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Group Actions in East-Nordic Legal Culture

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Class Actions in Europe

Part of the book series: Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice ((IUSGENT,volume 89))

Abstract

In Sweden, a system of group actions has been in force since 2003. The original aim was to see about 20 such actions a year. In actual fact, in the 17 years of the existence of the system, 21 group action cases have been initiated, a number of which ended successfully for the plaintiffs. In Finland, only a public group action is allowed by the Group Action Act and the only authority that can bring the action is the Consumer Ombudsman. Up to the present time, there have been no group actions filed in Finland, even though the Act has been in force since late 2007. This cautious start was made in order to guarantee safeguards against the abuse of the group action system and to reach consensus to accept group actions in the country. Thus, so far East-Nordic (ie Swedish and Finnish) group actions have not been very successful. This has led to discussions in both countries as to the reasons why. In Sweden, discussions examine how to make the group action procedure more effective in the future. In Finland, discussions explore the scope of group actions and the possibilities to make them broader. However, those who are opposed to the group action system per se and its widening repeat the argument that the American way of litigation brings risks and does not fit well into Nordic legal culture. This argument was already common at the time the group action system was adopted in Sweden and in Finland as well. Does, in fact, this argument hold true? Or, can group actions actually correspond with East-Nordic culture? This contribution explores—and offers answers—to these questions.

The term “East-Nordic” refers to Sweden and Finland.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Lindblom (2008), p. 260.

  2. 2.

    Anna Wallerman Ghavanini, 2021, United we stand, divided we sue: collective access to court in Sweden, particularly for labour and social security claims. European Labour Law Journal, unpublished manuscript.

  3. 3.

    Ervo and Persson (2008).

  4. 4.

    https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10155371. Accessed 2 May 2020.

    The Finnish Consumer Ombudsman is considering filing a class action against two credit plans that feature unreasonable credit costs. The preliminary period to opt in ended on 22 November 2019 for the class action that the Ombudsman is considering bringing against two instant credit companies. In total, over 1500 consumers have preliminarily opted in or requested that the Consumer Ombudsman assist them in the court proceedings. The next step will be for the Ombudsman to initiate negotiations with the opposing parties. The actual opt-in period will begin in 2020 if the class action progresses to the District Court. This would be the first group action in Finland. https://www.kkv.fi/en/current-issues/press-releases/2019/23.10.2019-finnish-consumer-ombudsman-intervenes-in-unreasonable-instant-credit-plan-costs/ and https://www.kkv.fi/en/current-issues/press-releases/2019/26.11.2019-class-actions-on-instant-credit-move-forward/. Accessed 1 May 2020.

  5. 5.

    https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-8205579, https://www.ts.fi/tstv/1074810990/Miksi+Suomessa+ei+ole+nostettu+ryhmakanteita and https://www.kaleva.fi/mielipide/paakirjoitukset/merkittava-ennakkotapaus-oikeuden-ratkaisu-ryhmakanteesta-olisi-hyva-saada/828998/. Accessed 2 May 2020.

  6. 6.

    https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2008/11/13/ryhmakanne-jai-suutariksi. Accessed 2 May 2020.

  7. 7.

    Justitiedepartementet (2008).

  8. 8.

    https://kauppakamari.fi/2018/04/13/eun-ajama-amerikkalaistyylinen-ryhmakanne-ei-sovi-suomeen/. Accessed 2 May 2020.

  9. 9.

    See Ervo (2015), p. 138.

  10. 10.

    Autio (2014), pp. 32–34.

  11. 11.

    Ervo (2015).

  12. 12.

    Hirschfeldt (2011), pp. 5–6 and Wilhelmsson (2003), p. 85.

  13. 13.

    Ervo (2015), p. 145.

  14. 14.

    See Syrjänen (2012), pp. 335–388.

  15. 15.

    Siltala (2003), p. 294.

  16. 16.

    Hautamäki (2003), p. 172.

  17. 17.

    Tuori (2000), p. 1051.

  18. 18.

    Bertilsson (2010), pp. 29–31.

  19. 19.

    Fura-Sandström (2004), pp. 264–265.

  20. 20.

    See, for instance, Tuori (2000), pp. 1049–1050.

  21. 21.

    Kekkonen (1998), p. 936 and Saarnilehto (2003), p. 74. In the latter source it is said that those problems were solved between 1917 and 1995.

  22. 22.

    Sallila (2011), p. 466.

  23. 23.

    www.formin.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=81004&nodeid=35435&contentlan=2&culture=en-US. Accessed 2 May 2020.

  24. 24.

    Lando (2011), pp. 10–11.

  25. 25.

    https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/statistik-efter-amne/befolkning/befolkningenssammansattning/befolkningsstatistik/. Accessed 20 Feb 2020.

  26. 26.

    https://www.tilastokeskus.fi/tup/maahanmuutto/maahanmuuttajat-vaestossa/ulkomailla-syntyneet.html. Accessed 20 Feb 2020.

