The Consumer Council welcomes the proposal put forward by the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong ("LRC") to introduce a regime for class action and the Council concurs with the Report on Class Actions that the regime should be implemented incrementally, starting with consumer cases.
The proposal if implemented would result in a significant improvement of consumer protection. Class action would be an economical, expedient and efficient approach in resolving disputes affecting consumers en masse.
The Council also shares the LRC Report that "if a suitable funding model for plaintiffs of limited means could not be found, little could be achieved by a class action regime".
The Council is pleased that its experiences and efforts in administering the Consumer Legal Action Fund as a trustee are recognized, and that the Fund is recommended to be the funding mechanism for consumer class actions before the class action regime is extended to other types of cases. It will be a pragmatic and expedient approach in leading to the establishment of a general class action fund to finance eligible class action plaintiffs.
- 2012.05.28