Proceedings under Part 1 of 1998 Act
Section 17: Third party appeals
70.This section replaces the existing section 47 CA 1998 by a new version that removes the current requirement for a third party first to request the OFT to withdraw or vary its decision before having a right of appeal to the CAT. For those purposes, a ‘third party’ is a person who is not a party to the agreement (or the author of the conduct) in respect of which the OFT has made its decision.
71.Section 47(1) specifies which decisions by the OFT may be appealed by a third party. The decisions covered are the same as in the existing version of section 47(1).
72.Section 47(2) specifies that a third party appeal may only be made by a person with sufficient interest or who represents persons with sufficient interest. This preserves the existing position, but responsibility for determining whether the party has sufficient interest will lie with the CAT and not the OFT as at present.
73.Section 47(3) preserves the existing position under the current section 47(7).
Section 18: Monetary Claims
74.Subsection (1) inserts a new section 47A in CA 1998 that will enable claims for damages, or other monetary awards, to be brought in the CAT (the CAT will also exercise the appeals jurisdiction currently exercised by the appeal tribunals of the CC, and the new review jurisdiction under Parts 3 and 4 of the Act). However, it will be possible to bring such claims in the CAT only where it has been established (by either the OFT or the European Commission) that an infringement of competition law has occurred. The right to bring such a claim will be without prejudice to the existing right to bring similar claims in the courts.
75.The new section 47A(1) and (3) enable the CAT to hear any claims for damages or other sums of money arising from a specified infringement of competition law, which could be made in civil proceedings before a court.
76.The new section 47A(6) specifies the infringements of competition law in respect of which a claim may be made to the CAT. These are: breaches of the prohibitions in Chapter I and Chapter II of CA 1998, and breaches of the prohibitions in Article 81 and Article 82 of the EC Treaty. Those prohibitions concern agreements, decisions and concerted practices that have the object or effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competition (Chapter I and Article 81), and conduct that amounts to the abuse of a dominant position (Chapter II and Article 82). Also included are existing decisions taken under the corresponding provisions of the European Coal and Steel Treaty, which expires on 23 July 2002.
77.The new section 47A(3) disapplies any limitation periods which would otherwise be applicable to such claims. The limitation periods for claims brought before the Tribunal will be specified in the CAT Rules.
78.The new section 47A(5), (6) and (8) further limit the claims that may be heard by the CAT. A claim may be brought only if it arises out of an infringement that has already been established by a decision of the OFT, of the CAT itself on appeal from the OFT, or the European Commission. Except with the permission of the CAT, decisions are excluded that may still be subject to appeal (for instance an appeal to the CAT itself in the case of decisions of the OFT, to the Court of Appeal in the case of CAT decisions on such an appeal, or an application to the European Court of Justice in the case of decisions of the European Commission).
79.The new section 47A(9) makes it clear that, in determining the claim, the CAT is bound by the relevant decision establishing the infringement.
80.Subsection (2) provides that proceedings may be brought under the new section 47A in respect of claims arising before, as well as after, the commencement of that section. This will be subject to the limitation periods specified in the CAT Rules.
Section 19: Claims on behalf of consumers
81.This section inserts a new section 47B in CA 1998 that enables proceedings comprising claims for damages under section 47A to be brought in a representative capacity by a specified body on behalf of a group of named individual consumers.
82.The new section 47B(1) , (3) and (4) enable such claims to be made on behalf of any group of two or more consumers, provided that each consumer has given his or her consent, and the claims relate to the same infringement. 47B(3) also permits, under the same conditions, existing claims to be taken over by such a specified body. Such proceedings may only be made by a body that is specified by the Secretary of State under section 47B(9), and on behalf of persons who are claiming as consumers within the meaning given by sections 47B(2), (7) and (8). In particular, the infringement that is relied upon must affect goods or services that were received (or sought to be received) by the claimant otherwise than in the course of his or her business.
83.The new section 47B(6) provides that all sums awarded under this section must be awarded directly to the represented consumers, who will then be able to enforce the award in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 5 of Schedule 4. It also allows the CAT to order that the sum awarded be paid to the representative body who will then be able to enforce the award on behalf of the individuals in accordance with paragraphs 4(c) or 5(c) of Schedule 4. Such an order may only be made with the consent of both the individuals concerned and the representative body.
84.The new section 47B(7) and (8) sets out the conditions that must apply before an individual can be said to be a ‘consumer’ for the purposes of a consumer claim under this section. The infringement must have affected goods or services that the individual has received (or sought to receive) otherwise than in the course of business (although this will not exclude those received for the purposes of a future business). Conversely, the goods or services must have been supplied (or, had they been obtainable, would have been supplied) by a person acting in the course of business. A typical example will be where a consumer has bought goods for his or her own use, whose price has been inflated by a price-fixing agreement either among the suppliers themselves, or the manufacturers, or possibly among the manufacturers’ own suppliers.
85.The new section 47B(9) gives the Secretary of State the power to specify by order, and in accordance with published criteria, the bodies that are permitted to bring a representative claim. Such orders will be subject to negative Parliamentary procedure as specified in section 71 of the CA 1998.
86.The new section 47B(10) provides that a body wishing to be specified for the purposes of this section must make an application in a form approved by the Secretary of State.
