On 12 January 2022, the High Court of Justice (“High Court”) handed down its judgment in the challenges to the Government’s award of contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.[i] The Court ruled that it was unlawful for those suppliers referred by Ministers, MPs and other senior officials to be afforded favourable treatment, by being allocated to a so-called ‘VIP lane’. Notwithstanding this, the Court did not find…
This article discusses the judgment of the Amsterdam District Court issued on 29 December 2021 that clarifies certain admissibility requirements for representatives claiming damages under the Settling of Large-scale Losses or Damage (Class Actions) Act (WAMCA). Introduction On 29 December 2020, the Amsterdam District Court handed down a judgment providing new insights on admissibility requirements for representatives claiming damages under the Settling of Large-scale Losses or Damage (Class Actions) Act (Wet Afwikkeling Massaschade in Collectieve…
Private enforcement of competition law is gaining momentum in Poland. Although the national legislation implementing Directive 2014/104/EU on damages for competition law infringements (the “Directive”) entered into force in 2017, its provisions did not trigger as many cases as expected for the first few years. This has now changed and the possibility to seek compensation for competition law infringements is now firmly on potential claimants’ radar. The limitation period applicable to competition claims has been…
The expansion of opt-out class actions in the UK continues with certification of claims aimed at recovering for alleged systemic abuses of dominance across the south east and west rail networks. The judgment reinforces that certification will be viewed as only a first step in class litigation in the UK – as opposed to the immediate precursor to settlement that it can signify in the US and Canada – and reinforces the likelihood that claimant…
In a judgment handed down this week by its Grand Chamber, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) decided that, under certain circumstances, a subsidiary can be held liable for cartel activity engaged by its parent company. This judgment has potentially far-reaching consequences and may give an additional impetus to private damages litigation. Background On 24 October 2019, Sumal (an alleged victim of the Trucks cartel) brought a claim for damages in follow-on litigation in front of…
In 2021, a new law concerning civil proceedings became effective in Poland. The new law introduced, among other things, three major changes that will impact the proceedings. The online service of court documents during proceedings and online hearings as default are new and have been forced by the Covid-19 pandemic and will last for its duration. They are aimed at facilitating safe communication between the court and the parties to the proceedings. The third change…
A recent judgment by the German Federal Court of Justice paves the way for forum shopping in abuse of dominance cases[1]. Following the European Court of Justice’s Wikingerhof decision, the Federal Court of Justice has clarified that tort jurisdiction may apply even if the conduct in dispute is covered by contractual provisions. In addition, the Federal Court of Justice has confirmed the restrictive interpretation of generic choice-of-forum clauses of the sort that is often found…
Introduction A lot has been said and written about the Wirecard scandal in Germany. Books and scholarly articles have been published, movies about the case are blockbusters in theatres. Therefore, just briefly here: Wirecard was the poster child start-up company in Germany, active as an (online) payment service provider. The German federal government lobbied for Wirecard with its international counterparts. In summer 2019, Wirecard publically announced that an amount of approx. EUR 2 billion on its…
The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT or “Tribunal”) has certified the first opt-out collective action since the UK class actions regime was introduced in 2015. The application had been dismissed on first consideration but after a series of appeals that went all the way to the Supreme Court, Walter Merricks CBE has been granted a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO) in his GBP 14 billion claim on interchange fees. The size and complexity of the claims…
In brief ESG is an acronym for environment, social and (corporate) governance – factors considered originally (and separately) to be a measure of an organisation’s corporate social responsibility, and which are becoming increasingly important in determining its financial and general success. ESG encapsulates a broad range of issues including (but by no means limited to) sustainability, corporate ethics, human rights, social good, climate change and corporate culture. Why is ESG important? The broadness of the…