  27. 27.

    https://www.domstol.se/globalassets/filer/gemensamt-innehall/styrning-och-riktlinjer/strategier-och-riktlinjer/bemotandestrategi-for-sveriges-domstolar.pdf. Accessed 2 May 2020. Also, Ökat förtroende för domstolarna – strategier och förslag – Betänkande av Förtroendeutredningen Stockholm 2008, SOU 2008:106, p. 62.

  28. 28.

    Torstensson (2010), pp. 95–100.

  29. 29.

    Folkhemmet is a political concept that played an important role in the history of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish welfare state. The core of the “Folkhem” vision is that the entire society ought to be like a small family where everybody contributes. See more about the concept, for example, in Dahlqvist (2002), pp. 445–465.

  30. 30.

    Bertilsson (2010), p. 28.

  31. 31.

    https://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000006493608.html. Accessed 2 May 2020.

  32. 32.

    Ervo (1996), p. 15.

  33. 33.

    As Tuulikki Mikkola has written, it is impossible to import the domestic morality together with the transplants from country to country, which means that the moral concepts will obtain different contents whenever transplanted. Mikkola (2010), p. 830.

  34. 34.

    Wilhelmsson (2003), p. 87.

  35. 35.

    Autio (2014), pp. 32–34; Ervo and Persson (2015), pp. 461–463.

  36. 36.

    See Bernitz (2007), pp. 17–23.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., at pp. 15–16.

  38. 38.

    Ibid.

  39. 39.

    Bernitz (2018), p. 387.

  40. 40.

    Ibid.

  41. 41.

    Ibid., at p. 386.

  42. 42.

    Ibid.

  43. 43.

    Ibid., at p. 385.

  44. 44.

    Hänninen (2009), pp. 1063–1064.

  45. 45.

    Pihlajamäki (2004), p. 474.

  46. 46.

    Sreeparvathy G. Scandinavian Realists (May 2, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1829163 or https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1829163.

  47. 47.

    Pihlajamäki (2004), pp. 472–474 and Sreeparvathy (2011), pp. 15–16.

  48. 48.

    Pihlajamäki (2004), p. 471 and Sreeparvathy (2011), pp. 13–14.

  49. 49.

    Pihlajamäki (2004), p. 474.

  50. 50.

    Ibid., at p. 471 and Sreeparvathy (2011), pp. 13–14.

  51. 51.

    Pihlajamäki (2004), p. 471 and Sreeparvathy (2011), pp. 13–14.

  52. 52.

    Ross (2013), p. 466 and Strang (2009), p. 74.

  53. 53.

    Strang (2009), p. 62.

  54. 54.

    Olivecrona (1971), p. 67.

  55. 55.

    Helin (2009), pp. 69–70.

  56. 56.

    Tuori (2000), p. 1004.

  57. 57.

    Helin (2009), pp. 71–72.

  58. 58.

    Malminen (2010), p. 321.

  59. 59.

    Ibid., at p. 323. See also Hänninen (2009), pp. 1063–1064.

  60. 60.

    Malminen (2010), p. 321 and Pihlajamäki (2004), p. 473.

  61. 61.

    Pihlajamäki (2004), p. 478.

  62. 62.

    Ibid., at p. 484.

  63. 63.

    Ibid., at p. 486.

  64. 64.

    Ibid., at p. 487.

  65. 65.

    Kulla (1999), p. 3.

  66. 66.

    Ibid.

  67. 67.

    Pihlajamäki (2004), p. 480.

  68. 68.

    Ervo (2015), p. 145.

  69. 69.

    Ervo (2020), pp. 58–63.

  70. 70.

    Malminen (2010), p. 319.

  71. 71.

    Of course, there are also other reasons why group actions are not used more.

  72. 72.

    https://www.ym.fi/fi-fi/ymparisto/kestava_kehitys/mita_on_kestava_kehitys. Accessed 4 May 2020.

  73. 73.

    Linna (2018), p. 658.

  74. 74.

    Ervo (2020), pp. 75–76.

  75. 75.

    Linna (2020).

  76. 76.

    De Savornin Lohman (2011), pp. 3–4.

  77. 77.

    https://um.fi/agenda-2030-sustainable-development-goals. Accessed 5 May 2020.

  78. 78.

    https://www.ykliitto.fi/yk-teemat/kestava-kehitys/kestavan-kehityksen-tavoitteet. Accessed 5 May 2020.

  79. 79.

    https://www.regeringen.se/regeringens-politik/globala-malen-och-agenda-2030/agenda-2030-for-hallbar-utveckling/. Accessed 5 May 2020.

  80. 80.

    Linna (2018), p. 656. See also Stumpf et al. (2015), pp. 7439–7450.

  81. 81.

    De Savornin Lohman (2011), p. 5.

  82. 82.

    Ibid.

  83. 83.

    https://tieteentermipankki.fi/wiki/Oikeustiede:skandinaavinen_realismi. Accessed 5 May 2020.

  84. 84.

    See Lindblom (1989).

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  1. Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden

    Laura Ervo

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  1. Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

    Alan Uzelac

  2. KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Stefaan Voet

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Ervo, L. (2021). Group Actions in East-Nordic Legal Culture. In: Uzelac, A., Voet, S. (eds) Class Actions in Europe. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 89. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73036-9_8

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