Authority, Community and the Civil Law Commentary: An Example from German Competition Law
42 American Journal of Comparative Law 531 (1994)
12 Pages Posted: 25 Jul 2013
Date Written: 1994
Abstract
People usually read books about law in order to find out what is in them. Most books, in fact, can only be read on this level, because their only role is as a source of information. Occasionally, however, a book plays a significant enough role within a legal system that it can also be read at a second level. The commentary on German competition law edited by Ulrich Immenga and Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker (the Immenga/Mestmäcker commentary) is such a book. It is an exceptionally valuable source of information about German and, to a lesser extent, European Community competition law, but it has also been a powerful source of authority within the German competition law system since the first edition was published in 1981. To “read” it at a second level thus provides insights into the dynamics of that system. This essay explores the potential value of “reading” the work both as a source of information and as part of the competition law system.
Keywords: competition law, antitrust law, international law, comparative law, Germany, legal systems, civil law, Ulrich Immenga, Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker
JEL Classification: K19, K21, K33, K42
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation