Judgment on the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to grant the relief requested by the appellant by exercising its powers under paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 8 of the Competition Act 1998 to make any decision which OFCOM could itself have made.
The Tribunal found that, on the proper construction of paragraph 3(2)(e), it had full jurisdiction to make an infringement decision in the context of the appeal (notwithstanding that OFCOM had not served a statement of objections or taken the other procedural steps required prior to the issue by OFCOM of an infringement decision) as the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to hear appeals on their merits sufficiently protected the rights of defence of interveners.
