Recently, a Class Action Act was adopted which will take effect
as of 21 April 2018. The Act aims at providing for an efficient
joint pursuit of rights by injured parties that, until now, were
discouraged by lengthy and expensive court proceedings.
The applicability of the Act is limited to the most typical
cases where damage is incurred by a number of consumers due to a violation of
consumer protection regulations (e.g. product liability),
anti-competitive restrictive practices and abuse of a dominant
position or a violation of rules of trading on regulated markets
and market abuse, employees (e.g. unpaid
overtime), or other individuals due to environmental accidents.
Moreover, the Act provides for restrictions regarding the
potential claimants. A class action may only be brought by an eligible representative, i.e. a
private legal entity pursuing non-profit activity related to the
violated rights (e.g. consumer organisations, trade unions) or by a
senior state
