Annual Baxt Lecture
The Competition Law & Economics Network hosts an Annual Public Lecture Series on competition law and economics related issues. The Lecture is given by an eminent international or national figure in this field on a topic of contemporary relevance. The intention behind the Lecture series is to highlight and generate debate about big picture policy issues as well as provide comparative insights from other jurisdictions.
About Professor Baxt
The lecture is named in honour of Emeritus Professor Bob Baxt AO in recognition of his substantial contribution to the development of competition law in Australia. In particular, the lecture acknowledges his significant support for the establishment of competition law as a recognised and sought after discipline at the graduate level at the Melbourne Law School. Professor Baxt was the Chair of the Advisory Board of the competition and consumer law specialty in the Melbourne Law Masters program.
2024 Baxt Lecture
The 15th Annual Baxt Lecture
Tuesday 12 November 2024
Combatting Collusion (and Corruption) in Public Procurement
Lecture by Professor Alison Jones
Abstract:
Competition agencies are facing an ever-expanding set of challenges. Despite the pressure on their resources, this lecture seeks to highlight why the fight against cartels, especially those affecting public procurement, should remain a high enforcement priority for competition authorities.
Professor Alison Jones will consider why, despite significant efforts to fight them, collusion and corruption remain pervasive problems in public procurement, and examine the severe negative impact these practices may have for governments, citizens, and economies. This lecture will provide some thoughts on how efforts to combat these practices can be bolstered, including through prevention, deterrence, and greater policy coordination between public procurement, competition, and anti-corruption authorities.
Speaker:
Alison Jones is Professor of Law at King’s College London and a solicitor at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. Alison teaches and researches in the sphere of competition law. She is a co-author of Jones and Sufrin’s EU Competition Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (OUP, 8th ed, 2023), Combatting Corruption and Collusion in Public Procurement: A Challenge for Governments Worldwide (OUP, 2024), and has published in leading academic and specialist competition journals and a number of edited collections. Her research has won Concurrences Antitrust writing awards. She has also prepared expert reports for the European Commission, the UK Government and the US House Committee of the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law.