Workshop on Legal Standing of Organisations

There are across the EU a large number of legal mechanisms allowing organisations to bring discrimination claims, which is positive. Definitions on the possibility to engage in support of or on behalf of, as prescribed by the directives, were discussed. The workshop pointed at the existence of mechanisms going beyond what is required in the directives in some Member States, such as action popularis and collective redress including class action or the possibility to join different law claims, although those mechanisms are uneven as great variation in terms of procedures, grounds, remedies, etc., exist. Another aspect addressed concerned the regulation of those mechanisms and how to reflect on the implementation of means of collective redress, in particular for class action. Issues on possibilities for opt-in or opt-out mechanisms in case of class action and on which organisations should be entitled to bring such claims were discussed. Another key point related to the minimum size of the group represented. Finally, the workshop stressed the problems of implementation stemming from a lack of awareness and high costs.

Discussion paper (PDF 62 kB)
Handout presentations (PDF 190 kB)
Audio recording summary workshop proceedings (mp3 4 min.)
Powerpoint presentation Ms. Margarita Ilieva (PDF 165 kB)