Legal specialists have warned that a new anti-competition regime announced by the government today could lower the bar to prosecutions, creating the risk of miscarriages of justice.

The reform, proposed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, would merge the Competition Commission and the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading to form the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The announcement follows consultation showing widespread perceptions that the current regime is too complex and contains a lot of duplication.

Responsibilities of the new authority will include merger regulation, market investigations, cartel and antitrust cases, as well as a number of functions concerning regulated utilities, the government said. The authority will be fully operating by April 2014.

Norman Lamb (pictured), the business minister, said: 'We want to see a simpler, more streamlined structure so that a single competition authority can provide strong leadership and improve the speed and quality of decisions for business.'

Robert Bell, head of competition at City firm Speechly Bircham and chairman of the City of London Law Society (CLLS) competition committee, welcomed the government’s proposals, which included removing a previous proposal to levy fees on companies found guilty in anti trust investigations. ‘Charging such fees would be contrary to the proper principles of the administration of justice, as well as being out of tune with international best practice,’ he said.

However he raised concerns over the government’s proposal to remove the requirement for prosecutors to prove dishonesty in cartel offences. ‘The dishonesty element is at the centre of UK criminal law and it is worrying that the government plans to depart from this approach.’ He described the reform as ‘premature’, given that so few anti-trust cases have come before English courts.

‘Additionally, this change lowers the bar to criminal prosecution; therefore giving rise to potential miscarriages of justice.’