2023 Update - CAT Collective Proceedings

A new era of consumer-focussed competition class actions is now well underway. It kicked off with the first collective proceedings order (CPO) granted by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in Merricks in the summer of 2021, opening the gates for further collective claims to be certified.

The UK's fledgling competition class action regime, brought in under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, has now taken flight.

As at February 2023, 29 collective proceedings applications have been registered with the CAT under the new regime. 10 are now certified and have moved to the substantive stage of proceedings. Many more are currently awaiting certification and affect multiple sectors, ranging from musical instruments and PlayStation consoles through to cryptocurrency and social media. There are further class actions in the wings with recent collective proceedings publicised including claims against Google, Amazon and water companies.

Now eighteen months after the CAT's first certification ruling in Merricks, early 2023 has already got off to a flying start.

Chris Ross and Leonia Chesterfield take a look at recent developments and what to watch out for in the competition collective proceedings space, both this year and beyond.