Judges and lawyers have embraced class proceedings as fulfilling an access to justice objective. In the more than fifteen years since the introduction of class proceedings legislation in Ontario, however, few have sought to evaluate whether or to what extent class actions have improved access to justice. The author begins to fill that void by first exploring various meanings of access to justice, and then examining in detail the initiation and settlement of class actions, and the controversial issue of counsel fees, using both doctrinal analysis and empirical data representing the class action practices of more than 75 plaintiff-side lawyers. She concludes that there are several aspects of class action practice and jurisprudence that fall short of advancing access to justice to its fullest extent, and calls for further socio-legal analysis to measure the impact, and evaluate the success, of class actions.

Judges and lawyers have embraced class proceedings as fulfilling an access to justice objective. In the more than fifteen years since the introduction of class proceedings legislation in Ontario, however, few have sought to evaluate whether or to what extent class actions have improved access to justice. The author begins to fill that void by first exploring various meanings of access to justice, and then examining in detail the initiation and settlement of class actions, and the controversial issue of counsel fees, using both doctrinal analysis and empirical data representing the class action practices of more than 75 plaintiff-side lawyers. She concludes that there are several aspects of class action practice and jurisprudence that fall short of advancing access to justice to its fullest extent, and calls for further socio-legal analysis to measure the impact, and evaluate the success, of class actions.

El objetivo principal de esta investigación consiste en describir las funciones sociales que realizan las reglas en materia de acciones de incidencia colectiva en el Derecho del consumidor argentino. Los objetivos específicos son: 1.- Identificar las funciones sociales que esas reglas fomentan acudiendo a la metodología que brinda el Análisis Económico del Derecho en su vertiente positiva. 2.- Analizar los artículos 42 y 43 de la Constitución Nacional argentina, la Ley de Defensa del Consumidor, las reglas jurisprudenciales que emanan del fallo de la Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación en la causa “Halabi” y los principales estatutos provinciales. 3.- Completar las lagunas jurídicas que puedan identificarse en ese sistema, contemplando otras normas en el Derecho argentino, normas del Derecho comparado, normas de proyectos de ley y doctrina. 4.- Caracterizar e identificar distintas funciones sociales que promueven esas normas, tales como el acceso a la justicia, la prevención de daños, la compensación de los damnificados, la reducción en los costos de administración del proceso y la eficiencia. En este trabajo demostraremos las siguientes hipótesis principales: 1.- Las conductas de los consumidores, usuarios y proveedores inciden sobre la probabilidad y gravedad de los daños masivos. 2.- Las reglas del Derecho procesal inciden sobre la conducta de los consumidores afectados, proveedores, asociaciones de defensa de los consumidores, otros legitimados colectivos y operadores del Derecho (abogados, jueces y fiscales). 3.- El proceso civil clásico o individual es una herramienta ineficaz para dar cumplimiento a ciertos objetivos sociales al menos en dos situaciones problemáticas: los daños de menor cuantía, característicos de las relaciones de consumo y los daños masivos. 4.- El instituto de las acciones de incidencia colectiva, regulado en la Ley de Defensa del Consumidor es un instrumento que promueve distintas funciones sociales: acceso a la justicia, la prevención y reparación de daños, la reducción de costos de administración y la resolución eficiente de los conflictos colectivos. 5.- Las alternativas existentes en materia de legitimación, facultad de optar por la exclusión del proceso, extensión de los efectos de la cosa juzgada, notificación, obligatoriedad de la mediación prejudicial, requisito de pluralidad relevante, regulación de honorarios, costas y pautas para la reparación económica impiden efectuar una descripción unívoca de los efectos sociales de las acciones de incidencia colectiva y obligan a describir un amplio sistema de consecuencias que las distintas reglas jurídicas provocan. / The main goal of this investigation is to describe the social functions that rules about class actions in Argentine Consumer Law promote. The specific goals are: 1.- To identify the social functions that those rules promote by using the positive Economic Analysis of Law method. 2.- To analyze articles 42 and 43 of the Argentine National Constitution, Argentine Consumer Statute, the judicial doctrine of Supreme Court’s leading case “Halabi” and the main province statutes. 3.- To fill the legal gaps that could be identified in the system, considering other rules in Argentine Law, Comparate Law, Statute Law projects and doctrine. 4.- To characterize and identify different social functions that those rules promote, such as access to Justice, deterrence, compensation, reduction in administrative costs and efficiency. In this work we will demonstrate the following main hypothesis: 1.- Customers and suppliers’ conducts affect the probability and gravity of mass torts. 2.- Procedural rules affect the conduct of customers, victims, suppliers, consumer associations, other individuals with standing to sue and legal professionals (attorneys, judges and prosecutors). 3.- The classical or individual Civil Procedure is an inadequate tool to give accomplishment to certain social goals at least in two problematic situations: small claims, characteristic of consumer relationships, and mass torts. 4.- The class action regulated in the Consumer Statute is a tool which promotes different social functions: access to Justice, deterrence and compensation, reduction of administrative costs, and efficient solution of conflicts. 5.- The alternatives which exist in standing, opting out, res judicata, notification, mandatory prejudicial settlement, numerosity, legal fees, costs and rules of restitution make impossible to give an univocal description of the social effects of class actions and obligue to describe a wide system of consequences promoted by different legal rules.

