Appeals and actions in the Courts

Appeals

Appeals against OFT decisions are heard by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). A further appeal from the CAT may also be possible and will be held in the Court of Appeal, Court of Session or Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland, depending on whether the CAT sat as a tribunal in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland respectively.

Third party actions

Where a third party (such as a competitor or customer) has been affected by anti-competitive behaviour which they believe infringes competition law, they can take action in the courts to stop the behaviour and/or seek damages, in addition to or instead of making a complaint to us.

Where an infringement of competition law has been already established (eg, by a decision of the OFT or the European Commission), a claim for damages can be brought before the CAT. Such a claim may be brought by a third party (for example, a competitor or customer) or by a specified body as a representative claim on behalf of a group of named individual consumers.

Further information

Further information is available in the guideline Enforcement.

Back to: Competition Act 1998