This book is inspired by the international movement towards the criminalisation of cartel conduct over the last decade. Led by US enforcers, criminalisation has been supported by a growing number of regulators and governments. It derives its support from the simple yet forceful proposition that criminal sanctions, particularly jail time, are the most effective deterrent to such activity. However, criminalisation is much more complex than that basic proposition suggests. There is complexity both in terms of the various forces that are driving and shaping the movement (economic, political and social) and in the effects on the various actors involved in it (government, enforcement agencies, the business community, judiciary, legal profession and general public). Featuring contributions from authors who have been at the forefront of the debate around the world, this substantial 19-chapter volume captures the richness of the criminalisation phenomenon and considers its implications for building an effective criminal cartel regime, particularly outside of the US. It adopts a range of approaches, including general theoretical perspectives (from criminal theory, economics, political science, regulation and criminology) and case-studies of the experience with the design and enforcement of existing or contemplated criminal cartel regimes in various jurisdictions (including in Australia, Canada, EU, Germany, Ireland and the UK). The book also explores the international dimensions of criminalisation - its specific practical consequences (such as increased potential for extradition) as well as its more general implications for trends of harmonisation or convergence in competition law and enforcement.

If one mark of a good book, in this case an edited collection, is how often it, or the essays in it, have been cited since publication, then this is a very good book indeed. In the course of examining aspects of the United Kingdom's discredited Cartel Offence over the last year I have consistently encountered references to work contained here, and have myself relied on a number of contributions.

The editors have taken care with the structure and have selected an exceptionally good team of contributors...It makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the subject, and is highly recommended.

-- Mark Furse * Global Competition Litigation Review, Issue 5 *
...a subtle but devastating critique of the criminalization of cartels. -- Imelda Maher * Law and Social Inquiry *
[A]n exceptionally good team of contributors. It is an unusual collection in that the sum of the whole is greater than that of the parts. It makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the subject, and is highly recommended. -- Mark Furse * European Competition Law Review, 2012, 33(5) *
...cover to cover, this is the best contemporary book on cartels. -- Daniel Sokol * Antitrust&Competition Policy Blog, 24/05/11 *

Caron Beaton-Wells is an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, Director of Studies for Competition Law at the Melbourne Law School and Director of the University of Melbourne Competition Law & Economics Network.
Ariel Ezrachi is the Slaughter and May lecturer in Competition Law at the University of Oxford and the Director of the Oxford Centre for Competition Law and Policy. He is a Fellow and Tutor in Law at Pembroke College, Oxford.