By 8 votes against 5, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of States decided not to enter into the project of the Federal Council on collective actions. It considers that the law in force already offers enough possibilities for the collective exercise of rights and warns against considerable risks for the economic place as well as against the high costs generated by foreign actors specialized in collective actions.
Risk of an avalanche of shares
The risk was to see the emergence of a new type of actions, aggressive and likely to cause avalanches of actions which would have weighed mainly on companies, but also ultimately on consumers. The experiences made in other countries – in Europe in particular – show that collective actions regularly benefit not the injured people, but the lawyers and those who finance trials.
Full lights on alternatives
The Swiss legal system already has instruments that work, such as the action of organizations and dispute settlement procedures. Postulate 25.3954 The Swiss legal system already has instruments that work, such as the action of organizations and dispute settlement procedures. The Postulate 25.3954 Now charges the Federal Council to examine whether and how existing conciliation and mediation procedures can be reinforced in order to offer an effective and practicable alternative to collective actions.
A decision that the Council of States must confirm
The project relating to collective actions will pass before the Council of States during the fall session. If the latter follows the recommendation of its committee, the introduction of collective action in Switzerland will no longer be topical-and will be replaced by procedures oriented towards solutions and proven.