The court decides on the admissibility of the class action after the first hearing. If the class action is found to be admissible, the court will also determine the membership criteria for class actions. That judgment concerned claims by a group of tourists against a tour operator in respect of an all-inclusive package purchased under which the applicants were to spend a week in Zanzibar at a specific four-star resort. Once on the island, however, tourists were first sent to another hotel, as the agreed hotel had not been fully restored. The new hotel was significantly less luxurious. In addition, when the tourists were finally transferred to the agreed hotel, they suffered other unexpected inconveniences, as the pool and spa structures were unusable and tourists could only use the hotel beach, which had not been decontaminated. The tribunal allowed the claims of the principal plaintiffs and part of the class, but dismissed the claims of the other class members on the basis that their rights were not entirely “identical” to those of the others. [4] In this regard, the Court had to apply the restrictive interpretation imposed by the 2009 version; However, the same court stated in an obiter dictum that the new concept of “homogeneous rights” introduced by the 2012 reform would improve the effectiveness of the class action tool applicable to future cases. Such measures promote the amicable settlement of claims brought through class actions. Homogeneous rights are protected by the Italian collective action without limitation or limitation: these rights may be violated by individual actions or by one-off or continuous behavior, provided that these acts and / or behaviors took place after May 19, 2021. Italian law does not expressly provide, let alone regulate, forms of litigation financing, with the exception of conditional agreements between lawyers and their clients, which are generally prohibited.
Nevertheless, on the basis of the general principle of freedom of contract, third-party financing is widespread. In addition, only very poor parties are entitled to State legal aid, and successful parties can claim court costs only after the conclusion of the proceedings. In this context, third-party funding is welcomed as facilitating access to justice. Nevertheless, when drafting financing agreements, the parties should take into account the potential conflicts of interest of the funder and the rules of professional conduct of the lawyer. Members of a category (users or consumers), individually or through associations to which they delegate powers, or committees in which they participate, have the right to bring collective action against enterprises or public service providers in order to obtain collective redress or restitution. The action is not limited to contractual liability, as it may also involve damages resulting from tortious liability. Until now, tort class actions have been limited to product liability claims or unfair competition. Nevertheless, the judicial interpretation of the new class action regime has yet to become stable, and it will be crucial to monitor future cases. Nevertheless, these are the main features of the recent legislative clarification on this issue – in the light of the very first legal victory for consumers – for the benefit of all companies with an interest in the Italian market. In the event of unintentional termination of the contract, only compensation for foreseeable damage at the time of conclusion of the contract by the member may be claimed. A class action can be brought to protect various situations that may arise as a result of harmful conduct, to establish liability, and to order damages and compensation. The new class action provisions also give the court broad powers to gather evidence.
The court may: At the first hearing, the court rules on the admissibility of the class action. The class action may be declared inadmissible if it is manifestly unfounded, if there is a conflict of interest, if the rights are not homogeneous, or if the lead plaintiff is unable to adequately protect the interests of the class members. The new rules explicitly provide that class actions can only be brought against companies or entities responsible for the provision of public services or public services, which means that it is not possible to bring a class action against a public administration. A judge has ruled that pasta brand Barilla faces a class action lawsuit because of its advertising. A voluntary association may be formed by a third party claiming a right to the subject-matter of the dispute or to the same plea on which the disputed claim is based. In addition, a third party interested in the outcome of the proceedings may join the proceedings in order to assist one of the litigants. It remains to be seen whether the class action will be brought and whether the court will find it admissible. Another option is arbitration, where the dispute is decided by a private arbitrator appointed by the disputing parties. The use of arbitration as an alternative to the dispute must be agreed upon by the parties concerned.
Therefore, while the Naples court`s decision may be the first step forward for Italian collective actions, certain weaknesses must be overcome before these actions become an effective tool for consumers or a tangible deterrent for businesses. Kind. 5 ZPO provides that the court`s decision on jurisdiction and domestic jurisdiction is to be based on the applicant`s description of the application and the plea relating thereto. [3] Ten after a very recent review, six of which were rejected (five in the admissibility block, one in the main case); only three have been declared admissible and are still pending, and only one was recently upheld on the merits by the Naples Court (see G. Finocchiaro, Con la prima vittoria di una class action italiana il fronte dei consumatori `allerta` le imprese, in Guida al diritto, No 12, 16 March 2013, p. 12 et seq.). The first amendment concerns the scope of the rules on collective redress. Whereas in the previous legal framework the collective redress procedure was explicitly aimed only at protecting the homogeneous individual rights and collective interests of `consumers` and `users`, the new provisions remove any specific reference to the addressee from the rules on collective redress.
This means that class actions are now available to both consumers and businesses, making the class action a tool applicable in B2C and B2B relationships. No specific financing options are available for class action plaintiffs. In principle, ex post insurance is permitted by Italian law, although it is not usual for ATE insurance to be purchased in Italy. Within 30 days of the first hearing, the court will make an order determining whether the action is admissible or not. The action is not admissible in the following cases (the same cases are provided for in the previous legal framework): Class actions have long been associated with the U.S. legal system since the 1960s, and in fact, U.S. plaintiffs have opened offices throughout Europe. It is to be expected that the new legislation will increase and should increase class actions in Italy. The new Class Redress Act will enter into force twelve months after its publication in the Official Gazette and will only apply to unlawful conduct committed after the entry into force of the new Act, while unlawful conduct committed before that date will continue to be subject to the previous Class Redress Act. The new provisions on class actions will certainly lead to an increase in class actions in Italy. It is expected that most consumer associations will bring such class actions and that the proceedings will cover consumer agreements, product liability, financial services, and shareholder and investor claims.
Law No 31/2019 introduced a new set of detailed provisions on collective redress (Art. 840-bis to 840-sexiesdecies CC). On 19 May 2021, the reform of the Italian legal framework for collective redress finally entered into force. The new rules, drafted by Law No. 31 and published on 18 April 2019 (Law No. 31/2019), were originally scheduled to enter into force on 19 April 2020, but have been postponed twice. Class actions based on the same facts and against the same defendant may be filed within sixty days. The joinder of separate proceedings pending before the same court may be ordered of its own motion by the court or at the request of a party, provided that the proceedings relate to the same plea or are joined.
A class action must be filed with the commercial division of the district court where the defendant has its registered office. In order to better understand the class action, the lawsuit will be posted on the Department of Justice website to ensure timely access to the prosecution and relevant evidence. Subsequently, Article 6 of Legislative Decree No. 1 of 24 January 2012, ratified by Law No. 27 of 24 March 2012 under the title “Rules relating to the effectiveness of collective redress”, added a new series of amendments. The most recent changes, made on 25. March 2012, lowered one of the admissibility thresholds: previously, class actions were inadmissible if the rights of the class members for whom protection was sought were not “identical”, whereas today these rights must be “homogeneous”, which is a broader concept. While joining a class action means waiving an individual action for reimbursement or set-off based on the same title, individual actions of consumers who do not participate in the class action are not affected.
