The Limits of Prohibition: A Cloud over Compliance Available to Purchase

There are few better examples of public policy being used to cut through what might to many seem to be sound legal reasoning than in the recent decision of the House of Lords in Re Supply of Ready‐mixed Concrete (No. 2), Director General of Fair Trading v Pioneer Concrete (UK) and Another. The case represents a milestone or perhaps more appropriately the end of the road, for a scries of cases involving actions brought by the Director of Fair Trading against a number of companies and individuals for allegedly unlawful restrictive agreements in relation to the supply of ready‐mixed cement. In the present case the two respondent companies were made subject to orders by the Restrictive Practices Court in March 1978 and March 1979 restraining them from, inter alia, giving effect to or enforcing agreements with other parties, relating to the supply of ready‐mixed cement in contravention of s. 35(1) of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976. This provision among other things, renders unlawful certain agreements restricting competition between two or more peresons carrying on business in the production or supply of goods, unless such agreements are registered.