News

UK: Government Implementation of Jackson Reforms on the Costs and Funding of Litigation

2011-04-04T15:43:13Z

Dear Colleague,

Following the LJ Jackson Report on the costs and funding of litigation in England and Wales, the UK government made a series of announcements on 30 March 2011 about major reforms of funding and reform of the civil justice system.

Please find attached a document summarising these reforms and providing further information.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,
EJF Secretariat

UK: Government Implementation of Jackson Reforms on the Costs and Funding of Litigation. Introduction of Contingency Fees and increased Mediation

EJF Response to the Ministry of Justice’s Consultation Paper CP 13/10 on Proposals for the Reform of Civil Litigation Funding and Costs in England and Wales

Hungarian changes to private antitrust enforcement

2009-07-15T22:01:16Z

On 1 June 2009 the amended Competition Act came into force in Hungary. Among the changes, those concerning private enforcement of competition law are most interesting. In the spirit of facilitating private enforcement, while at the same time not jeopardising the aims of competition law and its public enforcement, the Competition Act deals with a number of issues in a rather ambitious manner.

First of all, ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGES: it is clear that quantification of damages may be a challenge to claimants in private enforcement actions involving competition law - thus Article 88/C of the Competition Act offers a rebuttable presumption that the cartel's effect on the market was to increase the prices by 10%.

Second, in order to ensure the EFFECT OF LENIENCY ARRANGEMENTS, the Act (Article 88/D) offers the following solution: 1. actions against those cartel members who apply for leniency are to be stayed until the decision of the Competition Authority is final, and 2. those in receipt of leniency immunity may refuse to pay damages (in such cases they will only be forced to pay damages if these cannot be recovered from other cartel members).

(Source: M. Thill-Tayara, E. van den Broucke, M. Giner: "Private Enforcement: Hungary's Amended Competition Act Offers Some Innovative Options", 2 June 2009, www.mondaq.com).

See this link for more information about Antitrust Enforcement.

Societe Moteurs - ECJ decides on scope of Product Liability Directive

2009-07-13T12:42:36Z

In a judgement in Case 485/08, Société Moteurs Leroy Somer v. Société Dalkia France, the European Court of Justice was asked by the French Cour de Cassation whether the Product Liability Directive precluded application of national law, or settled case law, which introduced strict liability for damage caused by a defective product to property intended and used for professional purposes. The question arose in a case between Societe Moteurs and Societe Dalkia. The answer was somewhat surprising, especially in the light of the overall ECJ approach to the Directive and its 'maximum harmonisation' nature. The ECJ held that Member States were allowed to maintain strict liability rules for recovery of compensation of damage caused to professional property! Look here for more details about this judgement in our ResourceCentre.

UK - Consumer White Paper

2009-07-06T09:42:34Z

The UK Government adopted the Consumer White Paper "A Better Deal for Consumers. Delivering Real Help Now and Change for the Future". See more details in our glossary about EU Consumer Law.

European Commission adopts the 'Consumer Enforcement Package'

2009-07-06T09:25:24Z

On 2 July 2009 the European Commission adopted the 'Consumer Enforcement Package', which emphasises the importance of effective, coherent and consistent enforcement of EU Consumer Law. The Package includes two key documents:

The Communication on the Enforcement of the Consumer Acquis, and

The Report on the Application of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation.

See our ResourceCentre for further information about these two documents, and about the EU Consumer Law in general.

Freedom, Security and Justice - Communication on new action plan adopted by the Commission

2009-06-28T10:45:55Z

The Commission's DG Freedom, Security and Justice announced its plan of action for the next five years on 10 June 2009. The Stockholm Programme, as it has become known, is now going to be discussed in the European Parliament and is due to be adopted by the European Council in late 2009. Click here for more details about the Plan in our ResournceCentre.

Jackson Costs Review - Preliminary Report Out

2009-05-13T19:41:58Z

On 8th May Lord Justice Jackson produced the Preliminary Report on his Review of Costs of Litigation. This very comphrehensive Report completes phase 1 of the Review. The Report reviews the present costs arrangements in England and Wales, including court fees and lawyers' fees, as well as the arrangements in some other legal systems (for example - Germany). Stakeholders are invited to submit responses, including any data, suggestions for improvements, and any other comments - by 31st July 2009.

Read more about Jackson Costs Review in our ResourceCentre.

DG SANCO's consultation paper for discussion on collective consumer redress

2009-05-13T19:40:17Z

On 8 May DG SANCO produced a follow-up to its Green Paper on Consumer Collective Redress. The new consultation - discussion paper - presents the first look at impact of the policy options, drafted on the basis of the responses to the Green Paper. The responses indicate that no single option provided in the Green Paper is satisfactory for achieving the objectives of improving access to effective means of redress for mass consumer claims in the EU, and improving the functioning of the internal market by making it more competitive. Rather, a common trend emerging from the responses is that a combination of several instruments is the best way forward!

Stakeholders are invited to provide further information, examples, and possibly figures to assist the Commission - the document will be discussed at the hearing on 29 May 2009. Stakeholders (consumer associations, businesses, public authorities) are invited to respond with data, examples or figures concerning the proposals presented by the Commission by 3 July 2009. Click here for a link to the SANCO website with more information about the Consultation.

Click here to read more about the Consultation and the options presented by the Commission in our ResouceCentre.

Significant increase in Securities Litigation against banks in the US – is it transferrable to Europe?

2009-05-06T19:31:53Z

Two recent research reports by the Cornerstone Research and the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse noted an increase in securities class litigation against banks, and a decrease in a number and value of securities settlements during 2008. Although the Reports suggest that this does not indicate a stable trend, there is no doubt that the current financial crisis has triggered changes in litigation patterns.

Report and Green Paper on Brussels I Regulation

2009-04-21T19:26:00Z

On 21 April 2009 the Commission published a Report and Green Paper on the application of the Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters. The Commission invited all interested parties to submit their observations about the Green Paper by 30 June 2009.