FIN.

CAT determines the ‘domicile date’

CAT has published its Judgment giving further guidance on the ‘domicile date’, which is the date specified in a CPO. The domicile date operates to determine the persons who fall within the class definition, to ensure that they are automatically included in the proceedings unless they opt out, and which persons can be included if they opt in.

In Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v Mastercard Incorporated and Others [2022] CAT 13, CAT held that the domicile date was the date of issuing the claim form, 6 September 2016, as opposed to 18 August 2021, the latter being the date when the decision to grant a CPO was made (the Merricks 2 decision).

CAT acknowledged that it had a discretion to determine the domicile date, however it also stated that the proposed class should have been defined by express reference to the claim form’s issue date, rather than the domicile date.

Emma Radmore