Open AccessCollective Proceedings for Damages in UK Competition Law Case Comment to the Judgment Merricks v Mastercard [2019] EWCA Civ 674
Author(s) -
Kathryn E. McMahon
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
yearbook of antitrust and regulatory studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2545-0115
pISSN - 1689-9024
DOI - 10.7172/1689-9024.yars.2019.12.20.10
Subject(s) - damages , supreme court , redress , law , appeal , competition (biology) , class action , political science , jurisdiction , competition law , law and economics , business , economics , computer science , ecology , state (computer science) , algorithm , biology , market economy , monopoly
Merricks v Mastercard [2019] is the first action under the newly developed ‘opt-out’ collective proceedings regime for aggregate damages under UK competition law to be considered by the UK Court of Appeal. It is significant for both the level of damages (£14 billion (€16 billion)) and the clarification of the legal test at the certification stage for the suitability for an aggregate award: the method for calculation of the aggregate damages and the sufficiency of evidence. The Court’s lowering of these thresholds importantly opens the door to future class actions and reasserts the importance of collective proceedings as a valuable means of redress for competition law infringements. The decision has now been appealed to the UK Supreme Court where these issues may be further clarified and resolved.