Northern Rock Judicial Review ruling
13 Feb 09
Members of Blackstone Chambers have been involved on all sides of today’s important ruling in the Northern Rock litigation.
In R (SRM and others) and Commissioners of her Majesty’s Treasury the Divisional Court has upheld the compensation scheme established by the Treasury to compensate former shareholders in Northern Rock, after their shares were compulsorily acquired by the Treasury. The compensation scheme provides that compensation shall be assessed leaving out of account all financial assistance provided by the Government to Northern Rock, and on the assumption that, as at the date it was nationalised, it was in administration and no longer a going concern. The former shareholders argued that the assessment of compensation on this basis, in circumstances where Northern Rock is still trading, was an unjustified interference with their property rights, contrary to Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights.
The shareholders have been granted permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Javan Herberg acted for the Treasury; Lord Pannick QC and Claire Weir acted for SRM Global Master Fund LP; Michael Beloff QC and Iain Steele acted for RAB Special Situations (Master) Fund; Tom de la Mare acted for a large number of individual shareholders; and Ben Jaffey acted for Legal & General, intervening.