Where anti-discrimination laws are in force, exceptions are sometimes included in the laws, particularly affecting military and religious organizations. Antitrust laws are the broad group of state and federal laws designed to ensure fair business competition. Proponents say antitrust laws are necessary for an open market. Healthy competition between sellers leads to lower prices, better quality products and services, more choice and more innovation. Opponents of the antitrust law argue that it would ultimately give consumers the best prices if they allowed companies to compete as they see fit. 2019-04-23: The Tennessee Legislature has amended an anti-SLAPP law that significantly strengthens the state`s anti-SLAPP protection. With effect from 1. In July 2019, Tennessee`s new Public Participation Act allows defendants to file a motion to dismiss a SLAPP lawsuit before the costly investigative process begins, appeal the rejection of an anti-SLAPP application, and recover attorneys` fees if a court rules in their favor. The new law is largely based on Texas` anti-SLAPP law. The FTC can refer evidence of criminal violations of antitrust law to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal sanctions. The GM is responsible for telecommunications, banks, railways and airlines. The FTC and DOJ also work with regulators to ensure that certain mergers are in the public interest. In 1914, Congress passed the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibited methods of unfair competition and deceptive acts or practices.
As of 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a federal agency responsible for enforcing federal antitrust laws. The Clayton Act was also passed in 1914 and deals with certain practices that the Sherman Act does not prohibit. For example, the Clayton Act prohibits appointing the same person to make business decisions for competing companies. The FTC enforces federal antitrust laws and focuses on segments of the economy where consumer spending is high, including healthcare, drugs, food, energy, technology, and everything related to digital communications. Factors that could trigger an FTC investigation include pre-merger filings, certain consumer or business correspondence, congressional investigations, or articles on consumer or economic topics. The Sherman Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, and the Clayton Act are the main laws that form the basis of antitrust regulation. Prior to the Sherman Act, the Interstate Commerce Act was also beneficial in establishing antitrust regulations, although it had less influence than some of the others. In many countries with anti-discrimination laws, women are prohibited from holding certain positions in the military, for example as a frontline combatant or aboard submarines.
The reason given varies; For example, the British Royal Navy cites the reason why women are not allowed to serve aboard submarines as medical and related to the safety of an unborn fetus, rather than combat effectiveness. [37] [38] Under most anti-SLAPP laws, the accused person makes a request to delete the case because it is speech on a matter of public interest. The plaintiff then has the burden of demonstrating a probability that he will prevail in the lawsuit – which means that he must prove that he has evidence that could lead to a favorable verdict. If the plaintiff is unable to meet this burden and the lawsuit is dismissed through an anti-SLAPP proceeding, many regulations allow defendants to collect attorneys` fees from the plaintiff. Antitrust laws are regulations that promote competition by restricting the market power of a particular company. This is often to ensure that mergers and acquisitions do not over-concentrate market power or form monopolies, as well as to dismantle companies that have become monopolies. Antitrust laws also prevent several companies from colluding or forming a cartel to restrict competition through practices such as price fixing. Because of the complexity of deciding which practices restrict competition, antitrust law has become a separate legal specialization. Equality and non-discrimination are described as fundamental human rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
[8] Although the UDHR is not binding, nations commit to respect these rights by ratifying international human rights treaties. [9] Specific treaties on anti-discrimination law include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. [10] In addition, the United Nations` Sustainable Development Goals 10 and 16 also encourage international efforts to eliminate discriminatory laws. [11] In the 1970s, the anti-discrimination law was significantly expanded. The Equal Pay Act 1970 allowed women to take legal action against their employer if they could prove that they were paid less than a male colleague for equal work or work of equal value. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 prohibits direct and indirect discrimination on the basis of sex, and the Race Relations Act 1976 expands the scope of the Racial and Ethnic Discrimination Act. [21] In the 2000s, the scope of anti-discrimination laws in the workplace was expanded to include sexual orientation (with the enactment of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, 2003), age (the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, 2006) and the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations, 2003. [ In early 2014, Google proposed an antitrust settlement with the European Commission. Google suggested displaying results from at least three competitors whenever results were displayed for specialized searches related to products, restaurants, and travel. Competitors would pay Google every time someone clicked on certain types of results that appear next to Google results. The search engine would pay for an independent monitor to monitor the process. The European Union has adopted several important anti-discrimination directives, the Racial Equality Directive and the Employment Equality Directive.
These directives set standards that all Member States of the European Union must comply with; However, each Member State is responsible for adopting specific legislation to achieve these objectives. [20] Antitrust laws describe illegal mergers and business practices in general terms, so courts must decide which ones are illegal based on the specifics of each case. Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887. Designed to deregulate the railways, it has been said that railways must charge passengers fair fees and publicly disclose these fees, among other things. It was the first example of antitrust law, but it was less influential than the Sherman Act, passed in 1890. The Sherman Act prohibited contracts and conspiracies that restricted trade and/or monopolized industries. For example, the Sherman Act states that competing individuals or companies cannot set prices, divide markets, or attempt to manipulate bids. The Sherman Act established specific penalties and fines for violating the conditions. If the FTC believes a law has been violated, the agency will try to stop the questionable practices or find a solution to the anti-competitive portion of a proposed merger between two competitors, for example. If no solution is found, the FTC files an administrative complaint and sometimes an injunction in federal court.
Trust in antitrust law refers to a group of companies that merge or form a monopoly to dictate prices in a given market. anti- Middle English, English-French and Latin; Anglo-French, from Latin, on the other hand, from Greek, from anti; ant- Middle English, Latin, on the other hand, Greek, Anti; Anth- from Latin, on the other hand, from Greek, from anti â more at ante- In 2010, the existing anti-discrimination law was merged into a single law of parliament, the Equality Act of 2010. The Equality Act contains provisions prohibiting direct, indirect, astute and associative discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, ethnic origin, religion and belief, age, disability, sexual orientation and sex change. Labour law also protects workers from more unfavourable treatment if they have part-time workers, temporary agency workers or fixed-term contracts. [22] The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 was the first major anti-discrimination law passed in Australia and was intended to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, ethnic origin or national origin. [12] Australian courts quickly prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex through legislation such as the Equal Opportunity Act 1977 and the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977. [13] [14] The Australian Parliament extended this protection with the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (SDA) to cover all Australians and provide protections based on sex, relationship status and pregnancy. In addition, the SDA has been expanded to include gender identity and intersex status as protected groups.
[15] Discrimination on the basis of disability status is also prohibited under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. [16] On October 20, 2020, the United States.