Multi-Party Proceedings

Abstract

Abstract After discussion of consolidated proceedings, attention will turn to ‘Group Litigation’. The latter is the main form of English multi-party procedure. Group actions can involve large numbers of parties who accede to the main stem of litigation when pursuing claims or defences. Such co-ordinated actions are intended to act as a surrogate for a mature system of ‘class actions’. Group actions differ from class actions because the group litigant is a member of a procedural class as a party rather than as a represented non-party.