Last year, the Czech Ministry of Justice published a draft Act on Class Actions (“Act”), which was created in the aftermath of European Commission’s proposal to enact a directive on representative actions. Although the European Commission’s proposal is aimed at boosting consumer protection in the European Union, the Czech draft Act goes one step further and aims to provide access to collective redress to a broader group of individuals. During the last few months, the draft Act was subject to an interdepartmental commenting procedure within the government as well as to the scrutiny of professionals in both public and private sectors. The Ministry of Justice received a considerable amount of criticism, which highlighted the possibility of the misuse of class actions for the purposes of competitive fights. As the legislative procedure continued, the Ministry reflected some of the concerns in the new draft Act, which is now being reviewed by the Government Legislative Council. The Ministry expects the draft Act to be presented in the current state to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic in October 2019.
