The High Court has dismissed a restitution claim brought by a number of construction companies to recoup some of the penalties imposed on them by the OFT in its 2009 Construction Decision.

The OFT imposed penalties totalling almost £130 million on 103 construction companies for bid rigging.  Some of the companies successfully appealed their penalties to the CAT and secured significant reductions.  Six companies that had chosen not to appeal sought to argue that they were entitled to have their penalties reduced under the principles set out by the House of Lords in Woolwich v Inland Revenue.

Mr Justice Morgan noted that the scheme for statutory appeals under the Competition Act 1998 provided for appeals to a specialist tribunal (the CAT) on a tight timetable and subject to other procedural safeguards, and held that the policy underlying this scheme would be undermined if it were possible for parties to ignore the statutory system and challenge their penalties in another way.

Please click to view the judgment in Lindum et al v OFT

Martin Retail Group Limited v Crawley Borough Council, Central London County Court, Judgment of 24 December 2013.

This recently published judgment decided in December 2013 should raise alarm bells for local authorities. A letting scheme which was designed to promote a ‘diverse and vibrant’ shopping parade for the benefit of the local community has been held to breach competition law. Tenants are likely to attempt to use this case as a precedent to upset similar letting schemes elsewhere and to argue against restrictive user clauses in leases and possibly even to obtain wider user clauses on lease renewal.

Read the full Martin Retail Group Limited v Crawley Borough Council case note. Or read our useful guide Competition & Commercial Property.

Join us for a topical seminar on ‘Merger Control and Market Investigation: Challenges on Judicial Review Principles.’

Chaired by Alistair Lindsay, experts from Monckton Chambers will consider the following topical issues:

Fairness appeals – where next?
Ben Rayment

Challenges on the substance – are we in a new era of restraint?
Meredith Pickford

Looking for a lasting victory – points of law
Alison Berridge

Event Details

15 May 2014
6pm Registration for 6.30pm Start | 1 CPD point
Goldsmiths Centre, 42 Britton Street, London, EC1M 5AD

How to register:

Our seminars are free to attend.
To ensure your place, please RSVP to Jessica Lines jlines@monckton.com or call 020 7468 6330.

On 1 May, the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association launched its report, Freedom of Expression on Trial, in Baku, Azerbaijan. The report highlights serious deficiencies in trials involving journalists and bloggers in Azerbaijan and calls on the Aliyev government to take steps to ensure effective fair trial guarantees.

Eric Metcalfe was the author of the report and rapporteur of the IBAHRI’s fact-finding mission to Baku in December 2013. He returned to Azernbaijan to speak at the report’s launch.

Click here to read the report and to see a short video summary of its findings and recommendations.

 

In April 2014 Ofgem announced the appointment of John Swift QC as the Chairman of its new Enforcement Decision Panel. In its Press release Ofgem said “The Enforcement Decision Panel will bring a wealth of experience to the table and help Ofgem as we continue in our role to protect current and future consumers.” In the same month Monitor, the Health Service regulator, following the dissolution of the Cooperation and Competition Panel ( CCP), of which John Swift had been a member since 2009, continued his appointment in a new role as an expert adviser to the Board of Monitor and to its Cooperation and Competition Executive.

To read the full press release please click here.

Ronit Kreisberger will be speaking at a ‘Competition Law as a threat to innovation’ seminar today.

The seminar will discuss the issues raised by recent cases in Europe and further afield, as well as other changes to the UK competition regime.

Details of the event are as follows:

Date: Thursday 1 May 2014

Time: 5:30pm, for a 6pm start, finish at 7:15pm followed by a drinks reception

Venue: Pinsent Masons, 30 Crown Place, London EC2A 4ES

The following speakers are now confirmed for this event:

• The Rt. Hon. Professor Sir Robin Jacob, UCL
• Dr Mike Walker, Chief Economic Adviser, Competition and Markets Authority
• Dr Helen Jenkins, Managing Director, Oxera
• Ronit Kreisberger, Barrister, Monckton Chambers
• Jenny Block, Partner, EU & Competition Group, Pinsent Masons LLP

To read coverage of this event, please click here.

Paul Harris QC joins a panel of industry experts at The Sports Industry: Challenges to Success conference today. The panel will share their opinions on the challenges currently facing those within sport.

Paul’s talk is entitled ‘Disputes: Obtaining the Most Effective Outcome.’

Details of the event are as follows:

29 April 2014
9.30am – Registration and refreshments
3.30pm finish – Drinks and networking
Brabners, 55 King Street, Manchester M2 4LQ

The conference is aimed at Chairs, Chief Executives, Chief Operating Officers, Directors of Finance and Operations, in-house lawyers and senior personnel involved in the management of your organisation.

To book your free place please email events@brabners.com. If you have any queries regarding the conference please contact Deborah Ascott-Jones on daj@brabners.com or 0161 836 8899.

Michael Bowsher QC of Monckton Chambers will be speaking at the NHS Commissioning and Procurement: Securing Sustainable Change event.

Michael will be giving a talk on “The Challenge of Commissioning Health Care in the New UK and EU Regimes: How has the new NHS system worked so far, and what will the new EU Procurement Directives do the process?”

Details of the event are as follows:

29 April 2014
8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Barbican Centre, London

Join us for a topical review of recent legal developments in the healthcare sector. Experts from Monckton Chambers will consider the following issues:

Judicial Review of Hospital Closures

• Lessons from Lewisham
• The end of the road at Enfield
• The Care Bill 2014: the hospital closure clause

Robert Palmer

Cashback? – damages claims for competition law breaches
Ben Rayment
Healthcare procurement – the new landscape

• The new Directives and the “light touch” regime
• MONITOR – a UK procurement regulator
• Competition v co-operation – where are we now?

Rob Williams

Healthcare & VAT

• Introduction and recent developments
• Scope of the healthcare exemptions

George Peretz

 

Details of the seminar are as follows:

30 April 2014
6pm Registration FOR 6.30pm start | 1.5 CPD
Goldsmiths Centre, 42 Britton Street, London EC1M 5AD

Please see below a map of directions to the venue. The nearest station is Farringdon, but it is also within easy walking distance of Chancery Lane, Barbican and Old Street stations;

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/The+Goldsmiths’+Centre/@51.520951,-0.103278,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x20c585020275ab6b

We are aware the tube strike may affect your journey. Please see below a link to the tfl website which provides the most up to date information on disruptions;

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube-dlr-overground/status/#

 

How to register:
Our seminars are free to attend. To ensure your place, please RSVP to Jessica Lines
jlines@monckton.com or call 020 7468 6330.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has today rejected an appeal made by Infiniti Red Bull Racing to reinstate Daniel Ricciardo’s second place finish in this year’s Australian Grand Prix. Ricciardo’s career best finish was rescinded 5 hours after the race had ended when the FIA found his car to be in breach of Formula 1’s newly implemented fuel regulations. The result means the 18 point deduction on Ricciardo’s podium finish is maintained, leaving the driver currently in tenth place in the Driver’s Championship instead of a possible third.

Paul Harris QC, who acted on behalf of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 in support of the FIA, described the actions of Red Bull as “a flagrant and deliberate disregard for the rules.”

The case has been featured in the following press:

• BBC
• Sky Sports
• The Telegraph
• ESPN