The Commercial Court has issued a judgment in long-running competition law proceedings brought by more than 1,500 Brazilian orange growers. The Court has held that the claims, as currently pleaded, are time-barred.
The growers filed claims in September and November 2019 relating to an alleged cartel affecting the purchase of oranges for juice production in Brazil between 1999 and 2006. The proceedings have generated several earlier rulings, including decisions on jurisdiction in [2021] 2 CLC 834, a strike-out application concerning Brazilian succession law in [2023] EWHC 1896 (Comm) and [2025] 1 WLR 1467, and the Defendants' successful application to determine limitation as a preliminary issue in [2024] EWHC 2609 (Comm).
The most recent judgment was issued by HHJ Pelling on 8 December 2025, following a five-day preliminary issue trial on limitation. The Defendants succeeded on all issues before the Court. These included the knowledge required for limitation to begin, addressed in paragraphs 143 to 149 of the judgment. The Court also considered the meaning and effect of a 2018 decision by Brazil's competition authority, CADE, which the claimants argued should mark the start of the limitation period. That issue is examined in paragraphs 104 to 134 and 150 to 159. The Court further held that the alleged cartel conduct did not constitute a continuing infringement for limitation purposes, discussed at paragraphs 161 to 168.
The judgment also sets out English law principles relevant to the handling of expert evidence on foreign law, summarised at paragraphs 6 to 9.
The Defendants were represented at the preliminary issue trial by Brian Kennelly KC, Paul Luckhurst, Gayatri Sarathy, and Tom Watret, instructed by Linklaters. Sean Butler represented the Defendants at an earlier stage.
The judgment is publicly available.
Source: Blackstone Chambers
