It gives the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority much greater power to act when it feels firms are abusing their market position.

Jersey has never had any sort of competition law until now.

The regulatory authority has been granted significantly greater powers to deal with companies which it thinks are trying to stifle competition.

And to ensure it can take on larger as well as smaller businesses in the courts, it will not have to pay legal fees.

That has caused some businesses to comment that it will have too much of an incentive to interfere.

There was mixed support for the view that it would cut prices for consumers and bring down Jersey's traditionally high rate of inflation.