Ruling of the Tribunal further to an application by the Class Representative to amend her pleadings following the delivery of final judgment so as to include losses resulting from transactions made by class members between the date of the pre-trial review and the date of final judgment. The application sought to extend by approximately 11 months the period within which the Class Representative could claim on behalf of existing class members, amounting to additional damages in the region of £227 million (before interest is applied).
Following concluding that there is no legal impediment to a claim which pleads loss and damage beyond the date of issue of the claim form and up until the date of judgment, the Tribunal determined that it would not exercise its discretion to allow the application. The Tribunal carried out a balancing exercise in which it attached considerable weight to the principle of finality of judgments, further to the principles set out in AIC Limited v Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria [2022] UKSC 16, [2022] 4 All ER 777. It noted that the efficiency concerns raised by the Class Representative did not warrant the significant step urged upon the Tribunal in reopening the judgment, particularly where the application was not made at the appropriate time. This made it unnecessary to consider in detail Apple's arguments as to the unfairness that would result from allowing the application.
