Examination of Actual Cases to Discuss Who May Have a Standing to Bring an Action to the Administrative Court for Administrative Relief Based on a Dismissal of a Complaint Decided by the Fair Trade Commission

I. The Purpose of the Research:
The Fair Trade Commission is the enforcement agency of the Fair Trade Law. Based on its obligation of maintaining the trading order, the Fair Trade Commission determines the alleged Fair Trade Law violation cases arising from the complaints of the general public or from an investigation initiated by the Fair Trade Commission. The source of the alleged Fair Trade Law violation is mainly from a complaint from the general public. The defendant can certainly appeal to the administrative court for administrative relief if the Fair Trade Commission decides that the defendant has violated the Fair Trade Law and imposes a sanction on the defendant. However, if the Fair Trade Commission decides to dismiss the complainant's case entirely or partially, whether the complainant can appeal to the administrative court for administrative relief is questionable. The complaint from the general public has seldom been considered as a specific act under the law to warrant a standing in the court, therefore whether the complainant can appeal to the administrative court for administrative relief from a dismissal of his complaint decided by the Fair Trade Commission remains a controversy in theory and in actual cases. This controversy not only involves whether a dismissal of a complaint decided by the Fair Trade Commission constitutes a decision given by an administrative agency warranting the complainant to seek relief from an administrative court, but also involves whether the complainant has a concrete stake in the outcome of his complaint. Currently, one third of the complainants whose complaint is dismissed by the Fair Trade Commission bring actions to the administrative court for administrative relief. The purpose of this research is to determine who has the standing to bring an action to the administrative court for administrative relief. This determination may reduce the administrative cost and may be a basis for the Fair Trade Commission to implement Article 105 of the Administrative Procedure Act.

II. The Method of Research
The method of this research is to collect relevant information including the opinions of the scholars and specialists, decisions from the administrative courts and the methods in handling this controversy in other countries such as the U.S., Japan, Germany, Australia and the European countries.

III The Conclusion of Research
From examining the actual cases, this research concludes that only those complainants who have a concrete stake in the outcome of their complaints may have a standing to bring actions to the administrative court for administrative relief. Those complainants must show that they have been or will be directly and personally injured by the allegedly unlawful action, which affects their rights under the Fair Trade Law, to warrant them a standing in the administrative court. The complainants who may have a standing to enforce their rights in the administrative court are trading counterparts, competing enterprises, or other people or enterprises who are within the "zone of interests" the Fair Trade Law meant to protect.