engleski

Multi-party actions and the legal aid

The purpose of this paper is to show the diversity of currently existing mechanisms of collective redress in the EU and beyond. The starting point is the question of the actual effectiveness of existing models of collective redress in providing access to justice for a particular group of individuals whose rights have been threatened or injured by the same person (the defendant). Analysis of different models (Dutch, Scandinavian, German, English, Hungarian, American and Croatian) was used to identify similarities and differences, advantages and disadvantages of the solutions on collective legal protection in different legal systems. The relationship between collective legal protection and legal aid was also examined. This research leads to the conclusion that the civil litigation procedure which was once primarily a two-party procedure between individual parties is becoming more receptive for the collective legal protection. The main advantage of multi-party litigation is in enabling cost-effective conduct of the proceedings and facilitating access to justice for a large number of individuals who could not exercise their rights independently. But the collective legal protection could be given an even wider application within the EU legal space. One of the proposed measures for promoting collective legal protection is harmonization of existing provisions on multi-party action within the legal systems of EU member states. Also, legal aid has potential for becoming an effective means for the development of multi-party action but so far its usage in this respect has not been considered properly.

multi-party actions; class actions; consumer protection; legal aid

Ovaj rad objavljen je u trojezičnom zborniku radova -engleski, mađarski i hrvatski. Ovo je hrvatska jezična verzija rada sadržajno istovjetna na sva tri jezika.