An Inquiry Into the Swiss Class Action Regime and Learnings from the Australian Experience
Daniel Juri
While class action procedures are spreading around the world, the Swiss legislator is struggling to find a meaningful regime for collective redress. This article describes the current Swiss legal framework and explains why associative action has been a dead letter. It examines the Class Action Bill, which aims at bringing the associative action to life, and reflects on the criticisms voiced by various interest groups. It engages in a comparative analysis of the Australian and Swiss regimes and, drawing on three decades of experience with class actions in Australia, highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the Class Action Bill. Despite the identified deficiencies, its adoption would be an important step toward improving access to justice and an important one on the way to a true Swiss class action regime.
1. Introduction
Nearly all major industrialised countries, both common and civil law jurisdictions, have introduced some...
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Verder in dit artikel:
1. Introduction
2. Swiss Class Action Law de Lege Lata
2.1. Group Action
2.1.1. CPC Article 89
2.1.2. Scope and Remedies
2.1.3. Standing
2.2. Collective Redress Provisions in Substantive Law
2.3. Findings
3. Class Action Bill
3.1. Scope and Remedies
3.2. Standing
3.3. Opt-In and Further Procedural Aspects
3.4. Costs
3.5. Collective Settlement
4. Criticisms
4.1. Americanisation
4.2. Blackmail Settlements
4.3. Overburdening the Judicial System
4.4. Narrative of Consumer Disadvantages
5. The Australian Class Action Regime
5.1. Overview
5.2. Criticisms
5.2.1. Early General Criticisms
5.2.2. Factual Criticisms
5.2.3. Debate about Financing and Regulation of Litigation Funders
5.3. Facts Do Not Lie
5.3.1. No Flood of Litigation
5.3.2. Class Action Settlements Do Not Kill Businesses
5.3.3. No Evidence of Unmeritorious Class Actions and Blackmail Settlements
5.3.4. Over Half of Settlement Proceeds Go to Group Members
6. Comparative Analysis
6.1. Trans-Substantive Procedures
6.2. Monetary Reward
6.3. True Class Action versus Associative Action
6.4. Costs and Financing
6.5. Collective Settlement
6.6. Outlook
7. Critical Appraisal of the Class Action Bill
7.1. Tackling the Criticisms
7.1.1. The Chimera of Americanisation
7.1.2. No Legal Immunity for Wrongdoers
7.1.3. Managing the Caseload of the Judiciary
7.1.4. The Red Herring of Consumer Disadvantages
7.2. Strengths and Weaknesses
8. Conclusion
