Microsoft Judge Wary of EU Courts Arbitrary Power

The European Union judge in charge of Microsoft's antitrust case has said in a magazine article that "ayatollahs of free enterprise" on his court staff have gone too far in wielding "arbitrary power" to overturn European Commission decisions.

Judge Hubert Legal leads a five-member panel at the 25-member Court of First Instance that is reviewing Microsoft's appeal from a March 2004 Commission decision, which found the software giant abused its dominant position to crush rivals. Legal said in the French specialist quarterly magazine Concurrences (Competition) that newly confirmed powers to overturn decisions by the EU executive, which polices competition policy, have led his court to "a worrying judicial fuzziness."

News source: Reuters