Review of Competition Law and Policy of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The tripartite peer review session took place during the 12th session of the Inter-Governmental Group of Experts (IGE) on Competition Law and Policy held in Geneva in July 2012.
In many countries, members of the legal profession and the bench may not have had an opportunity of handling competition cases. In addition, the enforcement of competition law in the context of globalisation and changing markets demands greater sophistication and upgrading of skills in order for judges to effectively adjudicate competition cases.
The principal objective of the training courses is to familiarise commissioners and judges with both the economics underpinning national competition laws, and how this combines with the legal approach to enforcing competition policy in order to promote smooth and effective enforcement of competition legislation, in line with competition policy objectives in their respective countries.
Experts drawn from judicial, academic and competition enforcement backgrounds from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, European Union Court of Justice and UNCTAD will conduct the training workshops.