National Grid Appeal Against Ofgem at the Competition Appeal Tribunal

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On Thursday 15 January, the Competition Appeal Tribunal commenced its hearing of National Grid’s appeal against Ofgem’s finding that it had breached the Chapter II Prohibition under the Competition Act 1998 and Article 82 of the EC Treaty by abusing its dominant position in the domestic gas metering market. National Grid entered into agreements with gas suppliers whereby the gas suppliers agreed to pay early replacement charges if they replaced more than a certain number of National Grid’s installed meters each year with new meters supplied inter alia by competing meter operators. Ofgem imposed a fine of â£41.6 million on National Grid. National Grid challenges Ofgem’s market definition, its finding of dominance and its finding of abuse. The Tribunal will be determining the appeal on the merits, hearing evidence from witnesses of fact and expert economists during the ten day hearing. A number of the competing meter operators – Siemens, Capital Meters Ltd and Meter Fit – are intervening in the proceedings in support of Ofgem.

Jon Turner QC, Meredith Pickford, Josh Holmes and Laura Elizabeth John are acting for National Grid.

Christopher Vajda QC and Kassie Smith are acting for Siemens.

Christopher Vajda QC and Ben Rayment are acting for Capital Meters Limited.

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Jon Turner QC
Kassie Smith QC
Ben Rayment
Josh Holmes
Meredith Pickford
Laura Elizabeth John

Monckton Chambers Welcomes Robert Palmer as a New Tenant

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Monckton Chambers is pleased to announce that Robert Palmer has accepted tenancy with immediate effect.

Robert, previously of 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square, has a well established practice in general public law and human rights work, with an emphasis on issues of European Community law. He was appointed to the Attorney General’s B panel of Counsel in February 2007.

Recent examples of his European law based practice in the Court of Appeal include: Romantiek Transport BVBA v VOSA (concerning Community rules on goods vehicle operators licensing), English v Thomas Sanderson Ltd (concerning the implementation of the equal treatment directive on sexual orientation discrimination) and KG and AK (Sri Lanka) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (concerning the rights of family members of EU nationals under the European Citizens’ Directive to enter and reside in the UK).

Robert said, “Monckton Chambers is the perfect place for me to develop my existing practice into the fields of commercial and regulatory judicial review. Monckton Chambers’ clients have expanding levels of demand for commercial and regulatory public law expertise. My skills and experience in public law will lend themselves readily to Monckton’s core areas of strength, and enhance Monckton’s ability to supply the growing demand for its services in public and administrative law.”

Paul Lasok QC, Head of Chambers said, “I am delighted Robert has chosen to join Monckton Chambers at this time. His presence will undoubtedly increase our capabilities as we continue to expand.”

David Hockney, Senior Clerk, commented, “Robert has a proven track record of appearing at the Administrative Court and Court of Appeal and will add further strength to our growing reputation in the fields of public law and human rights.”

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Robert Palmer

 

 

The Lawyer’s Hot 100 2009 lists Paul Harris

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Monckton Chambers is pleased to announce that Paul Harris has been listed as an outstanding litigator in The Lawyer’s Hot 100 2009 published today.

With regard to Paul they say:

“A rising star in the competition world, Harris has appeared in almost every abuse of dominance case in the past few years. In 2008 he continued his ascent with a slew of sports cases, representing the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile in the appeal hearing concerning Lewis Hamilton, representing West Ham United FC in its dispute with Sheffield United FC, as well as taking a role in the Carlos Tevez litigation.”

The annual supplement identifies members of the legal profession who have excelled in their chosen fields during the past year.

Paul is delighted to be listed in this year’s edition of the Hot 100.

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Paul Harris QC

The European Community Court of First Instance rules in favour of Ryanair in Charleroi State aid case

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Europe’s second highest court (the CFI) has today upheld Ryanair’s challenge to a European Commission Decision finding that Ryanair had benefited from unlawful State aid.

The Commission had decided that the landing charges and ground handling fees agreed between Ryanair and Brussels Charleroi airport were too low, and amounted to a subsidy of Ryanair by the Walloon Region of Belgium, which owned the airport.

The Court of First Instance has annulled the Commission’s decision. It holds that the Commission’s refusal to examine together the advantages granted by the Walloon Region and by Charleroi Airport, and to determine whether, taken together, those two entities acted as rational operators in a market economy, is vitiated by an error of law.

John Swift QC and Josh Holmes represented Ryanair.

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John Swift QC
Josh Holmes

European Court of Human Rights orders Russia to release AIDS prisoner

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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held in a judgment issued today, 22nd December 2008, that the continued detention of Vasily Aleksanyan by the Russian authorities is ‘unacceptable’.

STRASBOURG, 22nd December 2008: The ECHR, in a judgment issued this morning, ordered the release of Mr Vasily Aleksanyan, a 37 year old lawyer who has been held in detention by the Russian authorities since April 6th 2006 (991 days). Mr Aleksanyan suffers from AIDS and a number of concomitant diseases, including AIDS – related lymphatic cancer, and is nearly blind.

