Journal of Legal Research

Journal of Legal Research

Anti-Trust Clauses in Transportation Contracts: A Study in Light of Iranian Competition Law and Judicial Practice

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hakimeh Safaei Mohammadabadi 1
Mehdi Khaghani Esfahani 2
Mohsen Sadeghi 3
1 M.A. in Transportation Law, Faculty of Law, University of Judicial Sciences and Administrative Services, Tehran, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Research Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies (SAMT), Tehran, Iran.
3 Associate Professor, Department of Private Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
10.48300/jlr.2022.334431.1999
Abstract
Transportation contracts, also known as contracts of carriage, owing to their pivotal significance in the economy, are prevalent in both domestic and international commerce. Like many contemporary contracts, these agreements are at times adhesionary and unilateral in nature and therefore contain clauses that conflict with the principles governing anti-trust laws. In light of the scarcity of domestic legal scholarship on this issue, as well as its intersection with various fields including competition law, transportation law, consumer law, criminal law, and, more broadly, market regulation law, this article seeks, through a descriptive-analytical method and by way of comparative analysis with the anti-trust laws of other jurisdictions, to answer the following question: whether Iranian competition law regulations provide a clear and comprehensive framework for addressing restrictive anti-trust clauses in transportation contracts. The article advances and substantiates the hypothesis that, notwithstanding the considerable strengths of the existing legal framework, certain ambiguities and lacunae remain, which may adversely affect the jurisprudential practice of the Iranian Competition Council. The first part of the article is aimed at identifying and elucidating instances of anti-trust clauses in transportation contracts, while the second part examines the legal consequences and remedies applicable to such clauses and ultimately offers workable recommendations to the stakeholders benefiting from the findings of this research.
Keywords
Transportation Contracts
Anti-Trust/ Competition Law
Restrictive Clauses
Iranian Law
Judicial Practice
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Journal of Legal Research
Volume 25, Issue 65
Spring 2026
Pages 243-270