Private Antitrust Enforcement in England and Wales after the EU Damages Directives: Where are We Heading?

Abstract

The framework for private antitrust actions in the England and Wales has undergone a number of changes in recent years. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 introduced measures to facilitate access to justice for victims of anticompetitive conduct. It created a fast track procedure in the Competition Appeal Tribunal and granted the Tribunal the powers to permit opt-out representative actions. More changes were brought on with the implementation of the EU Damages Directive in March 2017. In this chapter, I will take stock of those recent developments and offer an insight into the functioning of private enforcement of competition law in England and Wales. I will document key developments and issues regarding access to documents (disclosure), joint and several liability of co-infringers, and claim aggregation (opt-out representative actions). The recent legislative measures seem to pull private enforcement of competition law in different directions facilitating both small claims and large compensation actions. The Consumer Rights Act implemented a number of measures to encourage private litigation but the impact of the changes following the Damages Directive are not clear yet.