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européenne et de la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983, 
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concerning the opening to the public of the historical archives of the European Econom ic 
Communit y and the European Atom ic Energy Communit y (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as 
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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(84) 692 final  
Brussels, 12 December 1984
Memorandum from the Commisssion  
Discussion paper: CONSUMER REDRESS
COM(84) 492 final

This paper outlines the problems faced by consumers  
seeking redress. It describes the situation at  
Member State and Community level, suggests possible  
lines of action for future work in this field, and  
invites comments from interested parties on the
issues it raises.

I
CONSUMER REDRESS  
I INTRODUCTION
The European Community was established for the benefit of its citizens.  
The preamble of the EEC Treaty expresses this idea in describing the  
constant improvement of living and working conditions as an essential  
objective. One aspect of the Community's concern for its citizens is its  
interest in access to justice, in particular the right to obtain a just  
and fair settlement of disputes arising out of ordinary consumer trans­
actions.
The EEC is based on the concept of a common market, a market without  
barriers or obstacles to trade. In an undivided market trade spreads  
across national frontiers which previously acted as natural barriers. This  
should be to the advantage of the consumer. However, it could act to his  
disadvantage if, having acquired goods or services from a foreign firm, he  
were to find that the contract was subject to the law of another EEC Member  
State, or even that the courts of another Member State had jurisdiction.
That possibility has been taken into account by the two conventions which  
have been agreed between the Member States: the Judgements Convention (1)  
and the Convention on Contractual Obligations (2) respectively. They adopt  
common rules on jurisdiction, enforcement of judgements and conflict of  
laws. Very briefly, the parties may choose by agreement where a case may  
be heard and which taw shall apply. If they do not choose, then common  
rules are laid down in the conventions. Special regard is paid to the  
position of the consumer - if his contract is with a firm which:
- offers to do business or advertises in the consumer's country of  
habitual residence; or
- receives the consumer's order in his country, directly or through  
an agent; or
- arranges for the consumer to visit another country to make a purchase;
then the consumer can decide where the case is to be heard and the taw  
which shall apply.
m f  m
(1) Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and enforcement of  
judgments in civil and commercial matters, as amended by the Convention  
of 9 October 1978 - OJ L 304, 30.10.1978, p.77.
(2) Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations -  
OJ L 266, 9.10.1980, p.1.

II
It is settled this way because it would clearly be unjust for a  
consumer to find himself forced to bring or defend proceedings in a foreign  
country, subject to laws which may deprive him of his rights under the law  
of his habitual residence, in these circumstances.
The great majority of cases in which consumers seek a remedy at law do 
not, however, involve transactions to which the Conventions apply: and yet  
it is clear that the conditions on which redress may be obtained in such  
cases vary considerably from one Community Member State to another. For  
this reason, the Second Consumer Action Programme, adopted by the Council  
of Ministers on 19 May 1981 (1), included, Like its predecessor, the right  
of redress among the five consumer rights on which it is based. Under the  
heading "Advice, Help and Redress", the Programme includes the following  
principles:
"consumers should receive advice and help in respect of complaints  
and of injury or damage resulting from purchase or use of  
defective goods or unsatisfactory services"
"consumers are also entitled to proper redress for such injury or  
damage by means of swift, effective and inexpensive procedures" (2)
These principles form an integral part of the programme, closely  
related to the section on the economic interests of consumers. If the  
position of consumers is to be improved as a result of EEC directives  
(such as those concerning misleading advertising and those  
proposed by the Commission regarding product liability and consumer  
credit (3), then it is important that rights deriving from those directives  
should be capable of being exercised or defended.
This paper outlines briefly the problems faced by consumers seeking  
redress and suggests possible lines of action at Community level. Four  
annexes, which form the greater part of the paper, describe the current  
situation in the Member States under the headings:
(1) Council Resolution of 19 May 1981 on a second programme of the European  
Economic Community for a consumer protection and information policy;
OJ C 133, 3.6.1981, p.1
(2) Idem, p.9.
(3) Misleading Advertising: Directive of 1D.09.1984, OJ L 250, 19.09.1984  
Consumer Credit: OJ C 80, 17.03.1979
Product Liability: 0J C 241, 14.10.1976.

I l l
- simplified judicial proceedings;
- defence at law of collective interests;
- conciliation and arbitration;
- consultation centres.
As far as possible, the annexes describe the situation as of 31.12.1982.
11 THE PROBLEM STATED
In general, there are a number of obstacles in the way of consumers  
seeking redress before the courts of justice. First and foremost is the  
cost of legal advice and representation, which may exceed the amount in  
issue, together with the ever-present threat in some countries that the  
losing party in legal proceedings may have to pay the costs of the other  
side. The proceedings may be slow; a case may take a long time to be  
reached in the court's list of cases for hearing; it may be adjourned and  
require several court attendances by the consumer during working hours.
Quite apart from these material factors there are also psychological  
barriers to be overcome. Consumers may be overawed or intimidated by the  
atmosphere of the courthouse or the courtroom, by the formality of the  
proceedings and of legal language and even by judges' and advocates' robes.
Sometimes legal proceedings are not ideally suited to the protection of  
consumers in so far as they are limited to individual redress.
For example, where misleading advertising affects a large number of  
people, a collective action may be more appropriate than proceedings brought  
by an individual. Some EEC Member States nave recognised this fact by  
allowing consumer associations to sue on behalf of consumers collectively  
to restrain abuses. Where the question is one of compensation rather than  
prevention, another possible solution is a class action for damages brought  
by one or more persons on behalf of a larger number. The class action is  
virtually unknown in the Community. There are some who have reservations  
about this approach. Experience in the USA has shown that it can give rise  
to undue pressure upon defendants, especially where class actions are

IV
pursued by Lawyers operating on a contingency fee (1).
Efforts have been made in some Member States, by simplifying court  
procedures for small claims, to overcome the obstacles which consumers face  
in seeking redress. The special County Court procedure in England and  
Wales, for example, is a considerable step in this direction. Northern  
Ireland also has improved County Court procedures, while in Scotland, which  
has its owr legal system, a pilot scheme aim ed at developing new procedures  
was in operation from 1979 until 1981. It was partially funded by the  
Community.
Other Member States have adopted alternative solutions. For example,  
Denmark has established a Consumer Complaints Board to deal with claims for  
compensation by consumers. The Board resolved disputes by a process of  
conciliation and arbitration. This approach exists, of course, in other  
Member States, often under private conciliation or arbitration schemes,  
although even private schemes may evolve in response to the intervention  
of a public authority. The codes of practice negotiated by the Office of  
Fair Trading with British trade associations generally cover the handling  
of complaints from dissatisfied consumers.
(1) i.e. paid by retaining a proportion of the damages recovered, as much  
as 30%-40% in some cases. This system is not accepted by lawyers  
practising in the Community.

