Pre-Trial Review held
The pre-trial review (“PTR”) in the case was held on 23 March 2022. The PTR considered certain procedural aspects of the trial including:
the trial timetable, including allocations for factual witnesses from each party;
an application from the Defendants for the hearing to take place on a hybrid basis, such that interested parties may observe proceedings remotely;
an application from Telefónica, S.A. for one witness of fact to give evidence remotely;
arrangements for trial bundles, including availability in hard copy or electronically; and
arrangements for expert evidence, including an uncontested application for experts to supplement their reports with oral evidence.
The parties had made progress towards agreement of the timetable ahead of the PTR, with the main area of disagreement relating to the amount of time to be allocated for cross-examination of witnesses of fact for P4U and the Defendants respectively. The Court’s decision largely represents a “middle-ground” between the P4U proposal and that of the Defendants (set out in Appendix 1 to P4U’s skeleton arguments). The confirmed timetable is set out in the PTR order linked below, and includes a week of pre-reading from Monday 9 May, with opening arguments commencing on 16 May and oral closings during the week commencing 25 July.
Although no decision was sought at the PTR, P4U’s skeleton arguments also referred to ongoing correspondence with the Defendants regarding disclosure of their competition compliance policies. This was noted by Mr Justice Roth at the PTR. P4U subsequently served a further application for disclosure on 25 March 2022, and later entered into arrangements providing for the Defendants to provide the relevant documents by consent.
P4U did not object to the Defendants’ application for the hybrid trial, but flagged a concern regarding the ability of witnesses and/or legal advisers (to persons other than the parties to the proceedings) to attend remotely, including from outside the jurisdiction. In light of the number of representatives involved, including senior executives outside England & Wales, and the ongoing situation with respect to Covid-19, Mr Justice Roth granted the order for a hybrid trial.
The unofficial transcript of the hearing can be found here.
Please note that:
The transcript is published in the form received from the transcriber; and
We are posting the transcript solely for the convenience of interested third parties and we make no representations as to the accuracy of such transcript nor accept any responsibility for any inaccuracies contained within it.
The skeleton arguments for the hearing are linked below:
The sealed orders of Mr Justice Roth relating to the hybrid trial arrangements and the other PTR matters, including the trial timetable, are linked below: