Closing submissions in the Pan-NOx emissions litigation, which are expected to last three weeks, began today before Lady Justice Cockerill.
The multi-billion collective action in the Pan-NOx group litigation case has already heard 10 weeks of evidence. The judge, sitting as a judge of the High Court, is expected to reserve her judgment following closing submissions.
The trial asks that she determine whether 20 sample diesel vehicles produced from 2012-17 by five car manufacturers were fitted with prohibited 'defeat devices' to mislead emissions test. If they did, she will decide whether the presence of such devices gives rise to private law claims for breach of contract and breach of statutory duty. The car makers – Mercedes, Ford, Peugeot/Citroën, Renault and Nissan - deny any wrongdoing.
For the claimants, Tom de la Mare KC said the judge was ‘free to look at foreign judgments’ to help her make her decisions adding: ‘You are fully entitled to look at the material. It is up to you to decide whether it is relevant and helpful and what of the legal arguments it contains.’ He told the court there was a ‘compelling corpus of law on the issues for which we draw on foreign judgments all pointing in the same direction’.