Law Journal of the National Academy of Internal Affairs

  • Received 03.02.2026,
  • Revised 01.05.2026,
  • Accepted 26.05.2026
  • Published 08.07.2026
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Volume 16, No. 2, 2026
  • economic concentration; dominant position; market power; digital platforms; international standards
  • https://doi.org/10.63341/naia-chasopis/2.2026.75
  • Pages 75-89

The aim of the study was to identify areas for improving constitutional and legal mechanisms to countering monopolism and unfair competition. Formal-legal, comparative-legal, case-study, and legal modelling methods were used. The study demonstrated that the constitutional and legal model for regulating competition in the Republic of Azerbaijan is based on a combination of guarantees of freedom of entrepreneurship and the permissibility of state intervention to limit monopolistic activity. It was established that the previous antimonopoly regulation system, established between 1993 and 1998, was characterised by fragmented legal regulation, insufficient coordination of mechanisms for controlling economic concentration, dominant positions, and unfair competition, and was focused on suppressing existing violations. The study substantiated the need to improve legal mechanisms for preventing anticompetitive behaviour, strengthen controls over economic concentration, and adapt competition legislation to the conditions of the digital economy. A comparative-legal analysis of the current legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, European Union legislation, and international approaches to competition regulation demonstrated Azerbaijan’s transition to a systemic model of competition control, which provides for the interrelated regulation of economic concentration, dominance, and unfair competition, as well as the partial implementation of international competition law standards. As a comparative context, it was established that international anti-monopoly mechanisms evolved from monitoring cartels and abuse of dominance to preventive regulation of digital markets and the platform economy. It was also revealed that the European Union developed a specific model for regulating digital platforms in 2020-2025, extending antimonopoly control to algorithmic governance, the use of user data, and digital infrastructure. The results of the study can be used by the legislature of the Republic of Azerbaijan, bodies implementing state competition policy and antimonopoly control, and academic institutions in improving competition legislation, developing mechanisms for regulating digital markets, and preparing proposals for harmonising the national antimonopoly control system with international competition law standards

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