Court of Appeal gives judgment on the French Blocking Statute and European Evidence Regulation

23/10/13

The Court of Appeal (LLJ Laws, Rimer & Beatson) have handed down their judgment in two competition cases that raised a similar legal issue about the effect of the French Blocking Statute and European Council Regulation 1206/2001.  In both cases, French companies were ordered to comply with orders of the English High Court - Servier was ordered to provide further information to the National Health Service in the context of competition claim brought by theNational Health Service, while Alstom and Areva were ordered to disclose documents in the context of a "follow on" damages claim brought by National Grid.  The French companies in both cases asked the Court to make a "court to court" request to obtain the relevant information / documents pursuant to the European Regulation providing for the taking of evidence (Regulation 1206/2001), because complying with the English court orders themselves would entail the French companies committing a criminal offence under France's Blocking Statute.  

The Court of Appeal (upholding a judgment of Henderson J in Servier and Roth J in National Grid) declined to use the Regulation, because in the Court's view the Regulation is not mandatory but discretionary, and the trial judges were entitled to exercise their discretion not to use it and instead to require compliance with the procedural orders of the English court in both cases.

The judgment is here.