Class Actions and Government

Government, in all of its guises, plays a significant, controversial, and sometimes hidden, role in class actions reform and litigation.

Rachael Mulheron (Author)

9781107043978, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 April 2020

464 pages, 9 b/w illus. 12 tables
23.4 x 15.6 x 2.8 cm, 0.77 kg

'Mulheron weaves together a stunning kaleidoscope to view class actions through the lens of government. Her imaginative analytical framework and choice of targeted examples deliver fascinating insights into the class action regimes in their cultural and political context, but with a rigour that Mulheron unfailingly delivers. A must for the novice and the specialist.' Peta Spender, Australian National University

The relationship between class actions and government makes for a nuanced and fascinating study. Government sets the scene by implementing and designing the regime, by choosing whether to act as a seed-funder for the regime, and by deciding to what extent it should regulate the regime against worldwide classes being litigated on its doorstep. It can then become a key player in the litigation itself. Government may be a representative claimant bringing the action, or a class member, or a potential financial beneficiary. Most commonly of all, it may be a defendant, being sued under the very regime which it enacted into law. With numerous opt-out class action regimes around the common law world in place, and others on the horizon, the book takes a comparative perspective throughout, and concludes with a series of recommendations, drawn from that comparative analysis of government's intricate interplay with class actions.

1. Introduction
Part I. 'Preparing a Path to the Stadium': 2. Government as class actions enabler
3. Government as class actions designer
4. Government as class actions funder
5. Government as 'gate-keeper': cross-border class actions
Part II. 'As a Participant in the Match': 6. Government as representative claimant
7. Government as class member
8. Government as class actions defendant
9. Government as class actions beneficiary
10. Conclusion: levelling the playing field.

Subject Areas: Comparative law [LAM], Jurisprudence & general issues [LA], Law [L], Political economy [KCP]