CZECH REPUBLIC Law and Practice Contributed by: Robert Němec, Michal Sylla, Viktor Glatz and Adéla Šmahelová, PRK Partners
bers to make oral statements during a hearing prede- termined by the court. Other registered group members’ rights include the right to be informed about the course of the proceed- ings, to comment on the filing of an appeal and to contest certain procedural steps, such as a settlement proposal or withdrawal of the collective action. Registered group members have a limited ability to withdraw their registration to the collective action proceedings. The aim is to prevent registered group members from withdrawing from proceedings for tac- tical reasons – ie, based on how the proceedings are progressing, and possibly suing the defendant indi- vidually. 3.5 Joinder Joinder under the Collective Proceedings Act Pending collective action proceedings do not consti- tute a lis pendens obstacle, which means other claim- ants are not prevented from filing a parallel collective action against the same defendant regarding the same matter. Similarly, a group member who does not opt in will be able to initiate individual proceedings against the same defendant as well. In the event that a group member has already initiated individual proceedings before the collective action proceedings were ini- tiated, and then decided to opt in to the collective action proceedings, the individual proceedings will be suspended for the duration of the collective action proceedings. The further course of the individual pro- ceedings depends on the outcome of the collective action proceedings. Should the collective action pro- ceedings be decided on the merits or the collective action be settled, the court will terminate the individual proceedings; should the collective action be rejected or the collective action proceedings terminated, the court will continue the individual proceedings. If multiple collective action proceedings are conduct- ed against the same defendant, the court may poten- tially consolidate the proceedings. The collective action may also be brought against multiple defendants. Additional defendants may join
the collective action proceedings if granted by the court of first instance upon the claimant’s request. Limitation periods pertaining to claims of individual group members shall be suspended upon their regis- tration in the collective action proceedings, with retro- active effect from the date when the collective action was filed. This offers a safeguard to those registered group members whose limitation periods might have expired between the collective action’s filing date and their own registration date. If a registered group mem- ber withdraws their registration in accordance with the conditions set out in the Collective Proceedings Act, or is excluded from the list of group members and the proceedings by the court, the limitation period concerning their claim will not expire earlier than six months from the withdrawal or from the date when the relevant court decision became final. The same applies in relation to claims of all registered group members in the event that the proceedings are ter- minated or the collective action is rejected without a decision on the merits. Joinder under the Ancillary Act Initiating proceedings for the protection of consumers’ collective interests represents a lis pendens obstacle in relation to any collective action or individual pro- ceedings concerning the same claims initiated later. As a result, the judgment will be binding on all con- sumers concerned except for those who filed indi- vidual claims earlier or opted in to collective action proceedings that were initiated earlier. Additional claimants and defendants may only join proceedings upon the request of the original claimant; this may be granted or rejected by the court depend- ing on the circumstances of the case. During the proceedings, the limitation period is sus- pended in relation to consumers’ rights arising from the unlawful conduct or situation. Should the limitation period continue to run after the proceedings are termi- nated, it does not expire earlier than six months from the day it started running again. This effectively means that claimants can wait for the outcome of a repre- sentative action seeking to determine an infringement of a legal obligation before filing a collective action under the Collective Proceedings Act seeking redress
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