Peter Whelan

Education

Peter holds both a Degree in Law and French (LLB (Ling Fran)) and a Master of Laws (LLM) from Trinity College, Dublin. During his primary degree, and under the Erasmus programme, he spent a university year studying French law at the Université de Poitiers, France. Peter came first overall in his class in his Senior Freshman year at Trinity. Peter is currently studying for a PhD in Law at St John's College, Cambridge; his chosen topic is 'Competition and the Criminal Law'. For more info on this doctoral thesis, please click here.

Bar Admissions

Peter was admitted to the New York State Bar in October 2007.

Role at the Institute

Peter joined the Competition Law Forum (CLF) of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law as a legal intern in January 2005. He became the Research Fellow at the CLF in May of that year. In 2006 Peter was made a co-editor of Current Competition Law, the CLF's yearbook on competition law. For info on the latest copy, please click here. Since joining the Institute, Peter has worked on various competition law projects including among others:

  • CEPR Project on International Competition Cooperation;
  • DG Sanco - Consumers International Competition Project (as legal consultant);
  • CLF Working Group on Private Actions (as rapporteur); and
  • CLF Project on Consumer Detriment in EC and UK Competition Law.

Peter is also a regular contributor to the British Institute's Bulletin of International Legal Developments on EC, UK and US antitrust and merger law, as well as US constitutional developments.

External Activities

Peter regularly engages in various external legal/educational activities, such as:

  • Managing Editor, Cambridge Student Law Review;
  • Research Assistant, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge;
  • Article Referee, Melbourne Journal of International Law;
  • External Legal Researcher, Cooper Kenyon Burrows Solicitors;
  • Article Referee, European Competition Journal; and
  • (Business and Legal) English Language Teacher, Heilongjiang Business and Technical College, Harbin, People's Republic of China.

Research Interests

Peter's main research interests are cartel law, comparative competition law, comparative criminal law, and EU law. He is also interested in international law and human rights law.

Recent Publications

Books

  • Current Competition Law: Volume V, Marsden, Hutchings and Whelan (eds), (London: BIICL, 2007)

Chapters

  • 'Protecting Human Rights in the Context of European Antitrust Criminalisation', chapter in The Reform of EC Competition: Towards an Optimal Enforcement System, Lianos & Kokorris (eds), (Kluwer International: Amsterdam, 2008), forthcoming
  • 'The "Consumer Welfare" Standard as a Form of Substantive Protection for Consumers under European Competition Law', Chapter 15, Own Labels, Branded Goods and Competition Policy: The Changing Landscape of Retail Competition, Ezrachi & Bernitz (eds), (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2008), forthcoming, with P Marsden

Articles

  • 'Contemplating the Future: Personal Criminal Sanctions for Infringement of EC Competition Law' (2008) 19(2) King's Law Journal 364
  • 'Intervention and the Internal Market: Contemporary European Competition Initiatives Concerning Distribution in the Market for New Cars' (2008) 4(2) European Competition Journal, forthcoming, with P Marsden
  • 'A Principled Argument for Personal Criminal Sanctions as Punishment under EC Cartel Law' (2007) 4(1) Competition Law Review 7
  • 'When Markets are Failing: Part II' (2007) 6(2) Competition Law Insight 6, with P Marsden
  • 'The Role of Third Parties in the Competition Enforcement Landscape: A Critical Review' [2007] Competition Law Journal 41
  • 'When Markets are Failing: Part I' (2007) 6(1) Competition Law Insight 6, with P Marsden
  • '"Consumer Detriment" and its Application in EC and UK Competition Law' (2006) 27(10) European Competition Law Review 569, with P Marsden
  • 'Consumer Interest in Competition Law Cases' (2006) 16(5) Consumer Policy Review 180, with M Hutchings OBE
  • 'Competition Law Feature: Recent Developments Concerning the Rights of Complainants and Third Parties under both UK and EC Competition Law' [2006] 14 Bulletin of Legal Developments 157

Case Notes

  • 'Resisting the Long Arm of Criminal Antitrust Laws: Norris v. US' [2009] Modern Law Review, forthcoming
  • 'The Degussa Case' (2008) 7(8) Competition Law Insight 13
  • 'Private Enforcement and Commission Decisions: The Crehan Case' (2007) 3 Cambridge Student Law Review 108

Book Reviews

  • 'Book Review: Efficiency and Justice in European Antitrust Enforcement (Wils)' (2008) 33(6) European Law Review, forthcoming
  • 'Book Review: What About Law? (Barnard, O'Sullivan & Virgo, eds)' (2008) 4(2) Cambridge Student Law Review, forthcoming
  • 'Book Review: The Antitrust Religion (Rockefeller)' (2008) 4(1) European Competition Journal 397
  • 'Book Review: Global Competition Law and Economics (Elhauge & Geradin, eds)' (2008) 66(1) Cambridge Law Journal 211
  • 'Book Review: Butterworths Competition Law Handbook (Lindrup, ed)' (2008) 4(1) Cambridge Student Law Review 141
  • 'Book Review: Criminalization of Competition Law Enforcement: Economic and Legal Implications for the EU Member States (Cseres, Schinkel & Vogelaar, eds)' (2006) 2 European Competition Journal 451

