Consumers ‘collective actions are coming
The Chamber of Deputies is currently passing the second reading of the act on collective civil proceedings (press release No. 523), which will allow similar claims of a whole group of affected consumers to be resolved in consumer disputes in a single trial.
The draft law envisages that claims relating to legal relations between the entrepreneur and consumers will be asserted by means of a collective action, with the connecting element being the similarity of the matters, i.e. the collective action will concern the rights of several persons (consumers) characterised by a similar factual basis. As stated in the Explanatory Memorandum, this scope is so broad that it encompasses all types of claims that may be encountered in civil court proceedings – from actions for determination, through actions for negation or restitution (status actions are an exception).
In the case of a collective action, the plaintiff can only be a so-called “authorised person” under Act No. 634/1992 Coll., on Consumer Protection. According to Section 25 of the Consumer Protection Act, an authorised person may be an association which, inter alia, has been active in the field of consumer protection for at least two years and is independent and non-profit-making. Authorised persons must be entered in the List of Authorised Persons kept by the EC Commission. The plaintiff is acting in the interests of the entire group of consumers, but is acting on its own behalf (it is not acting as a representative of individual consumers).
The court competent to rule on collective actions at first instance is to be exclusively the Municipal Court in Prague.
The course of the collective proceedings under the government’s draft law can be briefly summarised as follows:
• The plaintiff, i.e. an authorised person (a non-profit organisation representing consumers), applies to the court with subject matter and local jurisdiction (the Municipal Court in Prague) by means of a collective action a specific request for performance/determination or refraining from certain actions against the entrepreneur identified in the collective action. In the collective action, the plaintiff shall also identify the requirements for membership in the group that the plaintiff represents in the collective action.
• Thereafter, the court first conducts proceedings on the admissibility of the action, which ends either with the dismissal of the proceedings or with an order on the admissibility of the collective action (within 2 months of the commencement of the collective proceedings). In the order allowing the collective action, the court shall also set, inter alia, a time limit within which the affected consumers may opt-in to the collective action (opt-in principle). The court’s order will be published in the register of collective actions and at the same time consumers will have the opportunity to learn about the initiation of the proceedings and the possibility of filing an application directly from the plaintiff (which publishes information in the manner specified in the court’s order on the admissibility of the collective action, but at least on its own website).
• Affected consumers may then apply directly to the plaintiff in the collective proceedings using a form to be created and published by the Ministry of Justice for this purpose (or the consumer may apply directly to the competent court conducting the collective proceedings). A written consent to the commencement of a collective proceeding prior to the filing of a collective action shall be deemed to be an application.
• At the close of the filing period, the plaintiff shall create a list of enrolled consumers – members of the group indicating what each member of the group seeks from defendant. The list will be sent by the plaintiff to the court and to the individual members of the group involved. If fewer than 20 affected consumers opt-in, the court shall dismiss the collective action.
• The court shall prepare a schedule for the collective proceedings, which shall include, in particular, a summary of the parties’ claims that may be considered undisputed and those that are disputed, an outline of the proposed evidence that the court intends to conduct, the dates of the next hearings, and procedural instructions to the persons in the group. The schedule of proceedings and any amendments thereto shall be published in the register of collective actions.
• Collective action proceedings may also end in a court settlement. The court shall publish the order approving the settlement or the court’s judgment on the merits in the register of collective actions. The decision is binding not only on the plaintiff and the defendant, but also on all interested persons in the group (registered consumers). If the court’s judgment imposes an obligation on the defendant undertaking to do something, the court shall also determine in the judgment the performance due to the individual participating group members, the manner in which the obligation is to be performed and the time limit for performance.
• In the event of success, the plaintiff may claim (he may do so already in the collective action), in addition to the costs of representation by counsel, a fee, which may be determined as a percentage of the award against the defendant; this fee will then be reduced proportionately for the individual members of the group involved. The plaintiff´s fee may not exceed 5% of the awarded performance.
The final form of the press – if it is approved in the legislative process – may then of course undergo partial changes, as there are already amendments on the table, for example, to the maximum amount of the plaintiff’s fee (up to 16% or a maximum of CZK 2,500,000 if it is determined as a lump sum) or a reduction in the minimum number of registered consumers from 20 to 10.
The article (in Czech) can be found below:
https://echo24.cz/a/HMGZf/zpravy-ekonomika-zakonik-prace-zmeny-dohody-zamestnavatele-jurecka

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