The Tricky Problem of Professor Moizer and Apparent Bias

The Court of Appeal in the BAA case gives the Competition Commission a much-needed win on a vexed question

Both the Competition Commission and interested observers are likely to remember 2009 as a particularly difficult period for the CC. It was called an annus horribilis by some. By the end of that year, the CC had suffered three important defeats at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in remedies challenges related to the market investigation inquiries into groceries, payment protection insurance and airports. Whereas Tesco and Barclays Bank disputed the proportionality of remedies (and the CAT agreed with them and remitted key issues to the CC for reconsideration), the BAA challenge succeeded on an altogether different ground: the CAT accepted BAA's argument that a CC member, Professor Moizer, was afflicted by apparent bias.