Academic Papers

  • 'Re-Examining Trans-Atlantic Divergences in Substantive and Procedural Competition Law', paper to be presented at the Sedona Conference, 'Antitrust Law and Litigation X: The Globalisation of Antitrust Enforcement', Florence, Italy, September 2008, with P Marsden
  • 'The Appropriateness of the Passing-On Defence in Private Competition Law Enforcement', paper presented at the UKAEL Conference: 'Competition and Private Enforcement: The Next Steps', University College London, 4 July 2008
  • 'Morality and Its Restraining Influence on European Antitrust Criminalisation', paper, Faculty of Law, Cambridge University, June 2008
  • 'The Concept of Price Discrimination under EC and UK Law', paper presented to the American Bar Association, Antitrust Teleseminar Series, 27 February 2006, with P Marsden
  • 'The Contribution of Bilateral Trade or Competition Agreements to Competition Law Enforcement Cooperation between Canada and Chile' (London: CEPR, 2005), with P Marsden, paper presented at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Conference, Brussels and Paris, April and October 2005
  • 'The Contribution of Bilateral Trade or Competition Agreements to Competition Law Enforcement Cooperation between Canada and Costa Rica' (London: CEPR, 2005), with P Marsden, paper presented at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Conference, Brussels and Paris, April and October 2005
  • 'The Contribution of Bilateral Trade or Competition Agreements to Competition Law Enforcement Cooperation between the EU and Mexico' (London: CEPR, 2005), with P Marsden, paper presented at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Conference, Brussels and Paris, April and October 2005

Legal Submissions

  • 'To What Extent Are Criminal Sanctions for Infringement of Articles 81 and 82 EC Necessary or Appropriate and Is There a Case and Basis for Criminalisation of Articles 81 and 82 at an EC Level?', 2007 Horsfall Turner Essay Competition, The Law Society's European Group, October 2007
  • 'The Competition Law Forum's Submission to the European Commission in Response to its Green Paper on Damages Actions for Breach of the EC Antitrust Rules', 21 April 2006, with the CLF Working Group on Private Actions, republished in Current Competition Law: Volume V, Marsden, Hutchings and Whelan (eds), (London: BIICL, 2007)

Legal Bulletins

  • 'Treuhand v. Commission' [2008] 15 BILD 169
  • 'The O2/T-Mobile Judgment of the CFI' [2006] 10 BLD 109
  • 'DONG/Elsam/Energi E2' [2006] 6 BLD 61
  • 'Gonzales v. Oregon' [2006] 2 BLD 20
  • 'Obituary: Chief Justice William Hubbs Rehnquist (1924-2005)' [2005] 18 BLD 12
  • 'Sprint Corporation/Nextel Communications' [2005] 17 BLD 200
  • 'British Horseracing Board v. The Office of Fair Trading' [2005] 17 BLD 196

Commissioned Reports

  • 'Trends in Retail Competition: Private Labels, Brands and Competition Policy: 2008', London: BIICL, May 2008
  • 'Trends in Retail Competition: Private Labels, Brands and Competition Policy: 2007', London: BIICL, May 2007
  • 'Competition Law and the Consumer: Results of the Legislative Survey on Fourteen European Competition Law Regimes', London: BIICL, March 2007, with P Marsden and P Schepens
  • 'Examining National Compliance with "Pro-Competitive" Regulatory Commitments Made at the WTO in the Telecoms Sector: UK', London: BIICL, January 2006

Theses

  • 'Globalisation and Antitrust: The Case for Increased Cooperation and Convergence in the Face of Excessive Extraterritorial Jurisdiction', Master of Laws Thesis, Trinity College, Dublin, September 2003

Future Publications

Works at Peer-Review Stage

  • N/A

Works in Progress

  • 'Is the Passing-On Defence Appropriate?', article for possible publication in Competition Law Insight

Presentations

  • 'Defences that are Appropriate in Follow-On Damages Actions', UKAEL Conference: 'Competition and Private Enforcement: The Next Steps', University College London, 4 July 2008
  • 'On the Need for Personal Criminal Sanctions as Punishment under EC Cartel Law', Third Annual PhD Workshop, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, June 2007
  • 'A Principled Argument for Personal Criminal Sanctions as Punishment under EC Cartel Law', Law Faculty, University of Cambridge, May 2007
  • 'The Role of Third Parties in the Competition Enforcement Landscape - Recent EC Developments: A Critical Review', 1st Junior UK Competition Lawyers Conference, Competition Appeal Tribunal, London, December 2006
  • 'Private Enforcement of EC Competition Law', Legal Implications of Business Conduct in Europe and Beyond: Risks and Rights, Global Legal Alliance Conference, Paris, October 2006
  • '"Consumer Detriment" and its Application in EC Competition Law', DG Sanco-Consumers International Competition Project, Second Regional Workshop, London, July 2006
  • 'Introduction to EC Competition Law', DG Sanco-Consumers International Competition Project, First Regional Workshop, London, March 2006
  • 'Competition Provisions in Bilateral Trade Agreements', Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Conference, Paris, October 2005
  • 'The Substantive Test under the European Community Merger Regulation', Trinity College, Dublin, April 2003
  • 'The Concept of Dominance in EC Competition Law', Trinity College, Dublin, November 2002


Contact Peter Whelan