The English High Court has authorised public access to unredacted pleadings concerning the parameters and values used by OEMs to regulate vehicle emissions control systems, following a judgment by Mr. Justice Constable. He concluded there was “no proper justification” for retaining the redactions.
In October, the Court will hear arguments on the liability of five OEMs, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Peugeot-Citroen, and Renault (the “Lead Defendants”), in the ongoing Pan-NOx emissions group litigation, arising from the Dieselgate scandal (the “Liability Trial”). The group actions involve allegations that these manufacturers employed prohibited defeat devices (“PDDs”) in their vehicles and are brought on behalf of a cohort of over one million claimants.
A key issue before the Court was the extent to which information over which the Lead Defendants asserted confidentiality should be de-designated and made accessible, which would necessitate removing redactions from pleadings for the upcoming Liability Trial.
This issue was resolved with Mr. Justice Constable’s decision in Various Claimants v Mercedes-Benz Group AG & Others [2025] EWHC 1931 (KB), which resulted in the prior confidentiality measures being removed.
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