Cases before Australian courts and tribunals concerning questions of public international law 2019

In 2008 and 2009, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ('the Commission') commenced proceedings against 15 international airlines including PT Garuda Indonesia Ltd ('Garuda'), for price fixing in the supply of cargo services. At trial, Garuda was found to have reached and implemented a number of understandings with other international airlines to impose various
pre-determined surcharges on the supply of air cargo services from overseas
ports to ports in Australia.2 In 2017, the High Court of Australia found that
Garuda’s conduct contravened s 45(2) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth)
(‘TPA’), which prohibits a corporation arriving at an understanding which has
the purpose, or has or is likely to have the effect, of substantially lessening
competition.3 In this case, the Commission applied to the Court for remedial
orders for Garuda’s contraventions, including to declare that Garuda’s conduct
was unlawful, to restrain it from engaging in the conduct again and to impose
upon it a civil penalty.4