What is a collective action?
A collective action enables an interest group, such as a foundation, to bring legal action to protect the collective interests of a large group of people, such as consumers. A class action is more efficient and effective than bringing individual claims, as the individual claims are consolidated and dealt with in a single set of proceedings. This avoids the need for numerous individual proceedings.
What does the Consumer Justice Foundation do?
The Consumer Justice Foundation is committed to protecting consumers’ interest in the broad sense. The Foundation is currently involved in several proceedings. For example, it is pursuing a case against Apple for anti-competitive behaviour and abuse of a dominant market position, based on breaches of Dutch and European legislation. The Consumer Justice Foundation has also taken legal action against the ten largest energy suppliers over an unfair variation clause that the energy suppliers include in their variable-rate energy contracts. As a result, millions of households and small businesses have been and continue to be unfairly faced with excessively high energy bills. The Consumer Justice Foundation plans to pursue further cases in this and other areas of law in the near future.
How can the Consumer Justice Foundation help me?
The Consumer Justice Foundation aims to bring access to justice for Dutch citizens who have been wronged by deceptive, unfair and fraudulent business practices often used by large corporations. The Foundation aims to fulfil its mission by conducting legal proceedings against wrongdoers and thereby bringing justice to Dutch citizens.