V
The disadvantage of most oonoiliation and arbitration procedures is  
their voluntary nature. The parties must agree both to have their dispute  
resolved in this way, and to oomply with the deoision reaohed by the  
conciliation or arbitration body, for such procedures to be effective.
Adequate advice and information are prerequisites to the suooess of any  
scheme to provide redress for consumers. Unless a oonsumer knows that he or  
she hflf l  a right to redress or a defence to a olaim by a trader such schemes  
might as well not exist. This may well be one reason why efforts in the  
Member States to improve access to justice, using that expression in its  
widest sense to include extra-judicial procedures, have to some extent not  
met the suooess they have deserved. However, it is probably also true to  
some extent that consumers have not made full use of these procedures  
because they do not meet their needs. Finally, in some oases, laok of funds  
has led to the closure of a number of consumer advioe centres and arbitrsfcion  
schemes (1).
Ill THE COMMUNITY DIMENSION
During reoent years there has been widespread concern about the  
inadequacy of traditional legal systems to deal with minor claims.  
Individually, each case is of little importance. Colleotively, the fact that  
a large number of people are unable to exercise or defend their rights oan  
only give rise to discontent and a lack of respect for the law.
This realisation has led to a number of developments in whioh the  
European Community has played an important role.
•A
(DFUrther details of procedures to facilitate aooess to justice in thè  
Community are set out in thè Annex to this document.

VI
The Commission organised a colloqium on judicial and extra-judicial  
protection of consumers, which took place at Montpellier in 1975· It  
focussed attention on the problems faced by consumers in seeking justice  
and the various means by which attempts have been made to resolve disputes
fairly in the field of consumer protection <1 ).
\
Many of the subsequent initiatives found their roots in proposals
made at Montpellier; for example, there followed in 1977 a report in the
(2)  ,  .  .European Parliament by Mr Bregegereand a resolution calling for:
a) a regulation to improve, simplify and harmonise legal procedures  
applicable in consumer cases, including a right of action for  
consumer associations on behalf of their members;
b) a directive on the creation of conciliation and arbitration schemes.
The resolution on the Second Consumer Programme also calls for an  
improvement in consumer access to justice (3).
(4)
The Economic & Social Committee adopted in 1979 a report prepared by  
Mr Hilkens requesting the Commission to take aotion by:
a) improving the information and education of consumers;
b) encouraging the establishment of consumer advice centres, and of  
conciliation and arbitration schemes;
c) preparing a directive on small claims procedures;
d) proposing a directive giving consumer associations the right to bring  
general interest actions (that is to say,, to defend the interests of  
consumers collectively), even where no direot loss has been  
suffered.
•A
(1) The proceedings were published
(2) Doc. PE 47*778 fin.
(3) Doc. PE 65.917 fin.
(4) Doo. CES/93/79 fin.by the Commission in 1976.

VII
1980 saw the completion of the final volume in the major work on  
access to justioe prepared by Professor Capelletti of the European  
University Institute of Florence. It is an exhaustive treatment of this  
subject and a rich source of material for those working in this field(l).
There have also been important developments outside the framework of  
the Community. A resolution on legal aid and advice was adopted by  
the Council of Europe on 2 March 1978. It enunciates the prinoiple that it  
is the State's responsibility to see that legal advice is available to  
those who would otherwise not be able to afford it. On 14 May 1981 the  
Council of Europe adopted a resolution on access to justice, which states  
a series of principles, oovering such matters as the oost and length of  
proceedings (3).
These resolutions take the form of recommendations to Member States  
of the Council of Europe, whioh inolude all the EEC countries, and the  
Community participated in the preparatory work leading to their adoption.  
However, with regard to legal aid, special considerations arise in cases  
involving consumer issues, in which the cost of traditional legal pro­
cedures may often exceed the sum in dispute. It is, therefore, questionable 
whether legal aid should be available in these circumstances, or whether it  
is an unjustifiable allocation of funds, especially in the adverse economic  
climate currently prevailing. The reduced costs of simplified procedures  
could create a more favourable balance between the sum in issue and the  
expense of proceedings, and thus eliminate the need for legal aid.
(1) Access to Justice, general editor Prof. M Cappelletti, pubs. Giuffr^-Sijthoff.
(2) Resolution No. 78(8) of the Committee of Ministers.
(3)  Recommendation No. R(8l)7 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States  
on measures facilitating access to justice.

