The new Supreme Court encourages visitors to the Court. Those who visit come away with a variety of impressions of the highest court in the land. In this post on the Supreme Court’s blog, artist Isobel Williams reflects on her visit to the Court last July at O’Brien v Ministry of Justice and during the appeal of BCL Old Co Limited and others v BASF plc and others.
For Supreme Court blog please click here.
Peter Mantle, representing the OFT, successfully defended the penalty imposed on MCO Capital Ltd anti-money laundering breaches.
The First-tier Tribunal in its decision of 7 November 2012 agreed with the arguments advanced by the OFT on the merits and technical issues. It approved the OFT’s formulation and implementation of its Interim Penalty Policy in the first money laundering penalty appeal brought by a consumer credit lender.
MCO’s appeal was dismissed in its entirety.
‘International Charitable Giving,’ a book with contributions by Philip Moser QC and Raymond Hill, is published this week.
‘International Charitable Giving’ provides comprehensive treatment of cross-border charitable giving and an extensive analysis of the broader and jurisdiction-specific issues surrounding international giving. The book contains a range of jurisdiction-specific chapters, enabling easy comparison of the various legal systems and is written by a team of expert practitioners from leading global firms, offering accurate and authoritative information.
Philip Moser QC and Raymond Hill co-authored the ‘Charities and EU Law’ chapter of the book.
For more information on International Charitable Giving, or to purchase a copy, please click here.
An Opinion co-authored by Eric Metcalfe for the Equality and Human Rights Commission has advised that the proposed extension of controversial Closed Material Procedures under the Justice and Security Bill would be incompatible with the right to a fair trial under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Commission launched the opinion at a briefing meeting for Peers in the House of Lords on 31 October. The Commission has a statutory duty under section 11 of the Equality Act 2006 to monitor and advise on the effectiveness of equality and human rights law and the likely effect of a proposed change of law. The Bill will be reported back to the House on 19 November.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission press release
The launch of the opinion was also reported in:
On 30 and 31 October 2012, the Supreme Court heard the appeal in the case of X v Mid Sussex Citizens Advice Bureau and others. Kassie Smith appeared for the Secretary of State before the Supreme Court.
The Court considered the following issues: (1) Whether the Framework Directive (Directive 2000/78/EC Establishing a Framework for Equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation) applies to volunteers? (2) If it does, whether its provisions can receive direct effect in domestic law between private parties?
The Appellant worked as a volunteer adviser at the Citizens’ Advice Bureau (“CAB”). She was not contractually bound to work and received no remuneration for doing so. Although volunteers often do go on to become employed by the CAB as paid advisers, this is not automatic. There is an open, external recruitment process for paid posts and volunteering arrangements were not for the purpose of determining to whom employment should be offered. The Appellant alleges that, after she informed the CAB that she was HIV positive, she was told that she could not return to work. She claims disability discrimination. As a preliminary issue, the Employment Tribunal determined that the Appellant was not within the scope of the Disability Discrimination Act’s definition of “employment”, because it did not cover voluntary work. The Appellant’s appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, where argument focused more on the terms of the EC Framework Directive, were unsuccessful.
The judgment of the Supreme Court was reserved and will be handed down in due course.
Barclays became the first bank to be ordered to stand trial in a British court over damages stemming from manipulation of the Libor interest rate after a High Court ruling on Monday 29 October 2012. Guardian Care Homes, a residential care home operator based in Wolverhampton, is suing Barclays for up to £ 37 million over the alleged mis-selling of interest rate hedging products known as swaps. Mr Justice Flaux rejected Barclays attempts to oppose introduction of the Libor misselling claims.
Guardian Care Homes was also granted permission to introduce a claim alleging that Barclays acted in breach of Article 101 TFEU resulting from Libor manipulation. That claim was stayed by consent pending the European Commission’s investigation into alleged cartel activities relating to the setting of Euribor and Libor by a number of banks.
The trial is likely to act as a test case for thousands of small British firms who believe they were mis-sold such swaps.
The hearing has been reported in:
Kassie Smith is acting for Guardian Care Homes Limited on the competition law issues.
Click to view the judgment in Graiseley Properties Limited v Barclays Bank
The Supreme Court has handed down judgment in the first competition case to come before it, BCL Old Co. Ltd v BASF plc [2012] UKSC 45.
The case concerned the date on which time begins to run for the purposes of the two year limitation period for bringing follow-on damages claims in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, under section 47A Competition Act 1998. The Supreme Court considered whether the interpretation of section 47A adopted by the Court of Appeal in BCL Old Co. v BASF plc [2009] EWCA Civ 434, together with the interpretation of the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s Rules adopted in BCL Old Co. v BASF plc. (No. 2) [2010] EWCA Civ 1258, was sufficiently foreseeable and clear to potential claimants to comply with the European law principles of effectiveness and legal certainty.
Christopher Vajda QC and Laura Elizabeth John appeared for the Appellants.
To read the judgment, please click here.
Monckton Chambers are delighted to announce that Meredith Pickford was awarded “Junior of the Year” for EU and Competition law at the annual Chambers Bar Awards held at the Hilton, Park Lane.
Congratulations to Meredith.
The new 4th edition of ‘EU Merger Regulation: Substantive Issues’ by Alistair Lindsay and Alison Berridge of Monckton Chambers has been published.
‘EU Merger Regulation: Substantive Issues’ provides a detailed guide to the analysis of mergers by the European Commission. Fully revised for 2012, the comprehensive text describes how the Commission determines whether to approve a notified concentration, providing all the necessary information and techniques to secure clearance for mergers in the EU.
It is an essential read for any lawyer or regulator involved in the approval process, providing the most comprehensive and navigable guide available to the substantive analysis at the heart of EU merger control. The text includes a wide-ranging review of the Commission’s decisional practice, guidance and other publications, decisions of the European Courts, economic thinking and international comparisons to provide authoritative guidance on:
The 4th edition also analyses new developments including the approach taken by the new European Commission (as of 2010) and the influence of the revised US horizontal merger guidelines.
To purchase the book, or for more information, please click here
George Peretz of Monckton Chambers has had an article published in the latest edition of the Tax Journal.
In the article, George analyses the different ways in which taxpayers can seek to complain about differences in tax treatment in EU Law, including fiscal neutrality, State aid law and Article 110 of the TFEU.
To read the article in full, please click here.
