A Comparative Examination of Multi-Party Actions

Joanne Blennerhassett

doi:10.5771/9783845280301

Summary

This monograph addresses the phenomenon of mass harm and how it may be resolved through collective redress. It examines particularly how such redress may be achieved through mechanisms such as multi-party actions (MPAs). In order to do this, an analytical framework is created against which to evaluate various multi-party procedures. This is illustrated through the experience of a selection of common law jurisdictions in dealing with mass harm namely that of England and Wales, Canada, Australia and the United States, as well as that of EU collective redress. It examines multi-party action laws benchmarked against the objectives identified in the analytical framework. The phenomenon of environmental mass harm in particular is explored as a case study, as it illustrates some of the difficulties that may arise in mass harm litigation. Also, this work explores where the best solutions for mass harm redress may lie in the future perhaps in collective actions or through alternatives such as regulation and alternative dispute resolution or a combination of these. Finally, the experience of mass harm litigation in Ireland is examined, as currently this jurisdiction does not have an effective mechanism for dealing with mass harm.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2017
ISBN-Print: 978-3-8487-3678-2
ISBN-Online: 978-3-8452-8030-1
Publisher: Nomos, Baden-Baden
Series: Kooperationswerke Beck - Hart – Nomos
Language: German
Pages: 319
Product type: Comment

