New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Opt‑in vs opt‑out

Legal area

Court

17 Nov 2020

SOUTHERN RESPONSE EARTHQUAKE SERVICES LIMITED v ROSS [2020] NZSC 126 [17 November 2020]

Citation

[2020] NZSC 126
Court

Supreme Court

Rule 4.24 provides a sufficient basis for the High Court to direct representative proceedings on an opt-out basis; courts should exercise that discretion case-by-case to advance the objectives of r 4.24 and r 1.2 (access to justice, efficiency and deterrence); the absence of comprehensive statutory class action legislation does not preclude making opt-out orders; courts must supervise notice, settlement and discontinuance (court approval of settlement/discontinuance should generally be a condition of leave) and may manage litigation funding and other risks by case management measures; on the…
16 Mar 2020

SOUTHERN RESPONSE EARTHQUAKE SERVICES LIMITED v ROSS [2020] NZSC 20

Citation

[2010] 2 NZLR 492
Court

Supreme Court

Leave to intervene was granted because LPF could assist the Court on novel issues about litigation funding and access to justice and any prejudice from the late application could be mitigated by strict conditions (limited written submissions, brief oral submissions subject to the Court's discretion, and allowing respondents further written submissions); no costs were ordered against the intervener.