Non-Judicial Means of Collective Redress in Europe

Disputing Blog by Karl Bayer, Victoria VanBuren, and Holly Hayes

S.I. Strong, Associate Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, has published a book chapter entitled Non-Judicial Means of Collective Redress in Europe in Collective Redress in Europe (Oxford University Press, anticipated 2015); University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2014-29. In her book chapter, Professor Strong analyzes large-scale arbitration and other non-judicial avenues for collective redress in Europe.

Here is the abstract:

For decades, European nations resisted the notion of collective redress due to widespread hostility to U.S.-style class actions. However, many European jurisdictions have come to the conclusion that large-scale legal relief is now permissible, so long as the procedure does not resemble U.S. class actions. As a result, collective redress mechanisms have proliferated in both number and diversity throughout the region.

A similar situation may be developing in the area of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Initially, European parties and policymakers resisted the development of large-scale arbitration based on similarities between the best-known form of group arbitration, U.S.-style class arbitration, and U.S.-style class actions. However, recent years have seen a great deal of European innovation concerning large-scale dispute resolution.

This chapter discusses the present and the future of non-judicial means of collective redress in Europe, considering both consensual means of large-scale dispute resolution as well as adjudicative measures. Thus, the analysis covers collective settlement procedures in The Netherlands, collective consumer arbitration in Spain, group arbitration of corporate disputes in Germany, and investment arbitration procedures involving large numbers of Italian bondholders. The analysis also discusses the extent to which procedures promulgated by various European arbitral institutions specializing in international commercial arbitration can be used in collective disputes.

                       

Beth Graham

Beth Graham received a J.D. from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2004 and a M.A. in Information Science and Learning Technologies from the University of Missouri in 2006. She also holds a B.S. in Public Administration from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. She is licensed to practice law… MORE >