Linklaters’ response to the Law Commissions’ scoping questionnaire on consumer class actions

Linklaters’ consumer litigation team has responded to the questionnaire issued by the Law Commission of England and Wales as part of its consumer class actions project.

In our response we have said that any potential benefits of a consumer class regime are far outweighed by the risks of creating a regime which:

• Disrupts the development of the nascent consumer law regime
• Encroaches on industry-specific regulatory regimes
• Creates a disproportionate burden for courts and businesses
• Imposes a certification threshold which the court is unable to operate
• Provides limited benefit to consumers
• Is unstable and requires ongoing amendments in line with the changes being made to the competition class actions regime