Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v ABB Transmission and Distribution Limited (No. 2) [2002] FCA 559

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

v ABB Transmission and Distribution Limited (No. 2)

[2002] FCA 559

TRADE PRACTICES – antitrust contraventions – penalties – principles to be taken into account Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) ss 45, 45A, 76 and 83 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Rural Press Limited (2001) ATPR 41-833 followed CPSU, the Community and Public Sector Union v Telstra Corporation Ltd (2001) 108 IR 228 referred to Dawson v Great Central Railway (1919) 88 LJKB 1177 referred to Director of Public Prosecutions v Kent & Sussex Contractors Ltd [1944] 1 KB 146 referred to Lowe v R (1984) 154 CLR 606 applied Mill v R (1988) 166 CLR 59 applied Mousell Brothers Ltd v London and North-Western Railway [1917] 2 KB 836 referred to NW Frozen Foods v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (1997) ATPR 41-546 distinguished Pearks, Gunston and Tee Ltd v Ward [1902] 2 KB 1 referred to Postiglione v R (1997) 189 CLR 295 applied Re Suttons Hospital Case (1612) 10 Co Rep 23a; 77 ER 960 referred to R v Severn & Wye Railway Company (1819) 2 B & ALD 646; 106 ER 501 referred to R v Birmingham & Gloucester Railway Co (1842) 3 QB 223; 114 ER 492 referred to R v Edirimanasingham [1961] AC 454 referred to R v Great North of England Railway Co (1846) 9 QB 315; 115 ER 1294 referred to R v Jolly (1994) 1 VR 446 referred to R v Tiddy (1969) SASR 575 applied Ryan v R (1982) 149 CLR 1 referred to Trade Practices Commission v Madad Pty Ltd (1979) 40 FLR 453 not followed Trade Practices Commission v Simpson Pope Ltd (1980) ATPR 40-169 not followed G Becker, The Economic Approach to Human Behaviour (1976) A Dubois, The English Business Company After the Bubble Act 1720-1800 (1938) W Holdsworth, A History of English Law, 5th ed (1942) vol III R E Megarry, Miscellany-at-law : A Diversion for Lawyers and Others (1955) Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (3rd ed) 1983 D Baker and B Reeves, "The Paper Label Sentences: Critiques" 86 Yale L J 619 (1977) G Becker, "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach" 76 J Pol Econ 169 (1968) R Blair, "Antitrust Penalties: Deterrence and Compensation" 1980 Utah L Rev 57 M Block and R Lind, "Crime and Punishment Reconsidered" 4 J of Legal Stud 241 (1975) J Coffee, "Making the Punishment Fit the Corporation: The Problems of Finding an Optimal Corporation Criminal Sanction" 1 Nth Ill. L Rev 3 (1980) J Coffee "No Soul to Damn, No Body to Kick: An Unscandalized Inquiry into the Problem of Corporate Punishment", 79 Mich L Rev 386 (1981) J Coffee, "Corporate Crime and Punishment: A Non-Chicago View of the Economics of Criminal Sanctions" 17 Am Crim L Rev 419 (1980) L Hall, "The Substantive Law of Crimes 1867-1936" 50 Harvard Law Rev 616 (1937) M Kerns, "Criminal Sentencing in Antitrust Cases" Loy Uni L J 985 (1982) R Posner, "An Economic Theory of the Criminal Law" 85 Colum L Rev 1193 (1985) R Posner, "An Economic Theory of the Criminal Law" 85 Colum L Rev 1193 (1985) R Posner "Optimal Sentences for White-Collar Criminals" 17 Am Crim L Rev 409 (1980) AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION v ABB TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION LIMITED and ORS V 868 of 2000 FINKELSTEIN J MELBOURNE 3 MAY 2002