Vili
IV THE GHENT COLLOQUIUM
Most recently, in 1982 a second colloquium on consumer access to  
justice was organised for the Commission, this time in Ghent. Some sixty  
experts, including both academic and practising lawyers, drawn from all  
the Member States of the Community, discussed possible ways of making court  
procedures more accessible to consumers.
The value of the Ghent Colloquium is that it identified a great many of  
the issues involved in establishing new or improved procedures for  
securing consumer rights. The discussion ranged over such matters ass
- the nature of the proceedings;
- the structure of the court;
- the feasibility of limiting new procedures to consumer cases only;
- the conduct of the case;
- the form of the proceedings;
- the role of the judge;
- the representation of the parties;
- the right to an appeal;
- conciliation;
- access to the court.
Without attempting to analyse these various aspects comprehensively,  
the following summary gives some account of the questions which need to be  
answered by anybody who wishes to see an improvement in redress for  
consumers. In general, these questions refer to judicial proceedings, but  
it should be remembered that they are equally applicable to administrative  
proceedings.
1. The nature of the proceedings
Should these be judicial or administrative? If judicial, should a  
special court system be set up, or should new procedures be set up  
within existing courts?
The answer to these questions depend on a number of factors. Special  
new court systems to deal with consumer cases would be very expensive  
and present problems of funding (as would the setting up of new  
administrative tribunals). This suggests that it would be better to  
set up new, simplified procedures within existing courts. On the  
other hand, account should be taken of the psychological barriers

IX
which often discourage consumers from using traditional courts: whether  
simplified procedures alone would be sufficient to overcome these barriers  
in every case is very hard to predict.
2. The structure of the court
Should the judge be assisted by lay assessors?
This would have the advantage of considerably reducing costs, by dispensing  
to a great extent with the need for expert witnesses: assessors could be  
chosen who were themselves expert in the field in question. However, a  
court with lay assessors would probably have to be a centralised body (as  
it might prove extremely difficult, or much too expensive, to staff a  
large number of such courts with assessors). Such a court would, therefore,  
have to operate largely on the basis of written submissions, which might  
frustrate the aims of speed and simplicity, as well as causing problems for  
unrepresented parties. Experience shows that many people have difficulty  
in expressing themselves clearly in writing, even where court forms have  
been simplified - although this does help to some extent.
3. Limits to the court's competence
a) Should special simplified procedures be available only in consumer  
cases in the strict sense, or in all small claims cases?
It might prove very difficult to draw a precise line between  
consumer cases and other small claims. Moreover, there seems  
to be no justification for denying the benefits of simplified  
procedures to small claimants generally. However, it would almost  
certainly be appropriate to limit the jurisdiction of the court in  
some way: for example, by excluding claims for personal injuries  
and defamation, matrimonial causes and disputes over title to land.
b) Should these procesures be available to all categories of claimant?
Experience in the Member States shows that small claims procedures  
are often used by suppliers suing consumers. It

X
is sometimes suggested that, as these procedures are 
intended to benefit private claimants, suppliers should be  
either excluded from bringing actions under them, or  
discouraged by higher court fees than those payable by  
private claimants, otherwise improved procedures become no  
more than an improved form of debt collection. However, two 
of the arguments against excluding suppliers in this way ares  
first, excluding a particular category of claimant seems  
wrong in principle, as the courts should be open to all: and 
suppliers should not be denied the benefit of a simplified 
procedure for recovering lawful debts; secondly, if suppliers  
were to be excluded, they would simply bring actions against  
consumers using the standard procedures: effectively denying  
consumer defendants the benefit of the simplified  
procedure.
c) Should there be an upper limit to the amount for which claims  
might be brought under the special procedure?
By its very nature, a small claims procedure would probably  
require such a limit to be set. Even if the procedure were 
limited to consumer cases in the strict sense, such a limit  
would seem advisable: where large sums of money are at stake,  
parties are more likely to be prepared to incur  
considerable expense in defending their claim (or may indeed 
qualify for legal aid).
4.  The conduct of the case
a) Should procedural rules and language be simplified?
It is widely agreed that elaborate procedural rules discourage  
many intending litigants, especially small claimants who are  
not legally represented. Similarly, many legal terms are  
almost meaningless to many lay people. Some simplification  
would therefore seem desirable.
However, given that the underlying purpose of procedural rules  
is to ensure that the case is conducted fairly and to safe­
guard the rights of both parties, would simplification simply  
mean second class justice. Is second class justice better  
than none at all? Legal terms are used in traditional legal  
proceedings because they have a precise meaning, known to

XI
judges and lawyers, and it is clearly desirable that claims  
should be framed in unambiguous terms. It is hard, therefore,  
to see how the use of such terms could be completely excluded.
b) How far is it possible, or desirable, to speed up court  
procedures?
The answer to this question and the preceding one are closely  
connected. Some of the procedural delay in dealing with cases  
may be unavoidable: it is obviously essential, if the  
procedure is to be fair, that sufficient time should be  
allowed for the service of notice of the claim on the  
defendant and for the defendant to enter a defence or counter­
claim.
c) Should the procedure be oral or written, or a combination of  
the two?
An entirely oral procedure could well increase the duration  
of hearings and make the identification of the issues more  
difficult. An entirely written procedure would save the  
parties from the need to attend a hearing, for which they  
might have to take time off work. On the other hand, it  
would increase the difficulty for the court of choosing  
between conflicting claims. It therefore seems that a hybrid  
procedure would be best. The exact balance between the oral  
and written parts of the procedure would depend, for example,  
on whether the special court procedures were centralised or  
were available in a number of local courts. (See question 2  
above).
d) What role should the judge play?
A passive role is not necessarily appropriate to small claims  
procedures, especially if the parties are not legally  
represented. If simplified procedures are to be made  
available, it may be better for the judge to have an active,  
interventionist role in the conduct of the case.
e) Should lawyers be permitted to represent the parties?
As lawyers’  fees represent a major part of the cost of  
litigation, one way of limiting costs would be to discourage  
parties from being legally represented - for example, by  
providing that such fees were not a recoverable expense.
•A

