EU LAW CASE NOTES

Success for Iceland in Icesave case
31 January 2013
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Tim Ward QC

The EFTA Court has rejected an infringement claim against Iceland arising from the crash of the Icesave bank. The case has important implications for banking regulation in the ...

C-16/10 The Number Ltd & Conduit Enterprises Ltd v Ofcom & BT
11 May 2011
Author(s): Ligia Osepciu
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Christopher Vajda QC, George Peretz, Fiona Banks

The CJEU's recent judgment in this case has found the wholesale obligation and ex ante price regulation imposed by Oftel (Ofcom's predecessor) upon BT in respect of telecommunications subscriber data held on BT's Operator ...

R (on the application of Low) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] I.C.R. 755
8 July 2010
Author(s): Ligia Osepciu
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Ian Rogers

The Court of Appeal in R (on the application of Low) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] 2 C.M.L.R. 34 [2010] I.C.R. 755 [2010] EWCA Civ 4 has given an important judgment holding that companies established in the European ...

Mobilx Ltd (In Administration) and others v HMRC
14 June 2010
Author(s): Owain Draper
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Melanie Hall QC, Philip Moser QC, Fiona Banks

On 12 May 2010, the Court of Appeal gave judgment on three joined appeals from the High Court in relation to missing trader intra-Community ("MTIC" or "carousel") fraud. The principal question before the Court of Appeal was, as Moses LJ ...

Case T-448/05 Oxley Thread v Commission, judgment of the General Court
21 May 2010
Author(s): Jorren Knibbe
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: George Peretz

In its judgment of 28 April 2010, the General Court has rejected Oxley Thread Ltd's appeal against a penalty imposed by the European Commission in cartel proceedings.  Oxley's appeal was one of several against the same ...

BSkyB v Competition Commission ~ [2010] EWCA Civ 2
24 March 2010
Author(s): Owain Draper
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Paul Lasok QC, John Swift QC, Daniel Beard QC, Rob Williams, Elisa Holmes

On 21 January 2010, the Court of Appeal (Rix LJ, Lloyd LJ and Mackay J) dismissed the appeal of British Sky Broadcasting Group plc ("Sky") against the decision of the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT") of  29 September 2008 in which the CAT ...

Case C-406/08 Uniplex
11 February 2010
Author(s): Ewan West
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Kassie Smith QC

On 28 January 2010 the European Court of Justice handed down its long-awaited judgment in Case C-406/08 Uniplex (UK) Ltd v NHS Business Services Authority. The judgment is likely to have profound implications not just for challenges ...

IB v the Queen [2009] EWCA Crim 2575 ~ Crown Court has jurisdiction to try the cartel offence:
5 January 2010
Author(s): Ligia Osepciu
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Jon Turner QC, Anneli Howard

Construing section 188 of the Enterprise Act 2002 ("the 2002 Act") for the first time, the Court of Appeal has upheld the judgment of Mr Justice Owen, holding that the Crown Court has jurisdiction to try an indictment alleging the "cartel ...

Veolia ES Nottinghamshire Ltd v Nottinghamshire County Council [2009] EWHC 2382 (Admin) ~ Information rights: Commercial Confidentiality and Local Government Accountability in Conflict?
20 November 2009
Author(s): Ligia Osepciu
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Ian Rogers

The High Court's recent decision in Veolia ES Nottinghamshire Ltd v Nottinghamshire County Council [2009] EWHC 2382 (Admin) has potentially far reaching implications for the protection of confidential ...

Hutchison 3G UK Limited v The Office of Communications [2009] EWCA Civ 683 ~ Ex ante and ex post regulation: Is regulation to be taken into account in deciding whether to regulate?
10 August 2009
Author(s): Laura Elizabeth John
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Peter Roth QC, Jon Turner QC, Josh Holmes, Meredith Pickford

Following a complex procedural history, the issue of mobile call termination charges was considered by the Court of Appeal.  Hutchison 3G UK Limited ('H3G') appealed against a decision by the Office of Communications ('OFCOM'), upheld by the ...

