Class Actions To Protect Collective Interests Of Consumers In Slovakia

• Published date: 18 July 2023
• Subject Matter: Consumer Protection, Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Class Actions, Dodd-Frank, Consumer Protection Act
• Law Firm: Kinstellar
• Author: Mr Luk' Mr'zik and Michal Hru'ovsk'

The new Act on Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers and on Amendments and Additions to Certain Acts (the "Act") was adopted by the Slovak Parliament on 21 June 2023 and will enter into force on 25 July 2023, with the exception of some special and temporary provisions, which enter into force on the date of the Act's publication in the Collection of Legislative Acts. The Act, which transposes the Representative Actions Directive (EU) 2020/1828, introduces a new legal proceeding'class actions'into Slovak legislation.

The most significant elements of the new Act include:

• The introduction of two types of actions / proceedings available under the Act
  • a proceeding for the issue of a redress measure'an action for the protection of the collective interests of consumers, in which the court may impose one or more remedies on the trader, such as damage compensation repair, replacement, price reduction, contract termination or reimbursement of the price paid); and
  • an abstract review proceeding in consumer matters'an action for the protection of the collective interests of consumers in which the court examines the unfairness of a contractual term, unfair commercial practice, and other breaches of the provisions of consumer protection legislation.
• The introduction of the criteria to designate a local qualified entity, i.e., an authorised entity that represents the interests of consumers and which is entered in the list of qualified entities. Such legal persons will be entitled to bring domestic or/and cross-border actions to protect consumers' collective interests. The list of qualified entities will be maintained by the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, and more detailed criteria for inclusion in this list are defined in the Act.
• The introduction of an opt-in mechanism'by means of an application form submitted to any notary, until the end of the examination of evidencing at the court of first instance.
• The introduction of a mandatory consultation before filing an action for an abstract review proceeding with the trader concerned in order to get the trader to desist from infringing the legislation.
• Specific rules on evidence:
  
  • the introduction of the legal fiction that a decision of a court/administrative authority of any Member State on the existence of an infringement of the...