1284/5/7/18 (T) Royal Mail Group Limited v DAF Trucks Limited and Others | Competition Appeal Tribunal
Claim for damages for breach of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (and/or its earlier equivalents) and/or Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 by Royal Mail Group Limited (the “Claimant”) against (1) DAF Trucks Limited; (2) DAF Trucks N.V. (the “Second Defendant”); (3) DAF Trucks Deutschland GmbH (the “Third Defendant”); (4) PACCAR Inc (the “Fourth Defendant”); (5) PACCAR Financial Plc; and (6) Leyland Trucks Limited (the “Royal Mail Case”). The Claimant relies on a decision of the European Commission of 19 July 2016 (Case AT.39824 – Trucks) which was addressed to (amongst others) the Second, Third and Fourth Defendants.
The issues in the proceedings were transferred from the High Court to the Tribunal by order of Mr Justice Roth dated 21 June 2018.
A case management conference (CMC) was held on 21-22 November 2018. The CMC was heard jointly with CMCs in Cases 1290T-1295T. At the CMC, the Tribunal directed that the Royal Mail Case be jointly case managed with Case 1290T (BT).
On 11 December 2018 the Tribunal issued a judgment giving reasons for its decisions on two issues heard at the CMC in relation to confidentiality rings and disclosure of translations ([2018] CAT 19).
A hearing of certain disclosure applications listed for 16 January 2019 was vacated.
A further CMC took place on 2-3 May 2019 and was heard jointly with CMCs in Cases 1290T-1295T.
A preliminary issue hearing took place on 3, 5 and 6 December 2019.
A further CMC took place on 6 February 2020 and was heard jointly with CMCs in Cases 1290T-1295T.
Judgment on the preliminary issue was handed down on 4 March 2020 ([2020] CAT 7). On 26 March 2020 the Tribunal issued a ruling partially granting the Defendants’ applications for permission to appeal ([2020] CAT 10). On 23 June 2020 the Tribunal issued a ruling on the Claimant’s application for its costs of the preliminary issue hearing ([2020] CAT 14). On 11 November 2020 the Court of Appeal issued its judgment on the preliminary issue ([2020] EWCA Civ 1475).
A further CMC took place on 29-30 October 2020 and was heard jointly with CMCs in Cases 1290T-1295T.
Pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Tribunal’s Order dated 3 November 2020, the parties filed their proposals for expert evidence in the proceedings. The parties have not been able to reach agreement in respect of all aspects of expert evidence that would be required by the Tribunal to determine the claims. A hearing to determine the outstanding issues took place 1-2 March 2021. The Tribunal issued its judgment on 13 May 2021 ([2021] CAT 10).
A pre-trial review took place on 22 March 2022.
The trial took place from 3 May 2022 to 30 June 2022. The Tribunal issued its Judgment on 7 February 2023 ([2023] CAT 6).
