Legal Protection for Commercial Competition in KSA (Comparative Study)

Abstract

The competition issues had taken a considerable international concern. While, the competition law in the Anglo-Saxon countries began to emerge at the end of the 19Th century in United States of America through legislation against monopoly by establishing specialized agencies combating and fighting anti-competitive practices. Where the first independent administrative authority appeared in 1889 “interstate commerce commission”. That period was characterized by promulgation of a set of Antitrust Laws, including the Sherman Act in 1896 “Lais Antitrut”, the “Clayton Act” in 1914 and in the same year the Federal Trade Law was issued “Federal Trade Commission Act” for prohibition of monopolies. Islamic law (Sharia) came with a set of general bases that believe in the idea of free market: in which the country general authority does not intervene except if necessary in specific cases like that, if there is a defect in or deviation from the rules and provisions of the financial transactions stipulated by the Islamic Sharia. The present research aimed to clarify the basis of the legal protection of the trade competition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in comparative study with the French law.