Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
This article examines recent case law on England’s fragmented collective redress regime. It argues there is a worrying trend of the courts and the Competition Appeal Tribunal erecting additional obstacles to the effective use of representative actions and class actions in the name of avoiding abuse to defendants or represented persons. The article argues that collective redress procedures play a critical role in promoting the rule of law, proportionality and finality, whilst the risks of abuse of such procedures outside the United States (US) is vastly overstated. It argues that a generic collective redress procedure is long overdue, and may help focus the English judiciary’s attention on protecting the public interests that underpin collective redress procedures.

€ (Westlaw)

Andrew Higgins, ‘The damagingly slow development of collective redress procedures in the United Kingdom’ (2026) 45(3) Civil Justice Quarterly 175-191.