The High Court has today dismissed an application by MasterCard to strike out claims made by Tesco Stores in relation to interchange fees.  MasterCard argued that the claimants form part of a single undertaking with Tesco Bank which issues MasterCard cards and are hence precluded from claiming damages by the principle of ex turpi non causa or illegality.  Asplin J dismissed the application, on the basis that a number of issues in the case were unsuitable for disposal on a summary basis.  The judgment contains interesting observations on the legal principles relating to single undertakings and the defence of ex turpi.

Tim Ward QC and Rob Williams acted for the successful claimants.

Please click to view the full Tesco Stores Ltd and Ors v MasterCard judgment.

 

The Western Sahara Campaign UK was granted permission for judicial review yesterday against the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Western Sahara Campaign UK works to protect the rights of the people of Western Sahara. The UK based campaign group claim that products imported under a trade agreement with Morocco actually originate from West Sahara.

The case raises important points of EU Law and public international law.

In the claim against DEFRA, the Western Sahara Campaign UK is challenging the lawfulness of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between Morocco and the EU (or, alternatively, the manner of its implementation).

In the claim against HMRC, the Western Sahara Campaign UK is challenging the lawfulness of the manner in which the Association Agreement has been implemented by the European Union and its Member States.

Permission for Judicial Review was granted on all grounds in both cases by Mr. Justice Walker.

The case has received the following press coverage:

• Guardian

Conor McCarthy is junior counsel for the Claimant, instructed by Leigh Day.

A team including members of Monckton Chambers were awarded Litigation of the Year – Cartel Prosecution at the GCR awards.

The award was granted for the National Grid follow on litigation, in which Jon Turner QC, Daniel Beard QC, Laura Elizabeth John and Ligia Osepciu were instructed.

For more information, please click here.

 

 

After the General Election, an In/Out Referendum may be held on UK membership of the EU. If the British electorate votes to leave the EU, the legal implications would be very significant. The issues would affect governments of the EU (including the UK) , businesses, lawyers  and individuals. Yet there has been comparatively little attention paid to a topic that could have such major impacts.

Monckton Chambers is one of London’s best-known sets of chambers working in the EU Law field.

Yesterday, Christopher Muttukumaru CB, former General Counsel to the UK Department for Transport and Legal Director across a number of other departments within the UK Government, with ultimate responsibility for providing strategic advice directly to Ministers, and a member of Monckton Chambers, gave a lecture to the Dutch Academy of Legislation on the Legal Implications of British Exit. He covered issues such as:

1. Options for the UK at the EU level;
2. Implications for other EU governments;
3. The meaning of Article 50/TEU;
4. The domestic legal and constitutional implications in the UK;
5. The questions that businesses and lawyers need to address.

Also, Ian Rogers QC will be delivering a guest lecture at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary on Friday 24 April 2015 for The Department of Legal Studies and the Center for European Union Research, entitled Exit Stage Right: Human Rights, “Brexit” and EU law after the UK General Election. The lecture will be Chaired by Sejal Parmar, Assistant Professor, Department of Legal Studies.

[2015] UKIPTrib 13_132-H

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has upheld a claim by Sami al Saadi alleging that his right to legal professional privilege was not respected by the Security and Intelligence Services. The Tribunal directed the destruction of two documents held by GCHQ. No determination in favour of the Claimants was made in other claims raising similar issues.

The full judgment and determination can be read here.

Edenred (Group UK) Limited v Her Majesty’s Treasury and others [2015] EWCA Civ 326

The Court of Appeal has today handed down judgment in the public procurement case of Edenred (Group UK) Limited v Her Majesty’s Treasury and others upholding Andrews J’s decision in favour of the Government (read the first instance decision here).

This was the appeal in an expedited case on whether the way in which the new Government policy of Tax-Free Childcare is proposed to be delivered, by HMRC working with NS&I, is lawful under domestic and EU public procurement legislation.

The Chancellor, with whom Underhill LJ and King LJ concurred, held that a proposed memorandum of understanding between HMRC and NS&I was not a “public services contract” and that the work that NS&I will require under its outsourcing contract with Atos (the contractor who had previously won a tender to provide NS&I’s back office functions) did not amount to a material variation of the Atos contract. The Court of Appeal therefore held there was no breach of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 or Article 56 TFEU.

Philip Moser QC, Ewan West and Anneliese Blackwood appeared on behalf of Her Majesty’s Treasury, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and NS&I.

Please click to read the Edenred v HMTreasury Court of Appeal judgment.

 

The Supreme Court will hear an appeal today (Thursday 26 March 2015) on the question of whether the rule which suspends payability of Disability Living Allowance for disabled children in hospital after 84 days is compatible with Articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Ian Wise QC and Steve Broach act for the Appellant, instructed by Mitchell Woolf of Scott-Moncrieff and Associates.

The appeal concerns a child, Cameron Mathieson, with complex disabilities who sadly died during the proceedings. Cameron’s needs meant that he required hospital care regularly throughout his life. For one period of hospitalisation the benefit withdrawn under the rule challenged in the appeal amounted to around £7,000. The loss of the benefit had significant consequences for Cameron and his family. His father Craig Mathieson is therefore pursuing the appeal both for the family and the roughly 500 families a year with severely disabled children in a similar situation.

The appeal is supported by two national charities, Contact a Family and The Children’s Trust. These charities have been campaigning against the rule under the banner ‘Stop the DLA Takeaway’. The charities have produced evidence to show a large majority of families provide the same or greater levels of care to their children when they are in hospital and experience substantial additional costs during these times. Information on the campaign and the charities’ response to the appeal was available from the Contact a Family website.

The Supreme Court has today handed down judgment in the case of R (Evans) and Another –v- Attorney General [2015] UKSC 21 – the long-running battle over whether letters sent by Prince Charles to various government departments should be disclosed.

By a majority 5 to 2 verdict, the Supreme Court determined that the former Attorney General was not entitled to prevent disclosure of the letters. By a majority of 6 to 1, the Supreme Court also held that the power granted to Cabinet Ministers and the Attorney General to override a decisions requiring disclosure under the Environmental Information Regulations is incompatible with the European directive on public access to environmental information.

Josh Homes appeared for the Attorney General (Appellant); Julianne Kerr Morrison appeared for the Campaign for Freedom of Information (Intervener).

This case has been featured in various press including:

• Guardian
• BBC
• Telegraph

 

The Jeremy Lever Lecture has been featured in the Oxford University Law Faculty eBulletin.

The newsletter commented:

Judge Koen Lenaerts gave the annual (and fourth) lecture in honour of Sir Jeremy Lever on Friday 30 January, in the Gulbenkian Lecture Theatre. Judge Lenaerts is Vice President of the Court of Justice of the European Union and Professor of Law at the University of Leuven. The Chair was taken by Lord Neuberger, President of the Supreme Court.

For more information on the Jeremy Lever Lecture, please click here.

12 members of Monckton Chambers have been listed in Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom 2015.

Members have been listed across five areas; Administrative & Public, Competition, Construction, Human Rights and Tax:

Administrative & Public: Jon Turner QC, Ian Wise QC, Stephen Cragg QC, Gerry Facenna

Competition: Paul Lasok QC, Jon Turner QC, Daniel Beard QC, Kassie Smith QC, Meredith Pickford QC, Ben Rayment, Alistair Lindsay

Construction: Michael Bowsher QC

Human Rights: Stephen Cragg QC, Gerry Facenna

Tax: Paul Lasok QC, Melanie Hall QC