This is the first systematic comparative study into how consumer alternative dispute resolution (ADR) systems work, the differing national architectures within which they operate, and how they can be improved. It describes ADR schemes in France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK, as well as emerging pan-EU dispute resolution schemes. The use of techniques of mediation, conciliation, and adjudication are noted. The book also covers EU measures on consumer ADR, and the 2011 proposals for legislation on ADR and online dispute resolution. Data on...

This book examines the theories and practice of how to control corporate behavior through legal techniques. The principal theories examined are deterrence, economic rational acting, responsive regulation, and the findings of behavioral psychology. Leading examples of the various approaches are given in order to illustrate the models: private enforcement of law through litigation in the US, public enforcement of competition law by the European Commission, and the recent reform of policies on public enforcement of regulatory law in the UK. Noting that behavioral psychology has as yet had only...

In recent years collective litigation procedures have spread across the globe, accompanied by hot controversy and normative debate. Yet virtually nothing is known about how these procedures operate in practice. Based on extensive documentary and interview research, this volume presents the results of the first comparative investigation of class actions and group litigation 'in action', in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.