Following Mr Aleksanyan’s detention and the diagnosis of HIV in 2006, his health declined rapidly. On 26 November 2007, Mr Aleksanyan lodged a request for urgent intervention by the ECHR on the basis that he was not receiving treatment appropriate to his condition and necessary to preserve his life. In response, on several occasions in November and December 2007 the ECHR issued interim measures, (injunctions) requiring the Russian authorities to transfer Mr Aleksanyan to a hospital specialized in the treatment of AIDS and concomitant diseases. The Russian authorities refused to transfer Mr Aleksanyan for treatment for over two months.

Today the ECHR, finding violations of several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, held that the Russian authorities’ failure to provide timely treatment to Mr. Aleksanyan ‘undermined [his] dignity and entailed particularly acute hardship… which amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment’. The ECHR also noted that ‘[it] is clear… that for over two months the Government continuously refused to implement the interim measure, thus putting the applicant’s health and even life in danger’.

Finally, the ECHR found that ‘in view of the gravity of the applicant’s illnesses, [his] continued detention is unacceptable’ and ‘has lost any meaningful purpose… further maintaining of [detention] is incompatible with Article 5 of the Convention’ (right to liberty and security of person).

Drew Holiner, who is also a member of the Russian Bar, represented the applicant.

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Drew Holiner

Solictors Regulation Authority find 2 solicitors guilty of misconduct

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On 11 December 2008, the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal found Mr Jim Beresford and Mr Douglas Smith guilty of 8 counts of professional misconduct brought by the Solicitors Regulation Authority arising out of the conduct of compensation claims for miners suffering from vibration white finger and vibration white finger and respiratory disease.

In their defence to two of the counts, the Respondents contended that that Rules 3 and 9 of the Solicitors Practice Rules 1990 and section 2(3) and Section 2(3) of the Introduction and Referral Code 1990 infringed UK and EC competition law prohibitions and were void and that those provisions were incompatible with Articles 43 and 49 of the EC Treaty (concerning freedom of establishment and provision of services). In upholding the allegations of misconduct, the Tribunal rejected those defences.

Andrew Macnab represented the Solicitors Regulation Authority in relation to the competition and EC Treaty issues

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Andrew Macnab

 

CAT refuses Sky’s application to appeal

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The Competition Appeal Tribunal has refused the applications of Sky and Virgin for permission to appeal from its decisions of 29 September and 30 October. It is now open to Sky and Virgin to apply to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal.

The Secretary of State is represented by Rupert Anderson QC and Elisa Holmes.

The Competition Commission is represented by John Swift QC, Daniel Beard and Rob Willimas.

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John Swift QC
Daniel Beard QC
Rob Williams
Elisa Holmes

CAT dismisses banking challenge

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The Competition Appeal Tribunal have dismissed the application of six individuals known as the Merger Action Group, based in Scotland, to quash the decision of the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to clear a merger between Lloyds and HBOS. In arriving at its unequivocal decision, the CAT concluded that “there is simply no basis for the allegation that the issue of the continuing need for the Merger was not properly considered by the decision-maker”.

Also of note was the CAT’s decision on standing. It decided that the members of the Merger Action Group, formed for the purpose of conducting these proceedings, had standing as a result of its “specific interest and strong feeling which the Merger has aroused in Scotland”. This decision has far reaching implications for future challenges of merger decisions, potentially opening the door for any member of the public who operates as a consumer in any relevant market, together with any individual or group with “strong feelings” associated with a particular merger, to challenge such decisions.

The Merger Action Group announced its decision yesterday not to appeal the CAT’s decision.

The Secretary of State was represented by Paul Lasok QC, Paul Harris, Elisa Holmes and Gerry Facenna.

Members of Monckton Chambers have successfully acted for the Secretary of State in each of the two public interest merger challenges which have so far been brought in the CAT. Rupert Anderson QC and Elisa Holmes acted for the Secretary of State in Sky. In that case John Swift QC, Daniel beard and Rob Williams acted for the Competition Commission.

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Paul Lasok QC
Paul Harris QC
Gerry Facenna
Elisa Holmes

Change in VAT Rate – Monckton Chambers sets up Advisory Panel

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In light of the recent announcement by the Chancellor that from the 1st December 2008 the rate of VAT would be cut from 17.5% to 15% members of Monckton Chambers have been advising clients on the implementation of the cut and the effect it may have on the pricing of products.

As a consequence we have recognised the need to establish an advisory panel to assist clients. As the largest VAT team at the Bar and due to the urgent nature of the work required, Monckton Chambers has the capacity to assist clients at short notice and advise by telephone or email or in writing or conference if more detailed advice is required.

Chambers has a wealth of VAT experience at all levels of seniority across a broad spectrum of industry sectors.

For further information please do not hesitate to contact the clerking team on 020 7405 7211.