LEGITIMACY IN THE NEW REGULATORY STATE KAREN LEE A THESIS IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY FACULTY OF LAW MARCH 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... I PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS ARISING FROM THE WRITING OF THE THESIS .. III GLOSSARY AND TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................. IV CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 I JUSTIFICATION FOR RESEARCH AND ITS APPROACH .......................................... 4 A THE NEED FOR EMPIRICAL STUDY OF INDUSTRY RULE-MAKING ....................... 4 B PART 6 RULE-MAKING ....................................................................................... 7 1 THE COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE ................................................................ 8 2 CONSUMER CODES ....................................................................................... 10 C PROCEDURAL AND INSTITUTIONAL LEGITIMACY, RESPONSIVENESS AND THEIR CRITERIA ......................................................................................................... 11 II TERMINOLOGY ................................................................................................ 15 A CONSUMER AND PUBLIC INTERESTS................................................................. 15 1 CONSUMER INTEREST .................................................................................. 16 2 PUBLIC INTEREST ......................................................................................... 17 III STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ............................................................................. 18 PART I ..................................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 2 THE ADOPTION OF PART 6 OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT 1997 (CTH) ..................................................................................................................... 23 I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 23 II BACKGROUND INFORMATION .......................................................................... 24 A MARKET LIBERALISATION ............................................................................... 25 1 CHRONOLOGY .............................................................................................. 25 2 RATIONALE .................................................................................................. 26 B THE HILMER REPORT ....................................................................................... 27 C THE CASUALTIES OF TELECOM ........................................................................ 28 III THE REGULATORY DESIGN OF PART 6 ............................................................. 32 A THE REGULATORY PROBLEM ........................................................................... 32 B THE POLICY GOALS ......................................................................................... 34 C THE POSSIBLE REGULATORY OPTIONS AND THEIR BENEFITS AND COSTS ....... 34 1 GENERAL CONSUMER PROTECTION AND PRIVACY LEGISLATION ................ 35 2 EX ANTE INDUSTRY SPECIFIC RULES ........................................................... 36 3 INDUSTRY SELF-REGULATION ..................................................................... 36 4 THE PART 6 FRAMEWORK ............................................................................ 37 IV CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 38 CHAPTER 3 THE CHALLENGES OF INDUSTRY RULE-MAKING ...................................... 43 I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 43 II THE RULE-MAKING FRAMEWORK OF THE COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE ........ 45 III THE PROCEDURAL AND INSTITUTIONAL LEGITIMACY OF TRADITIONAL RULE- MAKING ........................................................................................................... 47 A THE MEANING OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY .......................................... 50 1 UNITARY, SELF-CORRECTING DEMOCRACY .................................................. 51 2 PLURALISM .................................................................................................. 52 3 REPUBLICANISM........................................................................................... 54 4 THE COMMON PRINCIPLES OF REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY .................... 55 5 OVERLAPS WITH LEGISPRUDENTIAL THEORIES ............................................ 56 B INSTITUTIONAL AND PROCEDURAL MANIFESTATIONS OF DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES IN LEGISLATIVE RULE-MAKING .................................................... 60 C INSTITUTIONAL AND PROCEDURAL MANIFESTATIONS OF DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES IN ADMINISTRATIVE RULE-MAKING ............................................. 62 1 IMPARTIALITY .............................................................................................. 63 2 TRANSPARENCY ........................................................................................... 63 3 DELIBERATION ............................................................................................. 65 4 ACCOUNTABILITY ........................................................................................ 66 D CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 67 IV THE DIFFICULTIES AND THREATS POSED BY INDUSTRY RULE-MAKING .......... 68 A PARTIALITY ..................................................................................................... 69 B MINIMAL TRANSPARENCY ............................................................................... 69 C TAINTED DELIBERATION .................................................................................. 70 D ACCOUNTABILITY DEFICITS ............................................................................. 71 V CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 72 PART II ..................................................................................................................... 75 CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGY AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION ................................. 77 I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 77 II METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 78 A INITIAL IDEA .................................................................................................... 80 B SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE .......................................... 81 C NO ASSISTANCE FROM ACMA ........................................................................ 82 D POSSIBILITY OF AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY ..................................................... 83 E DETERMINING THE THREE CODES FOR IN-DEPTH STUDY ................................. 84 F CHARACTERISING THE RULE-MAKING PROCESS .............................................. 85 G CLARIFYING TERMINOLOGY ............................................................................ 87 H INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND THE DELEGATES’ DUTY OF CONFIDENTIALITY ... 88 I IDENTIFYING AND LOCATING INTERVIEW PARTICIPANTS ................................. 89 J CONDUCT OF INTERVIEWS ............................................................................... 89 K THE LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH ............................................................... 90 L CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 94 III BACKGROUND INFORMATION USEFUL TO UNDERSTANDING THE CASE STUDIES ........................................................................................................................ 95 A COMMON STRUCTURE OF THE CONSUMER CODE CASE STUDIES ..................... 95 B INDUSTRY INFORMATION ................................................................................. 95 1 TERMINOLOGY ............................................................................................. 95 2 STRUCTURE OF THE RELEVANT ‘SECTIONS OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY’ .................................................................................................. 97 (A) THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES INDUSTRY ................................. 97 (I) FIXED-LINE VOICE ............................................................................. 98 (II) MOBILE SERVICES .............................................................................. 98 (III) INTERNET ACCESS SERVICES .............................................................. 99 (IV) OTHER ................................................................................................ 99 (B) THE CUSTOMER EQUIPMENT (HANDSET) MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY ..... ............................................................................................................. 100 (C) MOBILE PREMIUM SERVICES INDUSTRY ............................................... 100 C REGULATORY BODIES .................................................................................... 101 1 ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ACMA, ACCC AND TIO ......................... 102 2 COMPOSITION OF AND DECISION-MAKING BY ACMA ..............................