UK Court Of Appeal Rejects Private Plaintiff Claim For Restitutionary Award For Cartel Offence

In a setback for private antitrust plaintiffs in the UK, today

the Court of Appeal in London rejected a claim for restitutionary

damages, limiting the Claimant to compensatory damages.

Last October, the High Court in London held that compensatory

damages were the only damages available to cartel victims who, in

reliance upon a European Commission decision, brought private

claims for losses caused by cartel agreements. The Claimants had

sought exemplary damages and restitutionary awards, which could

have increased the amounts they would have won in the actions.

These damage claims failed.

The Claimants had purchased vitamins directly or indirectly from

companies found by the European Commission to have cartelised the

vitamins market in the 1990s. One Claimant, who had purchased

directly from the cartel members, appealed the Court's decision

that it was not entitled to a restitutionary award...