On 29 January 2019, the Dutch House of Representatives passed the Act on the Settlement of Mass Damages Claims in Collective Actions. The bill will make it easier for claimants to recover damages in collective actions, preventing several interest groups from starting different proceedings about the same event.
The proposal seeks to strike a balance between the right of injured parties to compensations and the interests of the parties that caused the damages to be protected against ill-founded and frivolous claims. The bill creates a new single route for all collective actions. If a party has already been found liable for damages under the current law, the injured parties can file a collective action under the new law to recover compensation. Under the bill, it is irrelevant whether the compensation awarded is monetary or not. This bill does not change the material liability or compensation law.
Key points of the bill include:
- Settling becomes more attractive by improving the quality and purpose of collective interest groups and coordinating collective procedures.
- There will be one regime for collective actions based on Article 3:305a of the Dutch Civil Code, regardless of whether they are intended for monetary compensation or not.
- The bill restricts the admissibility requirements for interest groups to file collective claims with regard to governance, financing and representativeness. There is an exception for cases where these requirements would be disproportionate.
- A collective action must have a sufficiently close link with the Netherlands’ jurisdiction.
- All collective actions must be filed as a compensation procedure with the Amsterdam Court and recorded in a register for collective actions.
- If more interest groups wish to file a collective action for the same event or events concerning similar factual and legal questions, the judge will designate the most suitable group among them to be the exclusive representative of all class members. In this case, the non-designated interest groups remain as parties to the proceedings.
- Following the appointment of an exclusive representative, class members can opt out of the collective action and its effects.
- A judicial decision in the collective action is binding on all class members who do not opt out.
Want to know more about this law? Visit our Class actions page and dot not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
