Seminar Series Trends and Challenges in Costs and Funding of Civil Justice - Fourth Seminar
News
Out now: Financing Collective Actions in The Netherlands
The book Financing Collective Actions in the Netherlands: Towards a Litigation Fund? has just been published (Eleven International Publishing 2024) and is available open access. The book is authored by the Rotterdam Vici team members Xandra Kramer and Jos Hoevenaars, and Ianika Tzankova and Karlijn van Doorn (both TilbUniversity). It is an English and updated version of a Study commissioned by the Dutch Research and Documentation Centre of the Ministry of Justice, published in September 2023. It discusses developments in Dutch collective actions from a regulatory perspective, including the implementation of the RAD, and contains a quantitative and qualitative analysis of cases that have been brought under the WAMCA. It examines funding aspects of collective actions from a regulatory, empirical and comparative perspective. It delves into different funding modes, including market developments in third party litigation funding, and addresses the question of the necessity, feasibility, and design of a (revolving) litigation fund for collective actions.
A launch event and webinar will take place on 3 July from 15-17.15 hrs CET. Registration for free here.
Published: April 5, 2022
From December 2021 – June 2022, the team of the Vici project ‘Affordable Access to Justice’ at Erasmus School of Law organizes an online seminar series dedicated to Trends and Challenges in Costs and Funding of Civil Justice.
The fourth seminar was dedicated to Litigation Funding in Europe: A Market Perspective and took place on 23 March 2022, 15-17 CET. The funding of the costs of litigation, an essential dimension of accessing civil justice, was discussed. Among the topics presented were the current litigation funding landscape in Europe with particular attention to Third Party Funding (TPF) and collective redress. The pricing considerations for TPF and the ethical implications of TPF in international arbitration were also discussed.
Stefaan Voet (KU Leuven University) gave a brief overview of the current litigation funding landscape in Europe, with particular attention to third party litigation funding and collective redress and current and possible forthcoming legislation on TPF.
Thomas Kohlmeier (Nivalion AG) compared different concepts to provide access to justice such as legal aid, legal expenses insurance and TPF, with a special focus with a special focus on the pricing considerations for TPF.
Yihua Chen (Erasmus School of Law) discussed whether the existing international arbitration regime can adequately address the ethical implications of third-party funders for the professional conduct of arbitrators and lawyers representing clients. He focussed on the ethical implications for the independence and impartiality of arbitrators, as well as for the lawyers’ independence and their professional obligations to funded parties and arbitral tribunals.