Collective redress

Last updated

Collective redress is a legal term used within the European Union to define a legal instrument for group proceedings similar to the US concept of a class action. Collective redress is embodied in Directive (EU) 2020/1828, the Directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers. [1]

Contents

Background

A survey carried out by the European Commission found that more than 79% of EU consumers would exercise their rights with other claimants in the event of joint proceedings. [2] The possibility of group action would enable inexpensive legal action and would also act as deterrent. [3] The Commission has declared that it will not be copying the US system, will avoid abusive and excessive practices and will take account of the 27 legal systems of member states which have developed over time. The instrument of class action will not confer any new rights or create new claims but will only provide new ways of asserting these. Some European states already have proceedings which are similar to class action, others have introduced compromises, such as legal action taken by associations, although most EU member states do not have any such instruments.

The Commission's attempts to enact a European collective redress scheme were stalled for many years. Like a significant number of American lawyers, [4] many European lawyers have traditionally regarded the American class action as a form of judicially endorsed extortion. The Directive was finally enacted in the aftermath of the 2015 Volkswagen emissions scandal, in which it became painfully clear that existing civil procedure laws were unable to deliver justice to consumers across Europe in a swift or cost-efficient manner. While European courts were jammed for several years with consumers forced to relitigate the same issues in every case on an individual basis, American consumers were able to extract a US$11.2 billion class action settlement from Volkswagen after only about one-and-a-half years of litigation. [5]

Further reading

Related Research Articles

A class action, also known as a class action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action originated in the United States and is still predominantly an American phenomenon, but Canada, as well as several European countries with civil law, have made changes in recent years to allow consumer organizations to bring claims on behalf of consumers.

Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause. Although the word "product" has broad connotations, product liability as an area of law is traditionally limited to products in the form of tangible personal property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Directive (European Union)</span> Legislative act of the European Union

A directive is a legal act of the European Union that requires member states to achieve particular goals without dictating how the member states achieve those goals. A directive's goals have to be made the goals of one or more new or changed national laws by the member states before this legislation applies to individuals residing in the member states. Directives normally leave member states with a certain amount of leeway as to the exact rules to be adopted. Directives can be adopted by means of a variety of legislative procedures depending on their subject matter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Data Protection Directive</span> EU directive on the processing of personal data

The Data Protection Directive, officially Directive 95/46/EC, enacted in October 1995, was a European Union directive which regulated the processing of personal data within the European Union (EU) and the free movement of such data. The Data Protection Directive was an important component of EU privacy and human rights law.

Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial. This article describes the development of legal aid and its principles, primarily as known in Europe, the Commonwealth of Nations and in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klaus-Heiner Lehne</span>

Klaus-Heiner Lehne is a German lawyer and politician who has been serving as member of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) since 2014. From 2016 until 2022, he was its 11th President

The draft European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA), or formally the Draft Agreement on the establishment of a European patent litigation system, was a proposed patent law agreement aimed at creating an "optional protocol to the European Patent Convention (EPC) which would commit its signatory states to an integrated judicial system, including uniform rules of procedure and a common appeal court". It differed from the Unified Patent Court Agreement in that the EPLA negotiations were coordinated from the side of the European Patent Office, rather than from the European Council and Commission and therefore also offered the possibility for non-EU states to participate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EFTA Court</span> Supranational tribunal of EFTA states

The EFTA Court is a supranational judicial body responsible for the three EFTA members who are also members of the European Economic Area (EEA): Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asset forfeiture</span> Confiscation of assets by the state

Asset forfeiture or asset seizure is a form of confiscation of assets by the authorities. In the United States, it is a type of criminal-justice financial obligation. It typically applies to the alleged proceeds or instruments of crime. This applies, but is not limited, to terrorist activities, drug-related crimes, and other criminal and even civil offenses. Some jurisdictions specifically use the term "confiscation" instead of forfeiture. The alleged purpose of asset forfeiture is to disrupt criminal activity by confiscating assets that potentially could have been beneficial to the individual or organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arbitration</span> Method of dispute resolution

Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a neutral third party who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitration award'. An arbitration decision or award is legally binding on both sides and enforceable in the courts, unless all parties stipulate that the arbitration process and decision are non-binding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri Attorney General</span> Attorney general for the U.S. state of Missouri

The Office of the Missouri Attorney General was created in 1806 when Missouri was part of the Louisiana Territory. Missouri's first Constitution in 1820 provided for an appointed attorney general, but since the 1865 Constitution, the Attorney General has been elected. As of January 2023, there have been 44 attorneys general in Missouri.