XII
It would not seem desirable, however, to ban lawyers from  
representing claimants, as this would discriminate against  
consumers: many commercial firms, in their litigation with  
consumers, would continue to be represented by specialists  
who were lawyers in all but name.
f) Should decisions be subject to appeal or review by a superior  
court?
It might not be in the interests of justice to exclude  
completely the possibility of decisions being reviewed by a  
superior court - for example, where the court had made a  
mistake of law. However, the grounds on which a case might  
be reviewed should, in the interests of speed and economy,  
be kept to a minimum. The decision whether or not to allow  
a case to be reviewed should be taken by the superior court.
5. Conciliation
Should a special conciliation procedure be set up? Who should  
attempt conciliation, and at what stage during the proceedings?
A pre-trial conciliation procedure is justified if it allows time  
and money to be saved by allowing the parties to agree on a just  
solution to their dispute without bringing the case to trial.
If, however, the special procedure for trying small claims cases  
is informal, and the judge is given an active role, there seems  
no reason why attempts at conciliation should not simply be seen  
as a natural part of the procedure: indeed, one of the advantages  
of a preliminary hearing is that it shows whether conciliation is
possible.
6. Access to the court
In view of the fact that court hearings are normally held during  
working hours, so that most litigants need to take time off work  
to attend, and may suffer loss of earnings as a result, should  
special measures be taken, either to provide for hearings to be  
held in the evening or at weekends, or to compensate litigants  
for loss of earnings?
Evening or weekend hearings would probably solve the problem, but  
would add considerably to the court's running costs. Other  
possible solutions would be to require paid leave to attend court

XIII
hearings to be given to employees, a course hardly likely to appeal to  
employers, or to allow loss of earnings as a recoverable expense to  
the winning party.
7. Collective action
Should some provisions be made for the bringing of representative or  
class actions by, for example, consumer organisations? (This question  
was not examined at Ghent but has been included here because of its  
clear importance in any discussion on future developments in consumer  
redress).
Class actions allow a defendant to be sued by an individual, group of  
individuals or organisation acting in the name of a class of persons  
who have been injured by the defendant's behaviour. They are therefore  
particularly appropriate as a means of providing redress in cases where  
a large number of individuals has suffered loss as the result of a  
single event, or a series of identical events, but where the amount of  
loss suffered by each member of the class is too small to justify his  
bringing an individual action. For example, if a tour operator  
unilaterally and in breach of contract with his customers ended a  
package tour one day early, the amount of damages recoverable by each  
customer might be very small. However, the loss suffered by the class  
as a whole would be considerable. The traditional system of individual  
action is of little use in such cases, as very few people are prepared  
to go to law to defend their rights unless the damages significantly  
outweigh the expenses incurred in recovering them. This clearly leads  
to injustice. A system of class actions would make it worthwhile to  
bring actions in such cases by allowing costs to be spread: experience  
in the United States of America shows that class actions are  
economically feasible even where the amount claimed by individual  
members of the class is very small indeed (even as low s $10)· This is  
to some extent due to the system of contingency fees: indeed, it is  
open to question whether class actions are feasible in the absence of  
such a system.
Many other issues must also be examined, for example, if class actions  
were to be introduced, it would be necessary to lay down rules to  
permit the definition of membership of a class (so as to exclude  
very large, amorphous classes such as "all car users") and to simplify  
the assessment of damages in cases where the defendant's act gives rise  
to a large number of claims. It would also be necessary to deal with  
an objection of principle:

XIV
that it is undesirable, and a misuse of the court's proper function,  
to allow "windfall" compensation to people nqt. sufficiently motivated  
to bring an individual action. This objection could.be met by  
requiring claimants specifically to Hopt in" to the proceedings - whi  
would of course be feasible only if the class were so defined as to  
enable its members to be readily identified.
V POSSIBILITIES FOR ACTION
The preceding account shows that the role of the Community in the  
field of consumer access to justice could take a variety of forms. Both  
in the European Parliament and the Economic & Social Committee it has been  
proposed that the Community should introduce legislation requiring changes  
in the legal procedures of Member States. Experience shows that this could  
be a difficult and long-drawn out approach, unlikely to produce results  
during the Second programme.
A second possible line of action is for the Commission to address a  
recommendation to Member States. However, this approach is likely to lead  
to a repetition of the principles already enunciated by the Council of  
Europe. It would be undesirable for the Commission to go 
over the same ground with national experts. Even if it did so, it is  
unlikely that any different conclusions would be reached, bearing in mind  
that the Community participated in the meetings held by the Council of  
Europe to prepare their Recommendation. The Commission can well endorse  
the statement of principles which it contains.
Another possibility is for the Community to follow a pragmatic  
approach. Access to justice has been the subject of numerous discussions 
in a variety of settings. Many works have been written expounding theories  
on how to overcome the shortcomings which are generally agreed to exist.
The principles which facilitate access to justice have been identified. But  
the real problem remains how to put the principles and the theory into  
practice. It can only be done by experiment. Consequently, the Second  
Programme proposes that pilot projects should be encouraged nationally and  
locally, so that the efficacity of new procedures can be assessed in  
practice.
•A

XV
The proposals for these projects should he formulated to suit the  
circumstances of each country. There is no question of introducing a  
Community-wide small claims procedure. The principles of access to justice  
are international. The Council of Europe’s Recommendation shows that to be  
so. However, these principles are like seeds; planted in the soil of the  
Member States, the way in which they develop will be strongly influenced by  
the local soil and climate.
There are a variety of ways in which the Community can encourage  
activities designed to facilitate access to justice. Financial support,  
even if modest, is of primary importance. A number of worthwhile schemes  
have failed through lack of funds..·.Technical support may also be relevant.  
For example, expert advisers could be engaged to formulate proposals for  
new schemes, to devise the methodology for assessing their efficacity, or  
to examine the results they produce, where possible, by comparison with  
existing procedures.
As previously mentioned, the importance of information cannot be over­
estimated. Consumer organisations have a special part to play in this  
respect.
- The existence of new dispute resolution procedures must, in general,  
be publicised if consumers are to know and take advantage of them.
- The publication of a simple guide to the procedures available for  
the resolution of cases involving consumer issues could serve a  
useful purpose; understanding the procedures will diminish the  
apprehension of the consumer, may even enable him to handle his own  
case.
- Iiew computer-based information systems could provide easy access to  
a large volume of reference material in the field of consumer  
redress. Experimental systems arc beginning to emerge: the  
Community might well offer financial support for the development  
of such systems.
- An interchange of information on developments in the field of access  
to justice throughout the Community and beyond its frontiers could  
be of value to consumer and professional organisations, as well as  
to the governments of Member States. The Commission could act as a  
centre for the distribution of such information, or confide this  
activity to a university or an appropriate consumer or professional
·/·

