Hong Kong’s Law Reform Commission (LRC – the ‘Commission’) has proposed changes to the territory’s civil litigation framework to allow class actions in some areas. Published at the end of May, it comes in the wake of a number of reported cases of fraud and accounting failures at well-known institutions, as well as significant losses sustained by investors after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and moves by the securities regulator to impose civil and criminal liability on sponsors of an IPO listing.
Although the proposal to introduce class actions covers only product liability and consumer fraud cases, it indicates a number of other areas of law for which class actions would be suitable including insurance, real estate, employment and securities. According to an LRC press release, the Commission ‘believes that the introduction of a comprehensive regime for class action would enhance access to justice and would provide an efficient, well-defined and workable mechanism’.
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