Application for mandatory injunction to secure return of seized documents from Italian authority refused

The High Court refused an application by an airline and its holding company for a mandatory interlocutory injunction directing the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to procure the return of documents seized during a search executed on behalf of the Italian competition authority, and to ensure those documents would not be used in the ongoing Italian investigation. The court found that the relief sought was fundamentally mandatory, requiring the CCPC to take positive steps it lacked power to achieve, and that the applicants had failed to demonstrate the strong case required for such relief. Additionally, the court determined that the application was directed at the wrong authority in the wrong jurisdiction, since any remedy for the use of seized documents in Italy should be sought before the Italian courts. The judgment emphasised that the balance of convenience did not support granting the relief, noting that any asserted harm was either speculative or remediable within existing legal structures, and there was no unacceptable lacuna in available remedies. The court also declined to refer questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union, finding no issue of EU law requiring such a reference.