XVI
body. The results of studies could be included, as could reports  
of cases concerning consumers, in so far as they shed light on the  
subject of access to justice.
In implementing the above proposals, the Commission could consult,  
d'ri a regular'basis, a group of expert jurists.
The measures outlined above should be considered as a whole.
Information md advice for consumers about their rights and the means  
whereby those rights may be exercised or defended are, or should be,  
complementary. The combined impact of these measures would have a wider  
effect than to bring about improvements for consumers, even though it is  
in the framework of consumer policy that they are proposed. Facilitating  
access to justice for consumers could also improve the counselling and  
handling of disputes over a wider range of cases.
The actions proposed would be of direct consequence to a large  
number of people, and constitute a worthwhile contribution to improving the  
quality of life in the Community.
VI SUMMARY
The purpose of this paper is both to provide information on the  
current position at Community and Member State level and to focus attention  
on the subject of redress in a way which will promote developments in this  
field of benefit to consumers.
The overall aim, in the Commission’s view, remains clear: to ensure  
that consumers throughout the Community enjoy a broadly similar standard  
of redress. The Commission sees greater merit, while not excluding the long 
term possibility of a binding legal solution, in concentrating for the time being  
on the promotion of appropriate action at national level in this field of  
redress. To this end it will continue to support pilot schemes, in order  
to learn how to solve the problems experienced in practice by claimants  
seeking redress and will, on the basis of information thus obtained,  
propose concrete solutions. These might take the form of: changes in the  
legal system itself; the setting up of administrative or extra-judicial  
procedures, or procedures for arbitration and conciliation; arrangements  
for improving consumer advice and information in this area; or a  
combination of all or any of these. /

XVII
In so doing, the Commission will cooperate, where appropriate, with  
national and local authorities and consumer and professional bodies and  
invites comments from interested parties on the issues raised in this paper  
with a view to preparing future work in the field of consumer access to  
justice at Community level.

ANNEX 1
SIMPLIFIED LEGAL PROCEDURES

1.01 Some years ago certain countries of the New World (Australia, Canada,  
USA) drew up simplified rules of civil procedure, all aimed at  
settling disputes in a minimum of time, without unnecessary formalities,  
and as cheaply as possible.
These changes in legal procedure were based on the idea that there  
are a number of disputes - such as disputes between consumers and  
traders - in which the amount at stake is too small or the question  
at issue too straightforward for the parties concerned (or one of  
them) to be expected to accept the expense, difficulties and time  
involved in a traditional lawsuit.
At present, simplified procedures exist in five Member States - the  
Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the  
United Kingdom.
1.02 There are in the FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY no special legal  
channels which are available only to consumers or which simplify  
access to the law and the courts specifically for consumers.
In principle, the rules of procedure regulate access to the courts  
and the enforcement of claims for all (natural and legal) persons,  
regardless of whether they are plaintiffs or defendants, or whether  
they are acting in their capacity as consumers.
Nevertheless, in the last twelve years numerous laws and individual  
provisions have been introduced
which are designed to provide special protection for "consumers".
It should, however, be stressed in this connection that there is no  
uniform definition of "consumer". Procedural law does not use this  
term. It often refers to other criteria such as "instalment sales"  
and "purchaser" (Section 6 a of the Gesetz betreffend, die Abzahlungs-  
geschafte-law on instalment sales ), "participant" (Section 26 of the  
Fe.rnunterri chtsschutzgesetz - Law on the protection of participants in  
home study courses ) or the court of the place where the defendant has  
his habitual place of residence (Section 29 a of the ZiviLprozessordnung  
- Code of Civil Procedure ). The aim of such provision is to protect the

-  2 -
party whose financial position is normally weaker (e.g. purchasers in  
the case of instalment sales, participants in home study courses,  
tenants, etc.)· Occasionally this aim is achieved by excluding the  
party whose financial position is normally stronger from the protec­
tion afforded by certain legal provisions (e.g. the registered  
trader in Section 8 of the law on instalment sales, the trader in the  
context of a contract connected with the operation of his business,  
in Section 24(1)(1) of the Gesetz zur Regelung des Rechts der  
Allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen_ law on general business conditions )  
or by permitting freedom of contract on certain matters only between  
parties normally in a financially strong position (as with the  
permissibility of agreements on the choice of court under Section 38  
of the Code of Civil Procedure).
Other provisions made it easier for parties whose financial position  
is weak to obtain access to the law and the courts by exempting them 
from the costs of a proposed prosecution or defence or requiring them  
to pay only a reduced amount in keeping with their financial situation  
(e.g. the provisions of the Gesetz über Rechtsberatung und Vertretung  
für Bürger mitgeringem Einkommen - Law on legal advice and.representation  
for persons with low incomes and of the Gesetz über die Prozess­
kostenhilfe -law on assistance with the cost of litigation. The  
legal provisions in these cases also make no reference to the term  
"consumer". They are geared more to the personal and financial  
circumstances of the parties in each case.
Finally, the legislative authorities have in recent years taken  
increasing account of the need to protect financially weak or  
inexperienced parties in certain aspects of procedure. This has  
found expression for example in greater obligations on the courts to  
inform, educate and assist parties and in rules which allow simpler  
and more rapid proceedings. Such rules, which primarily take account  
of the needs of financially weak or inexperienced parties, generally  
benefit other parties too.
1.03 The German Code of Civil Procedure contains various provisions on
simplified procedures which allow a claim to be enforced quickly and  
at relatively little cost. It must be emphasized once again,  
however, that these simplified procedures have not been created

