Court of Appeal allows Iijama LCD and CRT litigation to go ahead

The Court of Appeal has allowed appeals in two cartel damages actions brought by Iijama group arising out of the European Commission’s decisions in the liquid crystal display (LCD) and cathode ray tube (CRT) cartels. 

The defendants had applied to the High Court to have the actions struck out on the basis of lack of jurisdiction. The applications were granted in the CRT case but not in the LCD case.  The Court of Appeal considered the appeals together.

The main issue in the appeals was whether the claimants had a real prospect of success in their claim for infringement of Article 101 TFEU and the harm they suffered as a result of the increase in purchase prices in the downward supply chain.  In the circumstances, the products had first been supplied outside the EEA and then to a claimant company outside the EEA and which then supplied them to a claimant group company in the EEA for onward sale and distribution in the EEA. 

The Court of Appeal ruled that the question of jurisdiction could not be determined adversely against the claimants on a summary application and should proceed to full trial.  The Court of Appeal held that it was reasonably arguable that the claims are subject to EU law and that the actions should be heard in England and Wales.

The Court of Appeal’s ruling is a welcome boost to claimants alleging that they have suffered loss as a result of a cartel with global dimensions and who seek to bring their claims in England and Wales. The Court of Appeal did not dismiss too readily the arguments of the claimants that liability arises under Article 101 TFEU even where the harm they have suffered is at several stages of remove from the first direct sales taking place outside the EEA.

The LCD Appeals [2018] EWCA Civ 220