Revolidis on Collective Redress in Environmental Matters

Ioannis Revolidis, Lecturer at the L-Università ta’ Malta (UM), has published an article titled Collective Redress in Environmental Matters – A Private International Law Perspective Through the Lens of the Dieselgate Scandal, which can be downloaded here.

The Dieselgate emissions scandal, which surfaced in 2015, implicated several European car manufacturers found to have installed software in diesel vehicles that manipulated emissions tests. In addition to provoking significant public discourse, the scandal has triggered multiple ongoing litigation actions that have tested the limits of existing EU legal frameworks concerning product safety and certification, consumer protection, and private international law. In the latter case, the collective nature of legal recourse sought by consumers highlighted certain limitations in the existing rules of international jurisdiction and the coordination of parallel proceedings, particularly when multiple representative organisations or both organisations and individual consumers seek redress for the same violation.

This paper explores the challenges and complexities of collective environmental redress from a private international law perspective, with a particular focus on the Dieselgate scandal. Through an analysis of the Brussels Ia Regulation and the Representative Actions Directive, it examines issues of international jurisdiction and the coordination of parallel proceedings in transnational environmental litigation. Drawing upon the ongoing Dieselgate litigation saga before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), this paper provides insights into the legal and practical hurdles encountered by representative organisations in navigating cross-border environmental disputes. By elucidating jurisprudential developments and practical implications stemming from Dieselgate, this study offers a nuanced understanding of collective redress mechanisms in the context of environmental and private international law.