경쟁법 위반행위에 대한 손해배상 제도

In Korea, the compensation system for violation of the competition law is still insufficient in terms of recovery of damage and prevention of violation. By comparison, the United States has established an ecosystem that enables active private enforcement through various factors such as law and institution, culture, and social system, and as a result the private enforcement of competition law has developed to the level of replacing public enforcement to a certain degree. On the other hand, in most countries where such ecosystems are not established, it is difficult for private enforcement of competition laws to exert their own deterrence in lieu of public enforcement. Therefore, the task at hand in these countries is to supplement the system so that private enforcement can serve the original function of damage relief. In the case of the EU, it aims at the task of the victims to be fully compensated by the follow-up litigation in the case of the violation of the competition law that was publicly enforced. In Korea, a threefold compensation system for some violations of competition law including unfair collaborative acts(cartels), has recently been introduced. Nevertheless, due to various institutional limitations on damage relief, the structural under-compensation and under-prevention are unlikely to escape. In particular, the following institutional consideration should be given in order to realize the right of victims to receive full compensation: ① collective compensation system, ② easy access to evidence, ③ reduction of burden of proof for damages, and ④ clear and sufficient prescription system. On the other hand, the threefold compensation system and the penalty surcharge system are also causing concern about over-banning due to similarity of purpose. In order to address this problem, it is necessary to consider a method of refunding the surcharges paid by the enterpriser when compensation for damages has already been paid and deducting the surcharges when a damages claim has been filed and the damages amount has been fixed.