News

Yukos v Russia case heard in ECHR
5 March 2010
Piers Gardner of Monckton Chambers represented Yukos Oil Company in the hearing on the merits of its application to the European Court of Human Rights held in Strasbourg on 4 March 2010. The Application concerns the lawfulness under the European Convention on Human Rights of the additional taxation of Yukos in Russia and the ...

Further Elevations to the Panels of Junior Counsel to the Crown
3 March 2010
Monckton Chambers warmly congratulates Andrew Macnab who has been elevated to the Attorney General's A Panel of Treasury Counsel, along with Gerry Facenna and Anneli Howard, who have both been elevated to the B panel. These elevations continue to illustrate our expertise in VAT/indirect tax litigation and water regulation, public, ...

Court of Appeal gives judgment in the National Grid Appeal
24 February 2010
The Court of Appeal has given judgment in National Grid's appeal against a decision by the Competition Appeal Tribunal in April of last year. The Tribunal had largely upheld a decision of the energy regulator, Ofgem, finding that National Grid had abused its dominant position in the market in Great Britain for the provision of ...

South African Tribunal Imposes Maximum Fines in Bread Cartel Case
3 February 2010
The case concerned complaint referrals brought by the Competition Commission against Pioneer Foods (Pty) Ltd, in which Pioneer's bread baking divisions, Sasko and Duens, are alleged to have formed part of bread manufacturers' cartels that fixed prices and divided markets under sections 4(1)(b)(i) and (ii) of the Competition Act. Tiger ...

CoA rejects JML Direct's challenge in EPG listings dispute
2 February 2010
The Court of Appeal today dismissed an appeal by TV shopping channel JML Direct relating to the allocation of Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) numbers by Freesat, a multi-channel TV service owned jointly by the BBC and ITV. The ruling has implications for the interpretation of regulatory codes. JML had appealed the earlier ...

Andrew Macnab publishes Book on EC/Competition Law
1 February 2010
The 2010 edition of Bellamy and Child: Materials on European Community Law of Competition, edited by Andrew Macnab of Monckton Chambers, was published by Oxford University Press on 28 January 2010. This volume of EC competition law materials serves both as the Materials volume of the Sixth Edition of Bellamy & Child: ...

American Express Appeal Dismissed
29 January 2010
The High Court has today given judgment in a VAT appeal concerning single/multiple supplies and issues concerning place of supply of services. The Court dismissed an appeal by a UK based American Express company in relation to supplies of real estate services provided to its American parent. American Express had contended the place of ...

CA rejects EU telecoms law challenge to UK fibre-optics tax
28 January 2010
The Court of Appeal today dismissed a challenge by Vtesse Networks Ltd to the way its fibre-optic network is valued for the purpose of levying Business Rates. The Valuation Office Agency had valued Vtesse's network by reference to the valuations which had already been ascribed to comparable fibre-optic networks, but not by reference to ...

Court of Justice rules on national time limits for bringing public procurement challenges
28 January 2010
On 28 January 2010, the Court of Justice of the European Union (formerly the European Court of Justice) handed down its judgment in Case C-406/08 Uniplex. This judgment will affect fundamentally the way in which challenges to public procurement processes are made in the United Kingdom. The case concerned a dispute between ...

Competition Appeal Tribunal sets procedure for construction appeals
27 January 2010
The Competition Appeal Tribunal has decided that it will hear all appeals against the OFT's decision in the construction investigation separately. On 21 September 2009, following a five year investigation into the construction industry, the OFT imposed financial penalties totalling £129.2 million on 103 construction companies ...