Titelei/InhaltsverzeichnisPages I - XX Download chapter (PDF)
1. 1. Background No access
  2. Aims, Original Contribution, Anticipatory Findings No access
  3. Approach No access
  4. 1. Part I No access
    2. Part II No access
2. 1. Overview No access
  2. 1. Mass Harm No access
    2. Collective Redress No access
    3. Multi-party Actions No access
    4. Mass Torts No access
  3. 1. Class Actions (also Known as Collective or Representative Actions) No access
    2. Joinder or Aggregate (also Known as Group) Litigation Procedures No access
    3. 1. Consumer Law Collective Redress No access
      2. Competition Law Collective Redress No access
      3. Collective Redress for Environmental Harm No access
      4. EU Approach to Collective Redress No access
  4. The History and Background of Mass Torts No access
  5. Legal Responses to Mass Harm: Private Law (Tort Law) versus Public Law and Regulation No access
  6. Context in which Collective Redress Arises No access
  7. 1. 1. Consolidation No access
      2. Class Actions No access
    2. Canada No access
    3. 1. Joinder, Test Cases and Consolidation No access
      2. Representative Proceedings No access
    4. 1. Consolidation, Joinder and Test Cases No access
      2. Representative Actions No access
      3. Group Litigation Orders No access
    5. 1. Representative Actions No access
      2. Joinder No access
      3. Consolidation No access
      4. Test Cases No access
    6. European Union No access
  8. Summary No access
3. 1. Overview No access
  2. 1. Access to Justice Study by Lord Woolf MR No access
    2. Irish Law Reform Commission Report on Multi-party Litigation 2005 No access
    3. Civil Justice Council Report No access
    4. Mulheron Global Comparative Study No access
    5. European Commission Analysis No access
  3. 1. Access to Justice No access
    2. Judicial and Procedural Economy No access
    3. Fairness No access
    4. Predictability No access
    5. Deterrence No access
    6. Compensation No access
  4. Management Role of MPAs No access
  5. Summary No access
4. 1. Overview No access
  2. 1. Tensions between Tort Law and Regulation No access
    2. EU Perspective of Enforcement—a Different Approach No access
    3. England and Wales—Perspective on Enforcement No access
    4. Regulation and Adjudication No access
  3. 1. Toxic Torts No access
    2. Causation and Evidential Complexity No access
    3. Legal Costs No access
    4. Latency No access
    5. Environmental Justice Issues No access
    6. 1. Jurisdiction No access
      2. Corporate Veil No access
  4. 1. Interim Measures—such as Medical Monitoring (Emergence in the US) No access
    2. Acute versus Chronic Environmental Harm and Novel Remedies No access
    3. Equitable Relief and Problems with Legal Restitution No access
  5. Solutions that MPAs May Offer for Environmental Mass Harm No access
1. 1. 1. US Federal and State Court System No access
    2. Important Features of US Litigation No access
  2. 1. Joinder No access
    2. Consolidation No access
    3. Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) Transfer of Distinct but Related Claims into a Single Action No access
    4. US Bankruptcy Proceedings for Corporate Reorganisation (Chapter 11) No access
    5. Attorney ‘Inventories’ of Clients Controlled by a Single Lawyer No access
    6. Representative Litigation by Associations No access
    7. Representative Litigation by Public Offi cials No access
    8. Class Actions No access
  3. The US Federal Class Action Regime No access
  4. 1. Rule 23(a) Prerequisites to a Class Action No access
    2. Rule 23(b) Class Actions Maintainable No access
  5. 1. Access to Justice No access
    2. Judicial and Procedural Economy No access
    3. Fairness No access
    4. Predictability No access
    5. Deterrence No access
    6. Compensation No access
  6. Concluding Observations on US Mass Harm Litigation No access
  7. Future Developments in the US No access
  8. US Class Actions and Environmental Mass Harm No access
2. 1. 1. Overview No access
    2. Evolution of MPA Landscape No access
  2. MPA Litigation No access
  3. 1. Access to Justice No access
    2. Judicial and Procedural Economy No access
    3. Fairness No access
    4. Predictability No access
    5. Deterrence No access
    6. Compensation No access
  4. Environmental Mass Harm Litigation No access
  5. Summary No access
3. 1. Australian Litigation Landscape No access
  2. Evolution of MPA Landscape No access
  3. 1. The Quasi-Class Action Regime in the State of South Australia No access
    2. Traditional Representative Actions No access
    3. Representative Proceedings No access
    4. Joinder, Test Cases and Consolidation No access
  4. 1. Background No access
    2. The Regime No access
  5. Litigation Funding No access
  6. 1. Access to Justice No access
    2. Judicial and Procedural Economy No access
    3. Fairness No access
    4. Predictability No access
    5. Deterrence No access
    6. Compensation No access
  7. Environmental Mass Harm in Australia and Summary No access
4. 1. Litigation Landscape No access
  2. 1. Public Representative Procedures No access
    2. 1. Representative Actions No access
      2. Group Litigation Orders (GLOs) No access
  3. Evolution of MPA Landscape No access
  4. Funding Regime and Recent Changes No access
  5. 1. Access to Justice No access
    2. Judicial and Procedural Economy No access
    3. Fairness No access
    4. Predictability No access
    5. Deterrence No access
    6. Compensation No access
  6. 1. 1. Facts No access
      2. Outcome No access
      3. Commentary No access
    2. 1. Facts No access
      2. Outcome No access
      3. Commentary No access
  7. GLOs Compared with Case Management No access
  8. 1. Access to Justice No access
    2. Judicial and Procedural Economy No access
    3. Fairness No access
    4. Predictability No access
    5. Deterrence No access
    6. Compensation No access
5. 1. Litigation Landscape No access
  2. 1. Consumer Law Collective Redress No access
    2. Competition Law Collective Redress No access
  3. EU Experience of Collective Redress and ADR in Member States No access
  4. 1. The Communication No access
    2. The Recommendation No access
    3. Proposed Directive on Competition Damages No access
  5. Safeguards No access
  6. Environment No access
  7. Conclusions on European Collective Redress Outlook No access
6. 1. Litigation Landscape No access
  2. 1. 1. Public Actions No access
      2. Organisation Actions No access
      3. Litigation Avoidance No access
      4. EU Initiatives No access
      5. Private Actions No access
      6. Other Discrete Areas No access
    2. 1. Social Welfare Equality Cases No access
      2. Army Deafness Claims No access
      3. Pyrite Construction Dispute No access
  3. 1. Legal Aid No access
    2. Insurance No access
    3. Costs Follow the Event No access
    4. Conditional Fee Arrangements (CFAs) No access
    5. Advertising and the Irish Legal Profession No access
  4. Irish Law Reform Commission Report on Multi-party Litigation 2005—A Closer Look No access
  5. 1. Access to Justice No access
    2. Judicial and Procedural Economy No access
    3. Fairness No access
    4. Predictability, Deterrence and Compensation No access
  6. Environmental Enforcement in Ireland No access
  7. 1. Developments in England and Wales No access
    2. Aarhus and Human Rights No access
    3. EU Initiatives No access
  8. Conclusions No access
7. Conclusion No access Pages 275 - 283
Appendix: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 2016 Edition No access Pages 284 - 287
Bibliography No access Pages 288 - 299
Index No access Pages 300 - 319