Details
The landscape of mass litigation in Europe has changed impressively in recent years, and collective redress litigation has proved a popular topic. Although much of the literature focuses on the political context, contentious litigation, or how to handle cross-border multi-party cases, this book has a different focus and a fresh approach.
Taking as a starting-point the observation that mass litigation claims are a ‘nuisance’ for both parties and courts, the book considers new ways of settling mass disputes. Contributors from across the globe – Australia, Canada, China, Europe and the US, point towards an international convergence of the importance of settlements, mediation and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). They question whether the spread of a culture of settlement signifies a trend or philosophical desire for less confrontation in some societies, and explore the reasons for such a trend.
Raising a series of questions on resolving mass disputes, and fuelling future debate, this book will provide a challenging and thought-provoking read for law academics, practitioners and policy-makers.
1. Introduction
Christopher Hodges and Astrid Stadler
2. CADR and Settlement of Claims – A Few Economic Observations
Michael Faure
PART I: SETTLEMENTS OF MASS CLAIMS
3. Enforcing Mass Settlements in the European Judicial Area: EU Policy and the Strange Case of Dutch Collective Settlements (WCAM)
Xandra E. Kramer
4. Collective Settlements in the Netherlands: Some Empirical Observations
Ianika Tzankova and Deborah Hensler
5. Settlement and its Pitfalls in England and Wales
Christopher Hodges
6. Class Actions and Settlement Culture in Canada
Jasminka Kalajdzic
7. America’s Dynamic and Extensive Experience with Collective Litigation
Richard Marcus
8. Mass Settlements in Australia
Michael Legg
9. The Legislation and Judicial Practice of China’s Group Action
Zhang Wusheng
PART II: CONSUMER ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
10. The Origins and Evolution of Consumer Dispute Resolution Systems in Europe
Naomi Creutzfeldt-Banda
11. Out-of-Court Settlement of Consumer Disputes in Financial Services
Iris Benöhr
12. Public Enforcement and A(O)DR as Mechanisms for Resolving Mass Problems: A Belgian Perspective
Stefaan Voet
13. Online Dispute Resolution in the EU and Beyond – Keeping Costs Low or Standards High?
Julia Hörnle
Index
Edited by Christopher Hodges, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Oxford, UK and Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Astrid Stadler, University of Konstanz, Germany and Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
‘Legal systems worldwide are increasingly grappling with the legal and logistic complexities of collective actions and claims. Although the US-style class action contrasts sharply with the European focus on individual litigation, policy-makers throughout Europe are seeking to reduce judicial budgets, to enhance self-reliance through ADR schemes and to introduce new and efficient forms of redress through collective litigation. Meanwhile, the market for justice is becoming increasingly globalised. Thus, a sense of judicial competition between jurisdictions may accelerate a European movement towards new procedures and paradigms in the realm of collective redress. Against this background, this formidable collection of comparative essays on collective redress and ADR is both timely and unique. This book shows viable pathways to ensuring efficient and balanced collective redress. Excellent contributors and editors have jointly succeeded in connecting ADR and collective redress in ways previously considered disparate.’
– Willem H. van Boom, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
‘Resolving Mass Disputes is a timely, informative, and stimulating book. The contributed chapters analyze the phenomena of interest – mass dispute resolution in court-based systems and their alternatives – in numerous countries and the EU, and the insights they afford are nicely drawn together in a comprehensive introduction by the editors, Christopher Hodges and Astrid Stadler. As a result, the reader is enabled to understand and begin to evaluate comparatively the various mechanisms by which a broad array of common law and civil law systems currently resolve mass disputes.’
– Stephen B. Burbank, University of Pennsylvania Law School, US
