SLOVENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Bojan Brežan, Marko Frantar, Maks David Osojnik and Špela Lovšin, Schoenherr Slovenia
2. Legal Framework 2.1 Collective Redress and Class Action Legislation The Collective Actions Act was enacted in September 2017 and entered into force in April 2018. An amend- ment to the Collective Actions Act (ZKolT-A) was enacted in December 2023 and entered into force in January 2024. In addition, provisions of the Civil Pro- cedure Act apply for all procedural matters that are not explicitly regulated by the Collective Actions Act. 2.2 Scope of Areas of Law to Which the Legislation Applies The Collective Actions Act provides for collective settlements and collective actions in areas of the law where mass damages are most common, namely: • consumer protection claims against businesses for violations of consumer rights; • competition claims relating to restrictive agree- ments and abuse of a dominant position; • claims regarding violations of rules on trading in organised markets and prohibited actions of market abuse (as determined under the Market in Financial Instruments Act); • claims by employees whose rights would otherwise have to be enforced through individual lawsuits in the so-called individual labour disputes; • claims regarding liability in relation to environmen- tal incidents; and • claims for protection against discrimination. 2.3 Definition of Collective Redress/Class Actions In general, the Collective Actions Act recognises two basic types of collective redress: compensatory col- lective actions and injunction collective actions. A compensatory collective action is an action by which a qualified entity – for the benefit of all persons who have been harmed in a mass harm event (members of the class) – claims compensation for such harm, regardless of the legal qualification of the claim and without the members of the class being parties to the proceedings.
An injunctive collective action is an action by which the qualified entity demands the cessation of illegal conduct/activity. 3. Procedure for Bringing Collective Redress/Class Actions 3.1 Mechanisms for Bringing Collective Redress/Class Actions Collective actions (both compensatory and injunc- tive) may be brought before the district courts at the seat of higher courts (ie, Ljubljana, Maribor, Celje and Koper). As a rule, the tribunal is composed of a single sitting judge. A special regime is in place in case of employment-related collective actions, which may be brought before one of the four specialised labour courts that have exclusive jurisdiction over the employment-related disputes. There, the tribunal of first instance is composed of one professional judge and two lay judges. 3.2 Overview of Procedure Compensatory and injunctive collective action pro- ceedings are both divided into several different stages. The following stages for each type of collective action proceeding are discussed in chronological order. Pre-trial Stage (Injunctive Only) Prior to filing the injunctive collective action, the quali- fied entity (as defined in 3.3 Standing ) must notify the prospective defendant in writing about the intention to file the collective action if the defendant does not cease the alleged violations. This notification is a mandatory precondition for the filing of the injunctive action, as it cannot be filed earlier than 15 days after the prospective defendant receives the notification. Admissibility Stage (Injunctive and Compensatory) After the collective action is filed, it undergoes a pre- liminary court review. The court establishes whether the action: • contains all the necessary elements; • has been filed by an entity with legal standing under the applicable law; and • has been filed in relation to a dispute that falls under the scope of the Collective Actions Act (see
277 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook