The Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956 was an act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

intended to enforce

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

, and provide an appropriate check on restrictive combines and practices. It required that any agreement between companies that restricted trading should be placed on a public register unless granted exemption by the Secretary of State. Changes to an agreement, including its ending, were required to be notified and no agreement could be brought into force before appearing on the register. The registrar could refer any agreements which appeared to operate against the public interest to the Restrictive Practices Court, a senior

court of record A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal. A court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of oral proceedings. That written recor ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Though the court was overhauled in 1976, by the end of the century, the legislation was perceived as increasingly out of line with Articles 81 and 82 of the

Treaty of Rome The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was sig ...

. The court was gradually replaced by a new judicial regime under the

Competition Act 1998 The Competition Act 1998 is the current major source of competition law in the United Kingdom, along with the Enterprise Act 2002. The act provides an updated framework for identifying and dealing with restrictive business practices and abuse of ...

and

Enterprise Act 2002 The Enterprise Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made major changes to UK competition law with respect to mergers and also changed the law governing insolvency bankruptcy. It made cartels illegal with a maximum pri ...

, and was ultimately disestablished on 10 March 2013.Competition Act 1998
s.1(a)SI284/2013
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References

Courts of England and Wales Courts of Scotland Courts of the United Kingdom Competition law Legal history of England 1956 establishments in the United Kingdom 2013 disestablishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-law-stub