The United Kingdom remains a key European jurisdiction for competition damages actions, also in a post-Brexit world. In particular the number of collective proceedings for competition damages has significantly increased. This is in particular true for stand-alone claims which do not rely on an infringement finding by a competition regulator. Currently there are nearly fifty pending collective proceedings listed on the CAT's website. Cases relate to both infringements of anticompetitive agreements and abuse of dominance prohibitions and span across a number of industry sectors, including digital, consumer electronics, utilities, financial services.
The resulting increase of cases being certified by the Competition Appeal Tribunal is resulting in a growing body of precedents in relation to the conditions for certification. Amongst other, claims have to show common issues, must be suitable, and the claim form must present a blueprint to trial before the collective damages action can proceed to full trial.
To learn more, read "United Kingdom: Maturing CAT Collective Proceedings Process Sees Uptick in Cases", an article that London partner Oliver Heinisch wrote for Global Competition Review's EMEA Antitrust Review 2025 here.
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