Class actions

Recent Articles

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  27/11/2024

  United Kingdom

  The CJC Review of Pre-Action Protocols – Phase Two Report (Final) now published

  On 15 November 2021, the UK's Civil Justice Council (CJC) published an Interim Report initiating a consultation on pre-action protocols (PAPs).  The consultation closed in January 2022. CMS responded to the consultation with interest, given the potential impact on the legal industry and insurers/insureds alike.It is the responsibility of the CJC, through its designated Working Group (WG), to make recommendations to the Civil Procedure Rules Committee (CPRC). It is for the CPRC to accept or reject those recommendations and draft the revised PAPs.The CJC's response was published in two parts....

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  23/09/2024

  United Kingdom

  High Court rejects Representative Action Class Action against British Airways and easyJet

  Introduction The High Court has rejected a “Representative Action” claim brought against British Airways and easyJet, which was seeking an estimated £319 million against easyJet alone on behalf of persons entitled to compensation for cancelled or delayed flights.  This decision, of Smyth v BA and easyJet [2024] EWHC 2173 (KB), is the latest judgment in the important area of developing law: the Representative Action procedure under CPR 19.8.The High Court rejected the claim both on discretionary grounds, where it expressed scepticism of the motives of the funder and the...

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  06/09/2024

  Scotland

  One case to bind them all - Class actions and res judicata

  Summary In McCluskey v Scott Wilson[1] the Inner House has provided useful guidance on application of the doctrine of res judicata in the context of group actions.From 2012 actions were raised by the residents of a housing estate in Motherwell (“Watling Street”), claiming personal injury as a result of the development allegedly being built on contaminated land. It was claimed that engineers, Scott Wilson, who were involved in the remediation of the site, both owed duties to the residents and breached those duties.The earlier decision in McManus v Scott Wilson[2] had already...

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  11/07/2024

  Netherlands

  Dutch Supreme Court rules EVs falling short of claimed range are non-conforming

  In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands has held that an electric vehicle (EV) that fails to achieve the advertised range under normal driving conditions does not conform to the contract of sale and can be returned by the buyer. This ruling may have significant implications for the automotive industry and consumer protection in the Netherlands where electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular, but also subject to a growing number of disputes over performance.The case involved a buyer who purchased an electric car that was claimed to have a range of 480 km according...

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  05/06/2024

  Czech Republic

  Class actions to be finally approved in the Czech Republic

  The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic has approved the draft law on class actions, which will allow consumers and small businesses to jointly pursue their claims against businesses. The draft is now with the President of the Czech Republic and his signature is expected after his return from Normandy (i.e. on Friday 7 June or early next week).It is not yet certain when the Act will come into force, but it seems that 1 July 2024 could be manageable. As already informed in our earlier Law-Now article (see Czech Republic drafts law on class actions, the Czech Republic was obliged to implement...

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  30/04/2024

  United Kingdom

  Court of Appeal rejects the Abbott tests for “convenient disposal” of multiple claims in one claim form

  The Court of Appeal has overturned the tests set out in Abbott v Ministry of Defence [2023] EWHC 1475 (KB) [2023] 1 WLR 4002 in relation to determining whether it is suitable for multiple claimants to bring their claims on a single claim form.BackgroundIn Morris & Ors v Williams & Co Solicitors (A Firm) [2024] EWCA Civ 376, the defendant applied to strike out the claim form on the grounds that it was an abuse of process, or was an obstruction to the just disposal of the proceedings, or otherwise that the claim form did not comply with CPR 7.3.CPR 7.3 provides that “[a] claimant may...

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