1. Introduction Swiss civil procedural law today only provides for very limited possibilities of collective redress, which the Swiss Federal Council has recognized in a report back in 2013 as insufficient. However, the issue of how exactly collective redress shall be strengthened is highly controversial. A first proposal by the Federal Council was rejected by Parliament in 2014. Relevant amendments were also initially included in the draft of the revised Civil Procedure Code (CPC) in…
Justice Belobaba recently refused to certify a class action arising from the “diesel-gate” auto emissions scandal. In 2015, regulatory authorities announced that certain manufacturers had been installing “defeat devices” in their diesel vehicles to cheat on emissions tests and violate clean air laws. Unlike other class proceedings related to the scandal, this proposed class consisted of owners and lessees of vehicles who sold or returned their vehicles before the scandal was revealed (pre-disclosure owners). At…
The English Supreme Court in Vedanta Resources PLC and Another v Lungowe and others has allowed over 1,800 Zambian villagers to issue proceedings in England against an English parent and its Zambian subsidiary. This decision could pave the way for other mass tort claim bearing similar features. The decision tipped in favour of England as the proper place to bring this claim due to the perceived inability for the Zambian claimants to obtain access to…