Zugl.: Erlangen, Nürnberg, Univ., Diss., 2007 / Includes bibliographical references (p. 369-388).

Thesis (doctoral) - Universität, Freiburg, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-339) and index.

I examine the impact of the trend of private class actions targeting alleged violations of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). I document the specific allegations in GAAP lawsuits and find that allegations involving revenue recognition and asset impairment recognition are two of the most common areas of GAAP cited. I test whether lawsuits lead to a reduction in the allegedly improper behavior, whether sued firms and their peers make other financial reporting changes, and whether these changes change firms’ stock price characteristics. I find that following relevant lawsuits, sued firms, firms in the same industry, and firms with a shared auditor generally exhibit less aggressive revenue recognition, but firms may increase aggressive revenue recognition in certain cases. Next, I examine the impact of asset impairment recognition allegations on the reporting of negative special items. I find few changes directly associated with these allegations but show that other litigation is associated with both increases and decreases in the propensity and size of negative special item reporting. I note that GAAP violations most often arise in an attempt to meet or beat analysts’ estimates, and I show following litigation firms are often more likely to beat analysts’ expectations by a larger margin. I also find significant increases in real earnings management of sued firms and their peers following many lawsuits, indicating a shift away from accruals-based management towards real activities management. Finally, I find mixed evidence of changes in stock return attributes. In some cases I observe significant changes consistent with reduced litigation risk and in others I observe the opposite. The results have implications for accounting standard setting and show that the legal system plays a critical role in shaping the financial reporting environment.

Le Livre Vert et le Livre Blanc de la Commission Européenne sur les actions en dommages-intérêts en cas d'infraction au droit communautaire de la concurrence ont constaté « le sous-développement total » de l'action en réparation des infractions au droit de la concurrence et proposé certaines réformes afin de remédier aux obstacles identifiés. L'étude empirique remet toutefois partiellement en cause ce constat, car il convient de distinguer réparation des concurrents (contentieux horizontal) et réparation des consommateurs (contentieux collectif). Les actions en réparation du préjudice d'éviction engagées entre concurrents apparaissent raisonnablement efficaces. Elles donnent lieu assez fréquemment à des décisions favorables et le montant des dommages-intérêts alloués est parfois significatif. Ainsi, les réformes proposées en matière probatoire pour l'accès aux documents n'apporteraient aucun progrès sensible, pas plus que l'adoption d'un instrument non-contraignant sur la quantification du préjudice. En revanche, les actions en réparation du préjudice de surcoût engagées par les acheteurs directs ou indirects paraissent vouées à l'échec dans le cadre actuel de la responsabilité civile, en l'absence de mécanisme de recours collectif et de distribution efficaces. La réflexion engagée au niveau national et européen ne paraît guère pouvoir contourner l’obstacle de la distribution massive de dommages-intérêts diffus, et les options envisagées ne semblent guère convaincantes. Il est donc proposé alternativement au bénéfice des consommateurs, un mécanisme public de recours collectif, confié aux autorités de concurrence nationales et à la Commission européenne. Cette réforme peut être engagée à droit constant dans le cadre des pouvoirs existants de la Commission européenne et de l'Autorité de la concurrence. Il conviendrait à cet effet de réviser la politique d’amende afin de sanctionner le défaut d’indemnisation des consommateurs, et d’affecter une partie du produit des amendes à des mesures de réparation directes ou indirectes, pécuniaires ou en nature, des consommateurs affectés par l’infraction. / The Green Paper and the White Paper on damages actions for breach of EU competition law found private antitrust enforcement in a state of “total underdevelopment” and proposed reforms to adress the identified obstacles. Empirical study of french case law does not support entirely these findings, because it’s important to distinguish between actions brought against competitors, and actions brought by consumers. Exclusionary practices litigated between competitors show reasonable success compared to similar cases. The reforms proposed by the European Commission concerning access to documents and quantification of damages would not bring any significant improvement to french law. However, damages actions in compensation of overcharges brought by direct and indirect purchasers seem doomed to failure, in the absence of a collective action and distribution mechanism. Debate is storming at EU and national level, but the considered options appear unconvincing. It is proposed a public mechanism for collective redress. Within their existing powers, competition authorities should review the fine policy to achieve collective compensation as private penalty. Substantial amount of fines should be inflicted when infringers cannot show they have taken active steps to provide compensation to consumers. In that case, a partial amount of the total fine should be dedicated to compensate consumer, directly or indirectly, in pecuniary or non-pecuniary form. Competition authorities should have the power to order infringers to create trust funds for that purpose.

