Resolving the problem of overlapping collective claims in the UK : carriage disputes and ‘consolidation’ at the CAT

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Rodger, Barry J (2026) Resolving the problem of overlapping collective claims in the UK : carriage disputes and ‘consolidation’ at the CAT. Competition Law Review. ISSN 1745-638X (In Press)

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Abstract

It is over ten years since the modernised competition law collective redress mechanism was introduced to the UK’s Competition Act 1998 by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.1 At the time it was heralded as introducing major transformation to the private enforcement framework in the UK, notably by adding an opt-out collective mechanism.2 Indeed in the years that have followed, the workload of the CAT has increased dramatically in relation to damages actions specifically and private enforcement claims generally.3 The Merricks litigation saga has been a central feature, and the Supreme Court ruling in that case was widely viewed as facilitating the path to effective consumer collective redress in the UK.4 In its wake, the CAT has been inundated with a wave of actions, including a considerable number of Collective ‘opt-out’ claims (many of which were put on hold pending the Supreme Court ruling in Merricks), often involving stand-alone abuse claims in relation to various alleged abuses in the digital economy business strategies of so-called ‘Big Tech’ businesses.

ORCID iDs

Rodger, Barry J ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8588-433X;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)