Delivering Competition Damages in the UK

45 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2012 Last revised: 5 Nov 2012

See all articles by Christopher Hodges OBE

Christopher Hodges OBE

University of Oxford - Centre for Socio-Legal Studies; Faculty of Law

Date Written: September 17, 2012

Abstract

This paper examines the system for delivering compensation for breach of competition law that would apply to claims if the proposals contained in 2012 consultation by the U.K. government came into effect. It examines how the system would operate in practice, and how an individual or collective claim would be dealt with. The position involves incorporating various innovative techniques from the three pillars of public enforcement, and private enforcement and ADR, each of which individually constitutes a significant reform, into a sophisticated pre-existing system. The result is complex and untested, not least because the details of every one of the major individual techniques are yet to be defined. The paper examines crucial influence that the incentives and powers (carrots, nudges and sticks) that would apply in each situation would have on how a claim is processed, or which impede it. It finds that the ADR and regulatory techniques can offer transformative solutions in delivering compensation. Whilst a private class action could operate in follow-on mass cases, it would be unnecessarily slow and costly compared with intelligent use of the ADR and regulatory alternatives. Significant concerns are identified over whether a class action would be effective in stand-alone or mass consumer cases. Accordingly, it suggests that policymakers should re-examine priorities as between private enforcement and other options.

Keywords: ADR, competition law

Suggested Citation

Hodges OBE, Christopher, Delivering Competition Damages in the UK (September 17, 2012). Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper No. 66/2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2170385 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2170385

Christopher Hodges OBE (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Centre for Socio-Legal Studies ( email )

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Oxford, OX1 3UQ
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Faculty of Law ( email )

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Oxford, OX1 3UL
United Kingdom

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