Class action suits are becoming increasingly popular. The reason is a change in the economic situation, other circumstances compelling us to go to court. From the point of view of the state, such a legal construction is beneficial in saving resources.
What is the essence of class action
A common litigation is a dispute between two parties with an unresolved dispute. If there are several subjects, it is easier to conduct one trial and solve the problem of many people at a time. For example, this often happens in the field of consumer protection, sanitary welfare of the population, etc.
The norm is the filing of such claims against management companies, whose violations simultaneously affect the rights and interests of tens and hundreds of citizens at the same time. After all, residents are not only owners of apartments, but also co-owners of the common property of the house.
An example is the US legal system - there a similar legal institution has several forms of implementation.
Legislative regulation
Subtleties of a class action are regulated by procedural rules. Despite the practice of filing such claims, they have not been singled out in the civil procedure. In Art. 46 Code of Civil Procedure granted the right to file claims in favor of other citizens. In reality, more often this right is exercised by state bodies of the prosecutor's office. However, citizens and their organizations are not without this.
In CAS, the legislator decided to single out a class action lawsuit. How successful is another question. However, a start has been made. Perhaps in the future, after the accumulation of judicial practice, changes will be made to the civil process.
Feature in civil proceedings
How to file a class action lawsuit while protecting your civil rights? The cap indicates not one, but several plaintiffs. However, this alone is not enough. The court must justify the community of interests or rights affected by the actions of the defendant.
Both citizens themselves and the authorities have the right to file such a claim. Judges, having received several claims of the same type against one defendant, are also entitled to combine several cases into one.
Class Action Elements
Legislation and theory provide for the allocation of several elements of the lawsuit :
- basis - factual circumstances or reasons that prompted to go to court;
- The subject of the claim is the claims filed by the plaintiffs.
The defendant is the same person. Now let us present two views on group or collective statements to the court.
According to the first, the peculiarity of collective civil claims in the status of the applicant is that he protects the interests of others, not his own.
According to the second, the applicant is both the injured party and the appeal is no longer considered collective. The rules on the interaction of co-participants are enforced.
Until the end, there is still no answer to the question of which position is correct in the civil process of the Russian Federation. How do judges deal with class action lawsuits? Despite the similarity of circumstances, the judge may not agree with the simultaneous consideration of applications of several persons.
Labor disputes
A collective labor lawsuit is filed in the event of a dispute over and payroll, may relate to working conditions, illegal dismissal and other restrictions allowed by employers.
The statute of limitations in labor disputes is a confusing subject, and workers are very limited. For example, they have only 3 months to go to court. Despite the clarifications of the judiciary, there is no accuracy in understanding the application of the rules on the time limits for applying to the court regarding wages.
Given the low level of legal literacy of citizens, many employers commit actions without any consequences. The lawsuit filed by the prosecutor's office has a serious documentary base, obtained as a result of its own inspections or conducted by other bodies (labor inspection). I must say that without the help of the state, citizens themselves almost never win.
Design Features
A class action lawsuit is filed under the same rules. The difference in some nuances.
It doesn’t matter if they appeal to a magistrate or district court. The rule on the location of the court where the application is being considered is not repealed. As a rule, a claim is sent to the court at the location or residence of the defendant. In cases involving consumers it is allowed to file claims at their place of residence.
- The heading indicates the name of the court.
- The full name of the applicants ’full name, place of residence, other information is indicated.
- The name or full name of the defendant or defendants is fully indicated (the law does not impose a limit on their number).
- The body or person applying for the defense of the plaintiffs (usually referred to as a person with a procedural interest).
- Statement of circumstances of the claim - violations committed, according to the plaintiffs, by the defendant, references to legislation, evidence, etc.
- Justification for the participation in the case of a person advocating for the rights of the plaintiffs (in the case of the prosecutor's office, the protection of social rights and the inability to defend themselves).
- Claim requirements.
- The list of attached documents (their copies).
- Signature and filing date.
The sample class action lawsuit may not contain information about the plaintiffs, which is typical of applications filed by prosecution authorities and other authorities.
