A Spotlight on the Settlement Criteria under the United Kingdom's New Competition Class Action

Abstract

As with unitary litigation, far more class actions in other jurisdictions settle than proceed to full trial. Hence, the process of the so-called 'fairness hearing', and the criteria which the Competition Appeal Tribunal will apply in order to assess whether the terms of the proposed collective settlement are 'just and reasonable' (as the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires), will likely be a crucial component of the new UK competition law class action. This article briefly examines the inclusive set of criteria articulated under the Act, whilst also focusing a spotlight on some recent Canadian class actions settlements of interest in the field of competition law.