- 3 -
especially for consumers but are generally open to all (natural and  
legal) persons.
1. The arbitration procedure previously in force (Schiedsurteilsverfahren)  
gave courts dealing with disputes over property claims the freedom
to determine their own procedure if the value of the item of property  
in dispute did not exceed 50 DM at the time the action was brought.
The provisions governing this procedure were repealed with effect  
from 1  July 1977 by the Gesetz zur Vereinfachung und Beschleunigung  
gerichtlicher Verfahren (Vereinfachungsnovelle)- Law on the  
simplification and acceleration of legal proceedings (Amending law)-  
of 3 December 1976 (BGBL (Official Gazette) I, page 3281).
However, the amending law introduced another provision which allows  
procedures to be simplified to a certain extent in the case of  
disputes concerning property of a relatively small value: under
Section 128(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure, the Court may, in the  
case of disputes concerning property claims, "order of its own motion  
that the matter be dealt with in writing, if representation by a  
lawyer is not required, if the value of the item of property in  
dispute does not exceed DM 500 at the time the action is brought and  
if one of the parties cannot reasonably be expected to appear before 
the court because of the distance involved or on other valid grounds".
2. Summary proceedings (Mahnverfahren)(Section 688 et seq. of the Code  
of Civil Procedure) above all permit a simplified, rapid and  
inexpensive enforcement of debts. This procedure provides holders  
of claims which are not expected to be contested with a simple and  
inexpensive means of obtaining an enforcement order and thus avoiding  
lengthy and costly judgment proceedings. In response to an ex parte  
claim by the applicant, the validity of which is not examined, the  
registrar (Rechtspfleger) of the district court (Amtsgericht) issues  
a so-called Mahnbescheid (order for payment) against which the debtor  
may, within a period of two weeks, raise an objection. If the debtor 
does not enter an objection within the time limit, a further  
application by the creditor leads to the issue of the so-called  
Vollstreckungsbescheid (order for execution) which is equivalent to

- 4 -
a default judgment declared fit for use as a temporary title for  
execution and against which the debtor can still raise an objection,  
once again within a period of two weeks. With his objection to the  
order for payment or the order for execution, the debtor can have  
the claim brought by the applicant examined by the court. Then only  
an application from one of the parties is needed for litigation to  
proceed. If litigation is commenced, then the summary proceedings  
were merely a special form of introduction.
The summary proceedings have considerable practical importance. In  
1980 around 4.6 million summary proceedings were brought. Only in  
11.6% of cases were they followed by litigation. The Code of Civil  
Procedure allows summary proceedings to be dealt with by computer.
In part of the Federal Republic of Germany the computer processing  
of such proceedings is to be introduced before the end of 1982.
Summary proceedings are open to all parties and consequently are  
also used to enforce claims against consumers. For this reason the  
amending law and supplementary regulations introduced a number of  
provisions providing special protection for the party against whom  
the application is brought, which is often the party whose financial  
position is the weaker.
For example, standard forms have been introduced to inform the debtor 
of his rights and the possible course the proceedings will take. His  
access to the court is made still easier by the fact that a form for  
entering an objection is attached to the order for payment. His  
need for protection is also taken into account by the fact that in the  
event of an objection the legal proceedings are automatically assigned  
to the court under whose jurisdiction he normally comes.
3. The Code of Civil Procedure also lays down rules for various other  
simplified procedures for the easy, rapid and inexpensive enforcement  
of claims in certain areas of substantive law. The following should  
be mentioned in this connection:
- the simplified procedure for review of maintenance claims (Sections  
641 1  et seq.  of the Code of Civil Procedure), which was introduced  
by the Gesetz zur vereinfachten Abänderung von Unterhaltsrenten - law  
on the simplified procedure for review of maintenance payments ~of

- 5 -
29 July 1976 (BGB1. I, page 2029) and allows maintenance payments for  
minors which have to be made on the basis of a judgment or other  
enforceable title to be adjusted more easily to changed economic  
circumstances (cf. also Section 1612 a of the Biirgerliches Gesetzbuch  
- Civil Code );
- the procedure for fixing regular maintenance (Section 642 et seq. of  
the Code of Civil Procedure),  which was introduced by the Gesetz über  
die rechtliche Stellung der nichtehelichen Kinder— law on the legal  
status of children born outside marriage-of 19 August 1969 (BGB1. I,  
page 1243) and allows a simplified procedure for fixing such a child's  
maintenance claim against his or her father if he has been ordered to  
pay regular maintenance.
Once again, these are not procedures intended to serve the specific  
interests of the "consumer" but simple, rapid and inexpensive  
procedures designed to enable the maintenance claims of minors or  
children born outside marriage to be adjusted more easily to changed  
economic circumstances.
1-04. Finally, mention should be made of the interim legal protection
procedures (restraint and interim injunction (Sections 916 et seq.  
of the Code of Civil Procedure)). These are summary proceedings to  
secure the creditor's claim. The point at issue in these proceedings  
is not the debt itself, but whether security for it should be  
ordered. Proceedings of this type are also to be found in other legal  
systems.
1.05 In FRANCE,  in addition to the quich, simple and inexpensive procedures  
of the courts of first instance (tribunaux d'instance) the "injunction  
to pay" procedure is of some i/vferesC to consumers.
This is essentially a written procedure created by a Law of 25 August  
1937, which applied solely to commercial debts of a limited amount,  
and was extended by a Law of 4 July 1957 to cover small civil debts  
(of less than FF 2 500 per month or less than FF 5 000). Since the  
Decree of 28 August 1972 this procedure has applied to any contractual  
debts irrespective of the amount.

-  6 -
*  The creditor must petition a judge of first instance (civil debt)  
or the president of the commercial court (commercial debt) in order to  
obtain authorization to notify the debtor of an injunction to pay.
A registered letter accompanied by the supporting documents is  
sufficient and it is not necessary to employ a lawyer.
If the judge considers that the petition is not justified, the  
creditor may not appeal against the decision rejecting it and must  
follow the traditional procedure.
Otherwise, the judge will issue an order of injunction and communicate  
it to the debtor at the same time as the petition. The debtor is  
informed by a bailiff of the decision given, and may, within a period  
of one month, file an objection to the order. In the absence of an  
objection, the order is made enforceable and has all the effects of  
a judgment given after full argument on both sides.
In order to file an objection, the debtor must send to the registrar  
of the court which issued the order a registered letter with  
acknowledgement of receipt. This objection gives him access to the  
court. The parties are convened simply by registered letter and must  
attend the hearing.
No appeal is allowable against the decision thus delivered by the  
judge if the amount of the debt exceeds FF 7 000.

