Cross Border EU Competition Law Actions conference

Description

'Private Antitrust Claims as a 'Special Case': Can the General Court be Envisaged as the Appellate Court vis-à-vis Decisions of National Courts?' Abstract: This paper seeks to analyse the implications of the proposal to confer to the General Court jurisdiction to hear appeals against decisions of the domestic courts dealing with private antitrust enforcement claims. First, it will consider the question of whether the need to uphold the consistency and uniformity of EU competition law, especially on account of the increasing importance of domestic courts in the application of these rules, resulting from the Modernisation Regulation, justifies the introduction of a 'specialised' jurisdiction in this area. Thereafter, the paper will examine the question of whether granting an 'appellate' jurisdiction to the General Court against domestic judgments is compatible with the existing principles governing the judicial architecture of the EU, in respect to both the jurisdiction enjoyed by the Luxembourg Courts and the relationship existing between them and the domestic courts. It will be concluded that although the proposal is not inconsistent with the genesis of the General Court, and may indeed be justified by the need to uphold the unity and consistency of the EU competition rules, it raises a number of difficulties both in respect to its compatibility with the nature of the relationship existing between domestic and EU courts, and enshrined in the Treaties, and as regards its consistency with the “limited” nature of the jurisdiction enjoyed in direct actions. Thus, it will be suggested that a less radically, albeit perhaps just as effective proposal, could lie in conferring to the General Court the power to hear preliminary references, as envisaged by Article 256(3) TFEU, since it would remain compatible with the nature of the relationship existing between the domestic courts and the Luxembourg judiciary and would also find a legal basis in the Treaty.

Period	20 Apr 2012
Event type	Conference
Location	London, United Kingdom