The international competition network, its leniency best practice and legitimacy: An argument for introducing a review system

In his contribution The International Competition Network, its Leniency Best Practice and Legitimacy: An Argument for Introducing a Review System, Steven Van Uytsel argues that the International Competition Network, as an example of a transnational regulatory network, should set up a review system of its best practices. Best practices of transnational regulatory networks, are seen as a legitimate tool for influencing the regulatory behavior of their members. These best practices are, at the end, developed by experts in the field based upon the experiences of these experts with their respective legislation or practices. Nevertheless, this chapter shows that this may be problematic if the legislation or the practice with which these experts work exhibits flaws. This is an argument that can be made in the framework of the leniency program and its best practice under the Competition Network. Van Uytsel shows that the best practice finds its origin in the leniency program of two major jurisdictions, the United States and the European Union. The leniency programs of these two jurisdictions have recently been negatively scrutinized by several scholars. Therefore, the question arises on whether best practice is really reflecting a legitimate end-result for convergence. Suggesting that it is not, Van Uytsel argues that a review process could overcome the potential threat to legitimacy in this kind of transnational regulatory network and he also offers some ideas on how this review process could be institutionalized.