- 7 -
1.06 In ITALY,  the judges of first instance - the conciliator and the
praetor - may follow rules of procedure which - at least in theory -  
are meant to provide quick, inexpensive settlement of minor disputes  
(up to Lit 50 000 for the conciliator and Lit 750 000 for the praetor).
The basic characteristics of these rules may be summarized in four  
points:
(i) The court consists of a single judge, who follows the case  
through from beginning to end.
(ii) The periods within which litigants must appear are shortened
(three days for a party residing within the jurisdiction of the  
court, half the normal period in other cases).
(iii) The judge may point out to the litigants omissions and
irregularities in their submissions and of his own motion order  
witnesses to appear where the litigants have made reference  
to people who seem to be acquainted with the facts of the case,
(iv) Lastly, the litigants may appear before the court in person,
without having to be represented by a lawyer (authorization has  
to be requested from the praetor but not from the conciliator).
1.07 The simplified procedure also covers two important types of procedure

-  8 -
often used by Italian judges: the injunction procedure and the
procedure provided for under Article 700 of the Code of Civil  
Procedure.
Under the first procedure, a person to whom a sum of money or a given  
quantity of fungible goods is cUte>, or who is entitled to the delivery  
of specific goods, may, if his right is evidenced in writing, ask  
either the praetor or the court (depending on the amount of money owed  
or the value of the goods of which delivery is sought) to issue against  
the debtor an order to pay the sum owed or against the person  
responsible for delivery an order to supply the goods in question. It  
is also possible to ask that the order be declared immediately  
enforceable and it is for the judge to decide whether or not the  
request should be granted.
The procedure provided for under Article 700 of the Code of Civil  
Procedure authorises any person who urgently needs court ruling,  
because his right is seriously and immediately threatened, to seek,  
usually from the praetor, an urgent measure of a provisional nature  
which will be applicable until such time as the praetor himself or the  
court (depending again on the amount at issue) has given a final  
ruling.
Neither the injunction procedure nor the procedure provided for under  
Article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure is, in itself, a procedure  
reserved for consumers.
1-Og On 29 November 1979, the Italian Government presented a draft law
amending the powers of the praetor and the conciliator. According to  
this draft, the former will have jurisdiction over disputes involving  
amounts not exceeding Lit 4 000 000, and the latter over disputes

- 9 -
involving amounts not exceeding Lit 1  000 000 (Lit 2 000 000 in the  
case of compensation for damage or injury caused by road accidents).
The Government also presented, on 27 May 1981, a complex draft law  
delegating powers with a view to drawing up the new Code of Civil  
Procedure, the main feature of which will be a simplification of every  
aspect of civil procedure.
1.09 In IRELAND,  claims up to the value of IRL 2 500 may be determined  
in the District Court, which sits in over 200 venues throughout the  
country for the hearing of such matters. There are two procedures  
available to aggrieved persons, one which can be used where the amount  
at issue is a fixed sum, and a somewhat less simple procedure where  
the amount recoverable is determined by the court.
Where the amount claimed is fixed, the aggrieved person (the plaintiff)  
makes out a "Summary Judgment Civil Process" specifying the amount  
claimed and details of the claim, affixes a stamp for court fees,  
serves a copy on the defendant,  and lodges the original in court.
If the defendant pays the claim and appropriate costs within 10 days  
of receiving the Civil Process, that is the end of the matter. If  
he serves notice of intention to defend within 10 days, the issue  
goes for hearing before the court. If notice of intention to defend is  
not served within the time limit, the defendant is held to have admitted  
the claim; the plaintiff lodges a sworn statement in the Court office  
in support of his claim with a request for judgment and a decree for  
the amount at issue is signed by the District Justice without the  
court hearing.

-  10  -
Where the claim is not for a fixed sum the plaintiff must use the  
ordinary civil process procedure. This is similar to the summary  
judgment procedure described above as regards service on the  
defendant - if the defendant pays the amount claimed and appropriate  
costs within 4 days of receiving the civil process, the matter is at  
an end. If the defendant does not give notice of intention to defend,  
a hearing is nonetheless required before the plaintiff can be awarded  
a decree. The defendant may, when giving notice of intention to  
defend, lodge in court a sum (generally less than the amount claimed)  
which he alleges is sufficient to satisfy the claim. The plaintiff  
may accept this at any time before the day of the hearing, in which  
case the matter is at an end; if he does not accept, and the court  
does not award him an amount greater than the amount lodged, he is  
liable for the defendant's costs incurred after the lodgement.
Hearings are held in open court before the District Justice. Each  
side may be represented and may call its own witnesses and examine  
the opponent's witnesses. Evidence is given on oath and the normal  
rules of evidence apply. The District Justice has power to award a  
decree or dismiss, with or without costs.
1.10 In the NETHERLANDS the courts of first instance may deal with disputes  
involving sums of FL 3 000 or less and it is not necessary to employ  
a lawyer; the parties may conduct their case in pers©i>. No appeal  
lies where the sum at issue is below FL 1  500.
Moreover, in the event of a claim for an amount not exceeding FL 1 500  
payable under a contract, the court can be asked to issue an order to  
pay (Article 125 k of the Code of Civil Procedure). The order is  
issued only if no objection is filed. The request is made directly  
to the court without the services of a bailiff. This "recovery  
procedure" is intended mainly for suppliers. However, if the party  
against whom the action has been brought (generally the consumer)  
objects, the case is immediately referred for an ordinary hearing.
Wherever an immediate court decision is sought, it is possible,  
whatever the amount involved, to submit an application for interim

