Alumni profile: Laura Sanchez Rodriguez

Laura Sanchez Rodriguez is an alumna of the School’s LLM in International Competition Law & Policy.

Here, she shares her experience of the part she played in the establishment of competition law in her home country of the Dominican Republic:

In 2013 I started working at the Dominican competition authority, Pro-Competencia. Most countries have competition laws and agencies in order to promote and ensure that there is fair competition between undertakings, therefore antitrust laws prohibit unlawful monopolization (also known as abuse of dominance) and anticompetitive agreements between competitors since they usually result in harm to general economy and consumer well-being. In small market economies like mine, competition law is particularly important due to the size of our markets and the number of companies involved. Having an enforced competition law in Dominican Republic means creating a safe environment for investment, innovation and economic efficiency. At the time, our competition law had not entered into force, but I had a thirst for antitrust. A year later, I applied for a Chevening Scholarship with the hopes of bringing back the knowledge and skills to help grow and develop our agency and therefore Dominican commerce for the welfare of the population.

Thanks to the Chevening Program, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the University of Glasgow I underwent the International Competition Law & Policy LLM at Glasgow Uni, from which I graduated with Merit in 2015. The amazing programme, the resources and the quality of the Professors allowed me to bring back to my country a comparative analysis of antitrust, how competition laws should be applied, how investigations should be conducted and the skills to analyze what today are the first competition cases opened in our country.

January 2017 our law finally entered into force and today I am honoured to be part of the pioneer staff that is making history in the Dominican Republic with regards to the application of competition law, conducting the first investigations opened by Pro-Competencia in our country. In less than a year, our agency has opened investigations for possible abuse of dominance conducts in beer and car insurance markets, possible anti-competitive agreements in the flour market, cases regarding unlawful competition in supermarkets, as well as sector studies in the transport and bread industries, apart from advocacy duties within government institutions. My year at Glasgow prepared me for what I am enduring today and I will be forever grateful for all the wisdom and guidance I received from all my Professors at the University, as well as the welcoming treatment from every member of staff and our (because it is still mine at heart) amazing Library.

Find out more about the University of Glasgow's LLM in International Competition Law & Policy:  

https://www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/internationalcompetitionlawpolicy/