BEN RAYMENT

MA (Cambridge), BCL (Oxford)
CALL DATE: 1996

SUMMARY

Ben is a former Legal Secretary to the UK Competition Commission/Competition Appeal Tribunal. Ben has experience of a wide variety of heavy and complex litigation and advisory work in the CAT, Chancery Division, Commercial Court, Administrative Court as well as guiding clients through OFT and Competition Commission investigations. According to clients Ben "brings clarity to very complex issues". He is "noted for his strong advocacy skills", " intricate knowledge of competition law institutions" and the fact that he is "user friendly" and "will work extremely hard to get the right result". Recent work has covered the following sectors: water, postal services, satellite licensing, gaming and lotteries, organisation of sporting events, rules of professional associations, retailing and banking services.

RECENT CASES

Extensive experience of all the major appeals and judicial review proceedings brought under the Competition Act 1998, the Enterprise Act 2002 and the Communications Act 2003.

Exel Europe Ltd v University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust [2010] TCC, (Successful interim application to remove stay on procurement award decision)
R(Thames Water Utilities Limited) v Ofwat [2009] (Admin) (power of Ofwat to make inset appointments)
R(ICO Satellite Ltd) v Ofcom [2010] EWHC 2010 (Admin) (Challenge to decision to request the International Telecommunications Union to cancel satellite operator's right to use certain frequencies)
Moy Park Limited & ors v Evonik Degussa GmbH (methionine multi jurisdictional CAT damages claim)
Nokia v. Hitachi & ors (alleged LCD and CRT cartels, multi-Defendant, multi-jurisdictional High Court damages action)
Waha Oil Company v Dunlop Oil & Marine (marine hose cartel damages claim)
BAA v. Competition Commission [2009] CAT (Enterprise Act s.179, judicial review challenge to CC's decision to order divestiture of Gatwick, Stansted and Glasgow/Edinburgh airports)
Emerald Supplies Ltd v British Airways plc [2008] Ch D (air cargo cartel damages claim)
National Grid plc v Ofgem [2008] CAT (abuse of a dominant position)
R (Cityhook Ltd) v OFT [2008] Admin Court (legality of OFT case prioritisation policy)
HMRC v. Isle of Wight Council & others Case (2008) C-288/07 (correct meaning of Article 4(5) 6th Directive, "significant distortions of competition")
Jersey Telecom Ltd v Jersey Competition and Regulatory Authority - introduction of mobile number portability to Jersey.
H3G, BT and O2 v. Ofcom (CAT) [2007] (mobile call termination)
Emerson Electric Co & Others v The Morgan Crucible Company plc [2007]. Damages claim based on an international cartel in the electrical carbon products market. (pending)
AAH Pharmaceuticals Ltd & Others v Pfizer [2007]. Successfully defended Pfizer against an application for an interim injunction based on EC and UK competition law seeking to restrain it from implementing its UK distribution arrangements.
Stericycle International LLC v Competition Commission [2006] CAT 21. Successfully represented the CC against the first challenge to its powers to impose a hold separate manager to manage an acquired business pending the outcome of its inquiry into a completed merger.
Association of Convenience Stores v OFT [2005] CAT 36: represented ACS in the first successful judicial review before the CAT of a decision by the OFT not to refer the major supermarkets to the Competition Commission under the Enterprise Act 2002.
Aqua Resources Ltd v Director General of Water Services (2005), CAT: Competition Act 1998, whether appealable decision, refusal to provide common carriage

EU AND COMPETITION

He has particular recent litigation and advisory experience of UK and EC competition law, including utilities regulation and State Aid. Recent UK and EU Competition work has included the following sectors:

Gaming and lotteries
Organisation of sporting events
Rules of professional associations
Retailing
Banking services
Pharmaceuticals and healthcare
Construction
Energy

Competition Commission and OFT merger reference experience includes:

Orbital Marketing Services Group Ltd / Ocean Park Ltd
Transocean / Globalsantafe
Stericycle International LLC / Sterile Technologies Group Limited
EWS Railway Holdings / Marcroft Engineering
Emap plc/ ABI Building Data Ltd
Nutreco Holding BV/Norsk Hydro ASA
BASF AG/Takeda Chemical Industries
SCR-Sibelco SA/Fife Silica Sands/Fife Silica Resources
Interbrew SA/Bass PLC

HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Recent Human Rights work includes giving advice in relation to proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights regarding the compatibility with the right to property (Art 1, Protocol 1 ECHR) of certain Spanish planning laws (the Valencian Ley Reguladora de la Actividad Urbanistica). Work also includes cases under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

PROCUREMENT LAW

Recent experience includes cases in the fields of construction, education, social services and offshore electricity transmission.

Ben recently appeared on behalf of the Contracting Authority that was successful in obtaining the lifting of the automatic suspension in Exel Europe Ltd v University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust [2010] TCC; a successful interim application to remove stay on procurement award decision.

Ben is a member of the editorial board of the Public Procurement Law Review (Sweet & Maxwell).

TAX, VAT & CUSTOMS

Ben is part of our VAT team and was recently involved in the Isle of Wight v HMRC test case which is at the intersection of VAT and competition law. The question at issue was the correct legal approach to assessing when local authority activities will lead to significant distortions of competition with private sector operators if not subject to tax. He has also been involved in cases on the correct tax treatment of mobile phone top-up vouchers as well as confiscation proceedings, in addition to advising on issues arising under the EU customs code.

UTILITIES REGULATION

Ben appeared for Independent Water Networks Limited in R(Thames Water Utilities Limited) v Ofwat [2009] Administrative Court, concerning the power of Ofwat to make inset appointments.

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

At the end of 2000 he was appointed as legal secretary (referendaire) to the President of the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT"), Sir Christopher Bellamy (formerly Judge of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities).

As legal secretary to the CAT he was involved in all the first "landmark appeals against the decisions of the OFT and sectoral regulators under the Competition Act 1998, reviews of merger control decisions under the Enterprise Act 2002 and the first "follow on" claims for damages brought in the Tribunal under the 1998 Act. He was also closely involved in the first appeals brought against decisions of the Office of Communications under the Communications Act 2003, which implements the EC Commission's new Electronic Communications Package.

At the CAT he also assisted in drafting the Tribunal's Rules of Procedure and Practice Directions and also liaised with central government departments in relation to legislation relevant to the operation of the CAT, including the operation of the European Commission's "Modernisation" proposals embodied in EC Regulation 1/2003.

PUBLICATIONS

Ben writes and speaks regularly on competition and public law issues.

Co-editor of the Competition Law Journal (Jordans)
Competition Litigation in the UK (Sweet & Maxwell)
Local Authorities and Human Rights ed. Drabble et al. (OUP)
Bellamy & Child (OUP): Sectoral Regimes (Transport; Communications; Energy; Insurance; Public Services)

He regularly speaks on judicial review, competition law and human rights to various legal audiences. Examples are the United Nations' training course on competition for developing countries, the Nottingham Trent University's Competition Law Advocacy Course, the Law Society European Group, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and professional education providers IBC, CLT etc.

MEMBERSHIPS

Administrative and Constitutional law Bar Association; Bar European Group; British Institute of International and Comparative law; Competition Law Association and Criminal Law Bar Association.