The recent landmark judgment of the UK Supreme Court in Vedanta Resources PLC and another v Lungowe and others [2019] UKSC 20 (“Vedanta”) has confirmed that a lawsuit brought by 1,800 Zambian villagers can be heard in London despite arguments by Vedanta that the case should be tried by the Zambian courts. The decision undoubtedly paves the way for more environmental and human rights class-action style claims to be brought in the UK, specifically targeting large multinationals with global operations. Those who operate in high risk sectors, such as natural resources and steel, are particularly vulnerable.
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Class Actions
AML Class Actions and The Draft Litigation Rules
By Susan Ning, Liu Jia and Angie Ng
On 25 April 2011, the Supreme People’s Court (the Court) published draft rules which govern Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) private actions (Draft Rules)1. These Draft Rules are entitled "Provisions on Issues Concerning the Application of Law in relation to Trials of Monopoly Civil Dispute Cases". The Court will consult on these Draft Rules till 1 June 2011.
We note that these Draft Rules provide for applicants to file "joint" applications with others against respondents. This article outlines what the Draft Rules say about joint applications and outlines how this interacts with the joint application regime pursuant to China’s Civil Procedure Law.
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