R (TNT Post UK Ltd) v HMRC
11 June 2009
Author(s): Anneliese Blackwood
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Paul Lasok QC, Christopher Vajda QC, Melanie Hall QC

This case concerned the interpretation of an exemption from VAT in relation to postal services. Proceedings were brought by TNT Post UK Limited ("TNT Post") against Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs ("HMRC") and Royal Mail Group Limited ("Royal ...

State aid and the grant of telecoms licences ~ The judgment of the ECJ in the Bouygues case
29 May 2009
Author(s): Kassie Smith QC
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Christopher Vajda QC

On 2 April 2009, the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") handed down judgment in Case C-431/07 P Bouygues SA v Commission.  The ECJ upheld the judgment of the Court of First Instance ("CFI"). ...

Case C-127/08 Metock and Others
24 November 2008
Author(s): Laura Elizabeth John
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Tim Ward QC

In a preliminary ruling with wide ramifications, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice ("the ECJ") in Metock has provided important clarification to its case law as to ...

Court of Appeal upholds Francovich liability finding in Byrne v Motor Insurers Bureau and the Secretary of State for Transport ~ Defective implementation of EC Directive governing claims by victims of untraced drivers was a "sufficiently serious" breach of Community law to make UK liable in damages
25 June 2008
Author(s): Alan Bates
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Nicholas Paines QC, Josh Holmes

The Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of the High Court that: (i) the UK scheme for compensating victims of untraced drivers failed properly to implement the Second EC Motor Insurance Directive; ...

A Supertanker Turns ~ The ECJ's Tax Case Law Heads in a New Direction
16 January 2008
Author(s): Tim Ward QC
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Tim Ward QC

It is trite law that the Member States of the EU retain competence over direct taxation.  Unlike VAT, it has not been subject to Community harmonising legislation. Yet in a series of cases dating back over 20 ...

Bouygues Dials the Wrong Number in State Aid Challenge ~ Bouygues SA, Bouygues Telecom v Commission of the European Communities (Case T-475/04), Judgement of 4 July 2007 (CFI)
16 July 2007
Author(s): Ewan West
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Christopher Vajda QC

On 6 June 2000, the French Government announced its intention of allocating four licences for the operation of third generation ("3G") mobile phones in France.  On 18 August 2000, the Autorité de régulation des ...

High Court Damages Ruling in Hit-and-Run Case ~ Byrne v Motor Insurers Bureau / Secretary of State for Transport [2007] EWHC 1268 (QB)
15 June 2007
Author(s): Jorren Knibbe
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Nicholas Paines QC, Josh Holmes

In Byrne v Motor Insurers Bureau / Secretary of State for Transport, Flaux J has made the rare finding that the United Kingdom has committed a sufficiently serious breach of Community law to give rise to Francovich damages ...

Banca Popolare di Cremona ~ What the Judgment Did Not Say
18 October 2006
Author(s): Philip Woolfe
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Tim Ward QC

Banca Popolare is a case which is more significant for what the ECJ did not say than for what it did. The Court declined to address the issue on which 15 Member States addressed it in oral submissions, namely whether the Community ...

Food for Thought: the ECJ Clarifies the Scope of the Food Supplements Directive
26 July 2005
Author(s): Ian Rogers
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Paul Lasok QC, Anneli Howard

On 12 July 2005, the ECJ gave a ruling under the preliminary reference procedure on the validity of the Food Supplements Directive (2002/46/EC) ("the Directive").  Its judgment had been eagerly awaited by the millions of ...

Viking Line Abp v. (1) The International Transport Workers' Federation and (2) The Finnish Seamen's Union
15 July 2005
Author(s): Gerry Facenna
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Kassie Smith QC

On the basis of Article 43 EC (freedom of establishment), the Commercial Court recently granted a permanent injunction that prevents a trade union in Finland from taking industrial action against a Finnish shipping company in protest ...

International Transport Roth Gmbh And Others V. The Home Office
10 December 2001
Member(s) of Chambers involved in this case: Lord Lyell of Markyate QC

The judgment in International Transport Roth -v- Home Office, delivered on Wednesday 5th December 2001, is a landmark decision, which shows that the fundamental freedoms embodied in the Treaties of European Union and the ...