O presente trabalho trata das tutelas antecipadas em processos coletivos a partir do tratamento legal diferenciado dado pelo legislador e das considerações jurídicas não-legais próprias do seu objeto. Por meio de estudo comparado, o trabalho pretende enfrentar as dificuldades inerentes à complexidade das relações envolvidas, dando especial atenção à função do desenho da tutela antecipada, ao conceito de irreparabilidade e irreversibilidade, e à aplicação dos requisitos balance of hardships e interesse público. A análise passa pelas teorias da decisão judicial a fim de dar perspectiva à necessidade de um procedimento deliberativo mais complexo e minucioso para fins de responsividade das decisões judiciais. Ademais, explorase a adjudicaçãoo pragmática elaborada por Richard Posner e pretende-se sua aplicação aos processos coletivos por meio da introdução da análise de custo-benefício como procedimento decisório welfarista moralmente relevante, mas não moralmente decisivo. / This thesis focuses on the preliminary injunctions in class actions, having as the starting point the different legal treatment given by the legislator and the non-legal jurídical considerations that flows from its nature. By means of a comparative study, the work intends to face the inherent difficuties of the complex relationships entailed, paying extra attention to the function of the preliminary injunction structure, to the concept of irreparability and irreversibility, and to the way the requirements of balance of hardships and public interest apply. The analysis passes through the theories of the judicial decision-making process in order to give perspective to the need of more complex deliberative proceedings which must be done in full details to reach accountability. Furthermore, the work explores the pragmatic adjudication elaborated by Richard Posner and intends its application to class actions by means of the introduction of cost-benefit analysis as a welfarist decision-making procedure that is morally relevant, but not morally decisive.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo o estudo da execução residual na tutela dos interesses individuais homogêneos e as questões procedimentais que envolvem o instituto no direito processual brasileiro. Foram abordados aspectos relativos aos fundamentos do instituto no direito brasileiro, os requisitos para sua aplicação e o procedimento para a restituição da indenização devida aos indivíduos nos casos em que esta se faz necessária. / This paper aims to study the fluid recovery in the protection of homogeneous individual interests in Brazilian Law and the procedural issues surrounding the institute. The paper approached aspects related to the fundamentals of the institute in Brazilian law, the requirements for their application and the procedure for due compensation for individuals in cases where this is necessary.

