Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd v Mastercard Incorporated & Ors [2015] EWHC 3400 (Ch) (07 October 2015)

Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd v Mastercard Incorporated & Ors [2015] EWHC 3400 (Ch) (07 October 2015)

The balance of interests favours disclosure of the documents, as they are relevant to the proceedings and not available from other sources, and the Commission has already anonymised and protected confidential information; additional safeguards must be implemented to protect interests of merchants and allow Commission to comment.

Citation
[2015] EWHC 3400 (Ch)
Parties
Claimant: Sainsbury's Supermarkets Limited; Defendant: MasterCard Incorporated; Defendant: MasterCard International Incorporated; Defendant: MasterCard Europe S. P. R. L
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
07 October 2015
Procedural Posture
Application for Disclosure in Ongoing Competition Litigation / Interlocutory Application
Outcome
Application granted, subject to additional safeguards and delay for Commission comment.
Legal Topics
Disclosure of Documents, Confidentiality, Interchange Fees, European Commission Investigations
Competition Law Civil Procedure Disclosure of Documents Confidentiality Interchange Fees European Commission Investigations

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 6 Authorities cited 4 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 1
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Sainsbury's Supermarkets Limited

Claimant

MasterCard Incorporated

Defendant

MasterCard International Incorporated

Defendant

MasterCard Europe S. P. R. L

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Application for Disclosure in Ongoing Competition Litigation / Interlocutory Application

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether documents supplied by the European Commission to MasterCard should be disclosed to the Claimant
  2. 2 Balancing interests of fair trial and protection of confidential information
  3. 3 Potential prejudice to ongoing Commission investigation

Ratio Decidendi

The balance of interests favours disclosure of the documents, as they are relevant to the proceedings and not available from other sources, and the Commission has already anonymised and protected confidential information; additional safeguards must be implemented to protect interests of merchants and allow Commission to comment.

Court Disposition

Application granted, subject to additional safeguards and delay for Commission comment.

Orders

  • Disclosure of documents supplied by the European Commission to MasterCard to be made to the Claimant, subject to a delay of two or three weeks to allow Commission comment.
  • Initial review of documents by MasterCard's external legal team to ensure protection of confidential interests of merchants.