If the claim does not indicate specific persons, then the means of protecting the rights should be selected accordingly. If an individual citizen wants compensation for material and moral damage, he is left to submit an application on his own behalf. If there are grounds, the prosecutor or the authority has the right to re-represent his interests.
Representation of Interest
Judicial practice has developed a position - filing a class action lawsuit is possible subject to complaints by citizens about infringement of their interests. Also, a complaint or statement should set out a request for legal assistance, first of all, on representing interests in court. Otherwise, participation in the trial will be declared unreasonable. In particular, this affects state bodies, the prosecutor's office. A class action lawsuit provides for the relevant clause.
The participation of state bodies is limited by their competence, specified in the law. Because of this, partly the prosecutor’s office more often appeals to the court than other bodies. If they come forward with lawsuits, the prosecutor is still involved in the process due to the need to give an opinion (disputes about custody, labor matters, etc.)
During the trial, the court has the right to propose to the plaintiffs that one of them represents common interests. Consent does not deprive others of the opportunity at any time to file a petition with the court or exercise another right provided by the procedural law.
Administrative proceedings
Collective administrative action filed:
- citizens;
- organizations in cases specified in federal law.
Moreover, the consideration of the dispute is governed by the rules of CAS. What features do such claims have in administrative proceedings?
- There are many people affected by the dispute.
- Consideration of a dispute by simultaneously involving several plaintiffs is difficult.
- Identical circumstances and subject matter.
- Group members use the same way to protect their rights and interests.
How is the group formed? The law prescribes a minimum number of plaintiffs - 20 people. To join the lawsuit, a separate application is filed or a signature is placed under the text of the statement. The right number of citizens must be reached at the time of filing a class action lawsuit. Failure to comply will lead to the abandonment of the claim without motion or to its return with the materials attached to it.
If a similar application is filed with the same grounds and requirements, the court may:
- invite the applicant to join the initial claim;
- open a case and suspend proceedings on it until a decision is made on the first suit.
If during the course of a case involving several plaintiffs it turns out that it falls within the scope of Art. 42 CAS, the judge is obliged to start the review again, already taking into account the provisions of this article of the law.
CAS and representation in collective business
Art. 42 CAS clarifies that the signatories of the application must indicate directly in the lawsuit who is entrusted with the conduct of the case. There is no need for a power of attorney.
The clarification noted: if the applicant is not one of the plaintiffs, he must have the status of a lawyer. At the same time, the law allows a person who has no personal interest to take part in the case if he is a lawyer.
During the process, a group member performs all actions on behalf of the group: submits motions, applications, other actions. The date of the next meeting is already reported to him, the same applies to all actions announced by the court.
Persons who sign a class action have the right to familiarize themselves with the case file at any time.
The disadvantages of class action
If the norm on the minimum number of persons filing a class action lawsuit is introduced into the civil process, then the problem will not be solved in cases where the individual method of protection does not work. Take, for example, shared construction. Some of the real estate investors cannot be found, someone does not want to finally quarrel with the construction company, someone else for other reasons refuses to go to court. And then the group that wants to file a lawsuit will be powerless.
The second point - violations on the part of companies can be insignificant for one person. If we consider that there are many deceived consumers, then the profit from illegal actions becomes significant. As a result, large organizations go unpunished, continuing to systematically break the law. The courts are trying to get rid of insignificant, in their opinion, lawsuits.
Finally
Collective statements are a favorite way of protecting one’s own rights by people living in Western countries. In Russia, only now it is becoming fashionable to simultaneously appeal to a court with a group of citizens.
Despite existing jurisprudence, questions remain. The Code of Civil Procedure mentions the right to appeal to a group of citizens and is often used by the prosecutor. However, all other non-governmental organizations are limited in this. The reason, in particular, is in the wording of laws.
The attempt to settle class action lawsuits in CAS is overshadowed by the definition of the minimum number of citizens who must meet to file a lawsuit.
Writing a claim is made according to the same rules. The nuance is to justify the simultaneous representation of the interests of many people. In general, the public request in the field of regulation of a class action remains unsatisfied.