Francovich v Italy (1991) C-6/90 was a decision of the European Court of Justice which established that European Union Member States could be liable to pay compensation to individuals who suffered a loss by reason of the Member State's failure to transpose an EU directive into national law. This principle is sometimes known as the principle of state liability or "the rule in Francovich" in European Union law.

Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent businesses from engaging in fraud or specified unfair practices to gain an advantage over competitors or to mislead consumers. They may also provide additional protection for the general public which may be impacted by a product even when they are not the direct purchaser or consumer of that product. For example, government regulations may require businesses to disclose detailed information about their products—particularly in areas where public health or safety is an issue, such as with food or automobiles.

Legal protection insurance (LPI), also known as legal expenses insurance (LEI) or simply legal insurance, is a particular class of insurance which facilitates access to law and justice by providing legal advice and covering the legal costs of a dispute, regardless of whether the case is brought by or against the policyholder. Depending on the national rules, legal protection insurers can also represent the policyholder out-of-court or even in-court.

A European Investigation Order (EIO) is a mechanism established under EU law by which a judge or magistrate in one EU member state can make a binding request to the law enforcement agencies of another member state to collect evidence to assist in a criminal investigation. The order may authorise such actions as searches, wiretapping, surveillance, the subpoena of documents or records, etc. The mechanism exists throughout the EU, with the exception of Denmark and Ireland, who have opt-outs in this area of EU law. The EIO was established by Directive 2014/41/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 regarding the European Investigation Order in criminal matters.

Victims' rights are legal rights afforded to victims of crime. These may include the right to restitution, the right to a victims' advocate, the right not to be excluded from criminal justice proceedings, and the right to speak at criminal justice proceedings.

Public interest law refers to legal practices undertaken to help poor, marginalized, or under-represented people, or to effect change in social policies in the public interest, on 'not for profit' terms, often in the fields of civil rights, civil liberties, religious liberty, human rights, women's rights, consumer rights, environmental protection, and so on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Schrems</span> Austrian author and privacy activist

Maximilian Schrems is an Austrian activist, lawyer, and author who became known for campaigns against Facebook for its privacy violations, including violations of European privacy laws and the alleged transfer of personal data to the US National Security Agency (NSA) as part of the NSA's PRISM program. Schrems is the founder of NOYB – European Center for Digital Rights.

Primary legislation and secondary legislation are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democracies. Primary legislation generally consists of statutes, also known as 'acts', that set out broad principles and rules, but may delegate specific authority to an executive branch to make more specific laws under the aegis of the principal act. The executive branch can then issue secondary legislation, creating legally enforceable regulations and the procedures for implementing them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strategic litigation</span> Litigation intended to change society

Strategic litigation, also known as impact litigation, is the practice of bringing lawsuits intended to effect societal change. Impact litigation cases may be class action lawsuits or individual claims with broader significance, and may rely on statutory law arguments or on constitutional claims. Such litigation has been widely and successfully used to influence public policy, especially by left-leaning groups, and often attracts significant media attention. One prominent instance of this practice is Brown v. Board of Education.

References

  1. Linklaters LLP, Collective Redress within the European Union, published 10 February 2023, accessed 17 May 2023
  2. Flash Eurobarometer #299, p. 8, October 2004
  3. BEUC, loc cit (fn 1), p 2 ff.[ clarification needed ]
  4. Coffee, John C. (2015). Entrepreneurial Litigation: Its Rise, Fall, and Future. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. p. 133. ISBN   9780674736795.
  5. Hensler, Deborah R.; Kalajdzic, Jasminka; Cashman, Peter; Gómez, Manuel A.; Halfmeier, Axel; Tzankova, Ianika (2021). The Globalization of Mass Civil Litigation: Lessons from the Volkswagen "Clean Diesel" Case (PDF). Santa Monica: RAND Corporation. pp. 31–33, 46–47, 62–63. Retrieved 31 December 2021.