Group Litigation Comparative Study

Along with the economical development, the disputes of infringing multitudinous people's civil rights and interests unceasingly increase because of the environmental pollution, the product quality, the false advertisement and so on. Facing these disputes, the traditional lawsuit system already was unable to solve. In order to solve the benefit conflicts between multitudinous litigants and the other side at the same time and achieve the goal of the lawsuit economy, the various countries have established different community lawsuit systems. They mainly include American class lawsuit, Germany's association lawsuit, Japan's designated litigant lawsuit and our country's representative lawsuit.As one kind of lawsuit system, community lawsuit has some common characteristics: Firstly, a side or the bilateral litigants are multitudinous, which is the most typical characteristic of community lawsuit system. Secondly, multitudinous litigants of the same side have the common interests. Once more, right realization of the members who do not participate in the lawsuit is indirect. Finally, the effect of the decision has certain expansion, which is for solving the disputes together.The values and the functions of community lawsuit should include the following aspects: Firstly, community lawsuit pursues the idea and function of public interests. Secondly, community lawsuit is advantageous to lawsuit economy and benefit. Thirdly, community lawsuit is advantageous to safeguarding lawsuit right of vulnerable group's litigant equally. Fourth, community lawsuit has the obvious social efficiency.The modern various countries' community lawsuit systems have the common ground, but have some differences .Also the various countries' civil actions affect and supply mutually. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze and compare different community lawsuit pattern of foreign countries and draw lessons from their success experience in order to perfect our country's representative lawsuit system. American class lawsuit refers to the lawsuit that one or several representatives mention for the group members' common benefit. The decision of the court has the binding force not only to the direct participant in the lawsuit, but also to the group members who has not participated in the lawsuit, even to the members who was not expected . It has the incomparable superiority in protecting the victims' rights and solving community...