Customer Reviews

Class Actions and Other Multi-Party Litigation: Cases and Materials (American Casebook Series)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am the professor majoring in law in South Korea.
I am an attorney of N.Y State. I earned LL.M. degree at the George Washington Law School in 1995.
I read the book. And I was very impressed by it's high quality.
I strongly recommand this book.
Recently, the modern disputes which accompany collective and diffused damages such as consumer conflicts and pollution conflicts occur frequently because of the rapid industrialization and the complexity of social environment. But the present litigation system can't relieve damages satisfactorily. On account of that, public criticism is aroused in the form of the collective enmity of the people. It is the judicial settlement that fixes the conflicts desirably.
To cope with these conflicts, there is Class Action, Citizen Suits in America and Verbandsklage in Germany. In Korea, the discussion to introduce Class Action is being hotly spread out.
In the position of a plaintiff, the collective litigation system is the useful means of judicial relief for many victims with small sum damage. In the position of court, the collective litigation system can promote the judicial efficiency through the unificative decision.
There is quite differences between the two systems. The Verbandsklage of Germany gives the right to litigate only to the qualified organizations while the Class Action of America gives the right to litigate to a private person in principle and doesn't limit it to a specific person.
Moreover, the Class Action of America is applied to the post-relief of damages yet happened but the Verbandsklage is used to hinder damages from happening by preventing offenses. In the back of these differences, there are differences of legal culture between the two nations. Germany fundamentally has a collective legal culture or legal culture centering around the legislative body while America has an indivisualistic legal culture. Therefore, in the Class Action of America, an individual takes the lead and the individualistic profit is an important object. But in the Verbandsklage of Germany, groups take the lead and the public profit is an important aim.
The identity of the Korean environmental law must be secured not through closure and insulation but through open-hearted attitude and positive groping.
The introduction of Class Action doesn't settle all questions. The important thing is not the introduction of the collective litigation system but its proper administration and strong will to settle the question. In this sense this book will contribute the development of
Korean class action law.
Again I strongly recommand this book.