Herald of Civil Procedure
RU
EN
main-photo

We in a citing index:

subscribe bluebook itunes twitter vk youtube
library ulrichs-webGoogleСнимок экрана 2015-12-25 в 19.31.28.pngCrossref.pngVAK logo.pngHEIN logo.png

CLASS LITIGATION IN FINLAND

CLASS LITIGATION IN FINLAND

N.A. SUTORMIN,
Candidate of Legal Sciences, Senior Lecturer,
S. Lebedev Department of International Private and Civil Law,
Moscow State Institute of International Relations

DOI: 10.24031/2226-0781-2020-10-4-217-234

The article is dedicated to current situation of class action and class litigation in Finland. The
article begins with history of adoption and elaboration of the Law on class actions, presents
main fundamental traits of Finnish class litigation. Author concludes that development of
this institute in Finland operates in thin and restrictive manner. Traditional dispute which
method to choose: public or private is resolved in favor of public. It is fruitful to implement
institute of Consumer Ombudsman as representative of collective interests of consumers in
group disputes. Some interest can be provoked by the study of Finnish experience, where
Consumer Ombudsman defends consumer group disputes free of charge, except for some
cases. Another distinctive moment of Finnish class action litigation is absence of restrictions
on how many persons the group consists of, that is very comfortable for participants in
the litigation. In the end of the article, it is presented the Law on class actions in Finland,
which was translated into English by Finnish Ministry of Justice.

Keywords: class action; class litigation; Finland; Act on Class Action; consumer disputes;
Consumer ombudsmen.

References

Backhaus J.G., Cassone A., Ramello G.B. (eds.). The Law and Economics of Class
Actions in Europe: Lessons from America. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing,
2012. 384 p.
Blennerhassett J. A Comparative Examination of Multi-Party Actions: The Case of
Environmental Mass Harm. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2016. 318 p.
Cashman P. Class Action Law and Practice. Sydney: Federation Press, 2007. 784 p.
Clarkson K.W., Miller R.L., Jentz G.A., Cross F.B. West’s Business Law: Text, Cases,
Legal, Ethical, Regulatory, and International Environment. 6th ed. St. Paul, MN: West
Publishing Company, 1995. 1134 p.
Eliseev N.G. Grazhdanskoe protsessual’noe pravo zarubezhnykh stran: uchebnik [Civil
Procedure Law of Foreign States: Textbook]. 2nd ed. Moscow: TK Velbi; Prospekt,
2006. 604 p. (In Russ.)
Freer R.D. Civil Procedure. 3rd ed. New York: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business,
2012. 740 p.
Garner B.A. (ed.). Black’s Law Dictionary. 9th ed. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing,
2009. 1920 p.
Glannon J.W. Civil Procedure. 7th ed. New York: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business,
2013. 730 p.
Greer M.H. (ed.). A Practitioner’s Guide to Class Action. 2nd ed. Chicago: ABA Book
Publishing, 2017. 1664 p.
Hartley T.C. International Commercial Litigation: Text, Cases and Materials on Private
International. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 386 p.
Hensler D.R., Pace N.M., Dombey-Moore B., Giddens E., Gross J., Moller E. Class
Action Dilemmas: Pursuing Public Goals for Private Gain. Santa Monica, CA: RAND
Corporation, 2000. 625 p.
Karlsgodt P.G. (ed.). World Class Actions: A Guide to Group and Representative
Actions around the Globe. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 854 p.
Klonoff R.H. Class Actions and Other Multi-Party Litigation in a Nutshell. 4th ed.
St. Paul, MN: West Academic Publishing, 2012. 544 p.
Sime S. A Practical Approach to Civil Procedure. 14th ed. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2011. 752 p.
Weinstein J.B. Individual Justice in Mass Tort Litigation: The Effect of Class Actions,
Consolidations, and Other Multiparty Devices. Evanston: Northwestern University
Press, 1995. 367 p.

Information about the author

N.A. Sutormin (Moscow, Russia) – Candidate of Legal Sciences, Senior Lecturer,
S. Lebedev Department of International Private and Civil Law, Moscow State Institute
of International Relations (76 Vernadsky Av., Moscow, 119454, Russia; e-mail: nsutormin@
mail.ru).

Recommended citation

Sutormin N.A. Gruppovye iski v Finliandii [Class Litigation in Finland]. Vestnik grazhdanskogo
protsessa – Herald of Civil Procedure, 2020, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 217–234. (In
Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24031/2226-0781-2020-10-4-217-234

N.A. SUTORMIN