GERMAN CARTEL REGULATION UNDER THE DECREE OF 1923.

The article deals with the cartel regulation in Germany stipulated in the decree of 1923. The portion of the law with which this article deals eventually became the most important in application. It is Article 8 which permits cartel members to denounce and withdraw from cartel agreements for a reason of weight without the usual period of prior notice. Such a reason would exist when the economic freedom of the member is unfairly restricted, especially with regard to production, sales or prices. The cartel has the right to challenge the withdrawal within two weeks after it has been announced by applying to a Cartel Court, a body of five, representative of legal and economic interests, the general public, and the two sides involved. Its decisions are binding without appeal. Criticism of Article 8 has largely centered upon the claim put forward by cartel supporters that the Court has made withdrawal far too easy and has encouraged the complaints of cartel weary firms which, dissatisfied with all restrictions, however slight, on their individual action, are over on the lookout for some excuse to quit the organization and assume the profitable position of a price-cutting outsider.