High Court to hear first UK Kobler damages claim

The High Court (Plender J.) is to hear what is believed to be the first claim brought in the UK for damages, pursuant to the ECJ's decision in Case C-224/01 Kobler v Republik Osterreich [2003] ECR I-10239. In that case the ECJ held that a Member State may be answerable in damages for failures by its courts of final instance to give effect to Community law, where the failure amounts to a sufficiently serious breach of Community law. The case arises out of what are alleged to have been sufficiently serious/manifest errors of Community law by the Court of Appeal when dismissing judicial review proceedings commenced by Stephen Cooper and the other then trustees of the CPRE London Branch in October 1999 in respect of the White City development: see R. v London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham [2000] 2 C.M.L.R. 1021; [2000] Env. L.R. 549 and [2000] Env. L.R. 532. James Maurici is junior counsel for the Attorney-General (led by Philip Sales QC)