STAND. COM. REP. NO. 349

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 1267
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No.
1267 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ANTITRUST,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to clarify that the Attorney
General can recover treble damages in parens patriae actions on
behalf of consumers who are indirect purchasers injured by
illegal overcharges.  In addition, this bill clarifies that the
requirement of sixty days' delay between the entry of a consent
decree in an antitrust case and its effective date, applies only
to consent decrees entered into before any complaint has been
filed.

     Your Committee finds that treble damages are designed as an
incentive for individuals to ferret out deception and bring legal
action, to provide a remedy for those injured, to deter future
seller misconduct, and to compensate consumers for injuries that
the law of damages does not recognize or that the consumer, with
only limited resources, is unable to prove at trial.  

     Your Committee further finds that despite the provisions of
sections 480-13 and 480-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which
clearly contemplate that the Attorney General may recover treble
damages in parens patriae actions, several recent amendments to
the antitrust statutes could be interpreted as ambiguous and thus
prevent the attorney general from recovering such damages.  After
reviewing the legislative histories of sections 480-13 and 480-

 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 349
                                   Page 2


14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, your Committee agrees that it has
always been the legislature's intent that the Attorney General be
able to recover treble damages against sellers who overcharge in
violation of the antitrust laws, when those overcharges are paid
by consumers who are indirect purchasers.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the
Department of the Attorney General.  The Department of Commerce
and Consumer Affairs submitted comments on this measure.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
measure by making technical, non-substantive changes for the
purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
1267, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1267, S.D. 1, and
be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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