Class action adjudged to be “fundamentally flawed”
The Court of Appeal has dealt a blow to class actions in a case involving imports of flowers, British Airways (BA), and allegations of air freight cartels.
Two flower importers, Emerald Supplies and Southern Glass House Produce, brought a claim for damages against BA for global infringements of competition law by allegedly illegal price-fixing cartels in the area of air freight charges. They sought collective redress for consumers. However, the “class” was not named.
In Emerald Supplies v British Airways [2010] EWCA Civ 1284, Lord Justice Mummery said Emerald’s case was “fatally flawed” because it was a “fundamental requirement” of CPR 19(6) that the parties have the “same interest” at all stages of the proceedings.
“At all stages of the proceedings, and not just at the date of judgment at the end, it must be possible to say of any particular person whether or not they qualify for membership of the represented class of persons by virtue of having ‘the same interest’ as Emerald,” he said.
“This does
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