In the period 2017-2018 Professor Marek Martyniszyn, in collaboration with Dr hab. Maciej Bernatt (University of Warsaw), undertook a critical investigation into implementation and development of competition law system in Poland. In this framework Dr Martyniszyn developed a methodology of availing of in-depth semi-structured interviews and working with a variety of data and statistics. In particular, this research benefitted from nearly 30 interviews with individuals who shaped the competition law system over nearly 30 years of its existence (including all former heads of the Polish competition agency, judges, leading practitioners, and agency advisors). Moreover, while relying on broader scholarship on new competition regimes and doctrinal research, this work drew on under-explored and newly collected data and statistics. It is the first such study of the Polish competition law system, or indeed of a recently matured competition law regime.

The project closing seminar and an expert panel discussion took place on 23 November 2018 at the University of Warsaw. The opening remarks were delivered by Professor William Kovacic (George Washington University and the King’s College London). The panel discussion involved representatives of the key co-producers of the competition system— Judge Dariusz Dąbrowski (Deputy President of the District Court in Warsaw), Mr Nikodem Szadkowski (Deputy Director of the Department of Market Analyses, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection), Dr Marta Sendrowicz (Competition Law Society), Ms Agnieszka Stefanowicz-Barańska (Competition Law Society) and Professor Agata Jurkowska-Gomułka (University of Information Technology and Management).

The presented findings were very well received. They aim to deepen our understanding of how new systems develop and to influence law and policy reforms in jurisdictions that are developing domestic competition systems. They are particularly salient in countries that have undergone or are undergoing similar economic and/or political transitions. The developed methodology itself can serve as a model for assessment of competition system performance, and indeed it has already been adopted in at least one similar project in another jurisdiction.

The key project findings have been disseminated by means of a journal article:

Marek Martyniszyn, Maciej Bernatt, Implementing a competition law system—Three Decades of Polish Experience, Journal of Antitrust Enforcement, forthcoming, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaenfo/jnz016

For the full project report see: https://www.ssrn.com/abstract=3391298 (free access via SSRN).