Submitted by Ana Paula Florentino Santos Pires (anapaulapires@fdv.br) on 2018-08-29T00:15:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Thaiz da Silva Vescovi.pdf: 952986 bytes, checksum: 93c25d0015bb07521c31245139c492fa (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Galdino (repositorio@fdv.br) on 2018-08-29T19:00:42Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Thaiz da Silva Vescovi.pdf: 952986 bytes, checksum: 93c25d0015bb07521c31245139c492fa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-29T19:00:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thaiz da Silva Vescovi.pdf: 952986 bytes, checksum: 93c25d0015bb07521c31245139c492fa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-29 / O trabalho busca verificar se a representatividade adequada do sistema das class actions estadunidenses pode ser utilizada no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro no sentido de ampliar o direito fundamental de acesso à justiça. Utiliza o método dedutivo e o tipo de pesquisa exploratório e comparativo. Na introdução, apresenta a problemática e sua importância e propõe uma divisão do trabalho em cinco capítulos. No primeiro capítulo, discorre sobre a metodologia de comparação de sistemas jurídicos e a possibilidade de comparação entre civil law e common law. Salienta a origem, os traços e as características marcantes do sistema romanogermânico bem como do sistema anglo-saxão, fazendo, posteriormente, o cotejo entre esses sistemas. No segundo capítulo, apresenta as características básicas e a evolução do conceito de acesso à justiça no âmbito nacional brasileiro e estadunidense, no plano individual e coletivo, e salienta o acesso à justiça como direito humano e fundamental bem como mecanismo fundamental de proteção dos direitos fundamentais. Constata que o acesso à justiça no Estado Democrático tem significado de justiça social e não apenas de mera garantia ao direito de petição, com relevância não só ao indivíduo, mas principalmente à coletividade. Demonstra que esse conceito não apresenta grandes variações no Brasil e nos EUA, apesar de esse direito fundamental ter tido uma evolução diversa em ambos os cenários. Também observa que o acesso à justiça ainda padece de problemas na sua efetivação, principalmente na seara da legitimação coletiva. No terceiro capítulo, discorre sobre o papel da ação coletiva, ou class action, estadunidense como mecanismo de garantia dos direitos humanos, fundamentais e sociais. Trata do conceito e da evolução dessa ação no cenário estadunidense, dos interesses protegidos, das regras de cabimento, legitimação e representatividade adequada e do opt in e opt out, discutindo a efetividade do acesso à justiça nesse sentido. No quarto capítulo, faz a mesma análise descrita acima, agora em relação às ações coletivas brasileiras, abordando o conceito dessas ações, a sua evolução no cenário brasileiro, os interesses por elas protegidos e as regras de cabimento. Opta por limitar o estudo apenas às ações civis públicas, por serem as ações coletivas mais próximas das class actions estudadas. Acerca das Ações Civis Públicas, destaca como ocorre a legitimação e a representatividade adequada. Por fim, discorre sobre a efetividade do acesso à justiça em face de tal legitimação no Brasil, como meio garantidor dos demais direitos fundamentais e aponta problemas acerca da utilização maciça da legitimação pública no País. No quinto capítulo, faz um apanhado geral das diferenças entre a ação coletiva brasileira e a ação estadunidense no que diz respeito à legitimação como meio de efetivação do acesso, analisando qual país consegue proporcionar um acesso mais efetivo, fundamentando-se, principalmente, no que foi dito nos capítulos anteriores. Comparando o sistema brasileiro ao sistema estadunidense da representatividade adequada, conclui que, no Estado Brasileiro, a propensão para a utilização em larga escala da legitimidade pública nas ações coletivas acaba sendo um empecilho à maior efetividade do acesso à justiça, comprometendo a efetividade dos demais direitos fundamentais. / The present work searchs to verify if the adequacy of representation of the United States system of class action can be used in the Brazilian legal system to extend the fundamental right of access to justice. The deductive method and the type of exploratory and comparative research were used. In the introduction it was presented problematic, its importance and the division of the work in five chapters. The first chapter one discoursed on the methodology of comparing legal systems and the possibility of comparison between civil law and common law. One presented the origin, the traits and characteristic features of Roman-Germanic system, and the Anglo-Saxon, bringing then the comparison between these systems. The second chapter presented the basic characteristics and evolution of the concept of access to justice at the Brazilian and U.S. governments, both individually and collectively, as pointed out in access to justice as a fundamental human right and fundamental mechanism to protect these rights. It was found that access to justice in a democratic state has significance of social justice and not just only a guarantee of the right of petition, with relevance to the individual and the community even more. It was demonstrated that this concept has no major changes in Brazil and the U.S., despite this fundamental right had a different evolution in both scenarios. Thus, it was also noted that access to justice suffers from problems in its execution, especially on collective standing. The third chapter describes the role of United States class action mechanism to guarantee human, fundamental and social rights. Talked about the concept of this action, the evolution of the class action’s scenario in the U.S., the interests protected by the rules of pertinence, standing and adequacy of representation, opt in and opt out, for analyzing the effectiveness of access to justice in this sense. The fourth chapter made the same analysis of the third chapter to Brazilian’s collective suits addressing the concept, the evolution at the Brazilian scenario, the interests protected and relevancy of these actions. At this point, these work decided to limit the study only to the Brazilian’s Public Civil Action, because these are the collective actions closer to US. class actions studied. About that Brazilian action, stood out as is the legitimacy and representativeness appropriate. Talked about the effectiveness of access to justice in the Brazilian collective suit’s standing, as a guarantor of other fundamental rights. Furthermore, there were problems with the massive use of public legitimacy in Brazil. In the fifth chapter, there was an overview about the differences drawn between Brazilian’s collective action and United State’s class action in regard to standing, analyzing which country can provide a more effective access to justice, based on the previous chapters. It was concluded that in the Brazilian state is the propensity for large-scale use of public standing on collective actions, which ends up being a hindrance to a more effective access to justice and other fundamental rights, as compared to the United States system of adequate representation.