Judgment of the Tribunal in relation to two applications for a collective proceedings order (CPO) brought by: (1) Haulage Customer Claim Limited (HCCL); and (2) JLP TCR Ltd (JLP). Both CPO applications are brought against Scania Aktiebolag (Publ) and other Scania entities (together, the Scania PDs), and they follow on from a decision of the European Commission (the Commission) addressed to the Scania PDs, published on 27 September 2017 (the Scania Decision), which was upheld by the General Court of the European Union in February 2022 and by the Court of Justice of the European Union in February 2024.
The Scania Decision found that the Scania Proposed Defendants, together with other trucks manufacturers (who reached a settlement with the Commission), exchanged price lists and colluded over price increases associated with meeting European emissions standards between 17 January 1997 and 18 January 2011. The exchanges were in relation to trucks of between 6 and 16 tonnes (medium trucks) and trucks over 16 tonnes (heavy trucks).
The JLP and the HCCL claims are materially the same. They allege that the haulage providers paid an unlawfully inflated price for trucks weighing over 6 tonnes (the subject of the cartel) and the hauliers passed on some or all of this overcharge to the class members in the form of higher haulage rates.
Both CPO applications were filed without funding and insurance arrangements being in place.
The solicitors for HCCL and JLP informed the Tribunal that they had agreed, subject to the views of the Tribunal, to work together to advance a single set of collective proceedings through the JLP Proceedings. JLP/HCCL made the following applications:
- An application for permission to amend the collective proceedings claim form in the JLP Proceedings.
- An application for permission to serve the JLP collective proceedings claim form out of the jurisdiction.
- An application to stay the HCCL Proceedings (together, the Applications).
At the request of both HCCL and JLP, an ex parte hearing was fixed and took place on 17 July 2026. Shortly before the hearing, JLP provided the Tribunal with an update on the funding and insurance arrangements for the JLP Proceedings. It explained that a litigation funding agreement had been concluded with Asertis Limited. However, JLP pointed out at the hearing that everything had not yet been finalised.
The Tribunal granted the Applications. However, it gave JLP one month from the date of the Tribunal’s judgment to finalise its arrangements with the funder. The Tribunal explained that it may revoke the order for permission to serve out if the conditions have not been satisfied by 17 August 2026.
