US Class Actions: Promise and Reality
The US class action is the best-known tool of civil procedure for enforcement of mass private rights. It is intended to achieve judicial and procedural economy in civil procedure, and to exert significant pressure on corporate defendants to observe the law. This piece summarises the major empirical evidence on how the mechanism works. It confirms extensive enforcement of law. It also identifies issues of selectivity of case types (especially securities cases brought by investors), high transactional costs and reductions in sums received by claimants, the risk that high economic factors distort the legal merits of settlements, the limited evidence on evaluating the legal merits of outcomes, forum shopping, and aspects of conflicts of interest that have been criticised by European politicians as abusive. The piece notes that these features are predictable consequences of the policy of encouraging widespread private enforcement of law by incentivising intermediaries and reducing risk to claimants. Various questions are noted in relation to the future of collective redress in the different context of the European legal order.
Collective Redress: A Breakthrough or a Damp Sqibb?
In June 2013, the European Commission issued its long-awaited policy on collective redress. The proposal is in fact about collective actions and omits a holistic assessment of other options for redress. The proposal is a Recommendation not a proposed legislation. A related proposed Directive on competition damages does not mention collective actions. The proposed framework is not a model as too many aspects remain subject to national rules and contexts. Empirical evidence from collective actions in Member States suggests that this does not herald a new dawn for litigation or redress, although it may fuel more litigation in some Member States and thus forum shopping. In threatening to introduce legislation unless Member States introduce collective actions for all types of claim, the Commission opposes the majority of the Council and seems to have overplayed its hand.
Development of Science and Technology in the Iranian Electric Power Industry: Challenges and Future Progress
This chapter examines four key segments of the electric power industry in Iran: generation, transportation, distribution and consumption. It reviews the method, development, and evolution of electric power generation in the country. Specifically, the chapter reviews the structure of the electric industry, the main players, institutions, standards as well as laws, human resources, technology, the export and import markets, and engineering management of the industry in the country. Finally, the challenges facing the industry will be identified and policy suggestions to remedy the problems will be provided.