Jersey Court of Appeal throws out Brittany Ferries’ legal challenge
Jersey’s appeal court has found there was no grounds for Brittany Ferries’ legal challenge for a judicial review of Jersey’s decision to award its ferry services contract to DFDS.
This leaves clear waters for the Danish firm to begin its ferry service to the island in March.
The Court of Appeal verdict reverses a previous ruling by Jersey’s Royal Court on 20 December, which had granted Brittany Ferries leave to bring judicial review proceedings on a limited basis.
The Court of Appeal decided that the Brittany Ferries complaint was ‘insufficiently prompt’ and of ‘detriment to good public administration and the safety of the island’. A detailed judgement is due to published in the coming days, but summing up in court Helen Mountfield KC, one of the three appeal judges, said that Brittany should have prepared its legal challenge immediately after lodging its second tender on 27 November, and been ready to lodge within days of the written decision of 4 December.
Speaking after the decision, Jersey’s Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Kirsten Morel, welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision, saying it showed that the approach to the procurement process was fair.
‘We have steadfastly maintained that this process was conducted without bias and in good faith,’ he said.
‘This decision finally enables DFDS to get on with delivering superb ferry services and ends the uncertainty for islanders and island businesses.
‘We can now fully focus on ensuring the best possible freight and passenger services and securing the long-term interests of the island, which has been our intention since the start of the process.’
DFDS also welcomed the decision.
‘The ruling confirms that the tender process was conducted fairly,’ a spokesman said.
‘We are pleased that we can now move on and continue to focus on getting the service up and running to be ready for 28 March.’
Brittany Ferries declined to comment.
The judgment could finally conclude the long-running saga over the joint Channel Islands’ ferry tender, which started late last spring.
Guernsey announced Condor/Brittany Ferries as the winner at the end of the October, but ministers in Jersey asked for more time to look into ‘financial concerns’ regarding the Condor bid, which it said was not signed by Brittany Ferries. Jersey then opened a second tender process of its own, and awarded the contract to DFDS on 3 December.
The companies had been rivals long before that, with media reports in France suggesting that Brittany Ferries' purchase of a majority share of Condor in 2019 was prompted to secure vital ports – St Malo, Poole and Portsmouth – from its Danish competitors.
DFDS is still yet to publish its ferry timetable for 2025.
