Collective redress is a term used in the European Union to describe a variety of
judicial mechanisms for resolving mass disputes, i.e. disputes in which numerous
claimants bring a single action or procedure.1 Although actual collective redress
mechanisms have existed since the 1960s2 in the US, it was not until the late 1990s
that these mechanisms really started to evolve in Europe.3 At first, most mass
disputes seemed to be confined within national borders, resulting in the resolution
of mass disputes on a national level. However, the global increase in cross-border
trade and financial transactions—further fuelled within Europe by the formation of
both the European Union and the European Economic and Monetary Union, as well
as the use of modern telecommunications technologies such as the internet