-  1 1  -
measures to the President of the District Court (Article 289 of the  
Code of Civil Procedure). This procedure is of a highly informal  
nature, although the applicant must employ a lawyer. The President's  
decision is in theory only provisional, but in most cases it is in  
practice final.
None of the three procedures referred to above applies only to  
disputes involving consumers, nor were they introduced for that  
purpose. Consumers may, however, avail themselves of them should  
the need arise.
1.11 In the UNITED KINGDOM the situation in England and Wales should be  
distinguished from those in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In England and Wales a series of reforms initiated in 1972 and 1973  
enabled simplified procedures to be introduced. As early as 1976 a  
report by the National Consumers' Council entitled "Justice out of  
reach" drew attention to the fact that few cases were brought before  
the county courts by private individuals (9% of the actions) although  
this procedure was widely used by traders. In 1979 it published a  
report entitled "Simple justice" on small claims procedures, which  
concluded that such claims must still be dealt with by the county  
courts, but that the system was in need of reform. For the record,  
county courts have general jurisdiction in civil matters (with a few  
exceptions, such as actions for defamation) and are courts of first  
instance.
England and Wales are divided into 310 districts, each with a county  
court, grouped together into 18 circuits, each circuit having one or  
more judges.
Each county court has its administrative staff and its "registrar".
It is undoubtedly the registrar who plays a pivotal role in these  
reforms. He is a kind of assistant judge, appointed by the Lord  
Chancellor from solicitors with at least seven years experience and  
has always performed administrative and judicial tasks (interlocutory  
cases, collection of court fees). The judge may delegate his judicial  
powers to him when the defendant does not appear at the hearing or  
when the subject of the action is not contested. He may also give a

-  12  -
decision in a case, unless the parties concerned object, where the  
amount involved in the dispute does not exceed J?200, and in all cases  
where the parties concerned agree to his so doing. Where the registrar  
exercises judicial powers, an appeal may be brought against his  
decisions, first before the judge, then before the Court of Appeal.
Under the simplified procedure the plaintiff normally tries to  
achieve a compromise solution either directly or via Citizens' Advice  
Bureaux and Consumer Advice Centres.
Independently of such a settlement or in the event of failure to  
achieve such a compromise, he must complete a form applying for a  
summons, which the court is responsible for transmitting to the  
defendant. Where a sum of money is involved a "default summons" is  
sent, in other cases an "ordinary summons". So it is the plaintiff  
who chooses between the two types of summons, a choice which is not  
always an obvious one.
1.12 In the case of a default summons the defendant must inform the court  
within the next 14 days whether he intends to defend himself, seek  
adjournment or make a counter-claim. If the defendant fails to reply  
during this period the plaintiff completes a form enabling him to  
obtain a judgment which is enforceable immediately. If the defendant  
accepts the claim but objects to the terms of payment, the registrar  
will arrange a meeting in order to determine the terms of payment.
If the defendant contests the default summons or where an ordinary  
summons is involved, a preliminary hearing is arranged and the  
registrar attempts conciliation or refers the case to arbitration.  
Arbitration awards are definitive and have the authority of final  
decisions. If necessary, they may be enforced by distraint. At  
present referral of a case to arbitration may be decided by the  
registrar himself at the request of one of the parties concerned,  
provided that the dispute does not involve a sum of money in excess  
of ^500 (if the claim is for a sum in excess ofJ500, the agreement  
of both parties is necessary);  the traditional rules of evidence do  
not apply. The arbitrator may, with the consent of the parties  
concerned, decide without holding a hearing on the basis of the  
documents provided by them. Hearings are informal and may be held in  
private in accordance with a procedure chosen by the arbitrator himself.

- 13 -
If a party does not appear at the hearing, the arbitrator may still  
make an award. The arbitrator may also on his own initiative consult  
an expert. In practice, the arbitrator is virtually always the  
registrar of the court. In cases involving sums of less than jj500 
the party losing the action cannot normally be made liable for  
barrister's fees and solicitor's charges ("no cost" rule).
It would seem that the frequency of, and reasons for, recourse to  
arbitration vary greatly from one registrar to another. Even in  
cases involving sums of less than £500, where arbitration, if requested  
by one of the parties, ought to be automatic, the registrar may turn  
down the request (in cases involving sums of more than £500 one of  
the parties involved, but not the registrar, may object to the judge).
In general, if the statistics are to be believed, arbitration is  
being increasingly used to settle minor disputes between consumers  
and traders. According to the figures, the number of disputes settled  
by arbitration rose from 8 245 in 1976 to 10 017 in 1977, 9 879 being  
dealt with by the registrar. In 1979 the registrar dealt with 13 222  
cases.
And yet it has to be pointed out that it is seldom the consumers who  
take the initiative in using this procedure. While cases concerning 
the supply of goods or services account for 63.4% of those dealt with,  
the plaintiffs are firms in 52% of the cases. Moreover, those  
defending consumer interests estimate that the parties concerned  
continue to be represented by lawyers in a high proportion of the  
cases (hence the persistence of high costs).

- 14 -
1.13 In Scotland,  the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act enabled the Sheriff  
Court Rules Council to prepare the rules of a new rapid procedure  
which became applicable, as from 1981, to cases involving sums of  
^1000 or less.
Under this "summary cause procedure" an action for payment begins with  
a writ of summons in which the pursuer must set out in writing the  
object of his claim. This writ is notified to the defender, who may  
reply by completing one of the two questionnaires corresponding to  
the following two situations: either the defender contests the
validity of the claim or he accepts it and proposes terms of payment.
If either of the forms is returned and/or the terms of payment are  
rejected, the case goes to court. Where it is the terms of payment  
that are rejected, the court acts immediately. Where the defender  
contests the validity of the claim, there is a hearing during which  
witnesses may be summoned, written evidence produced and the  
traditional rules of evidence and of adversary proceedings are  
applied. The procedure is, however, simplified in that it is not  
necessary to set out in writing the grounds put forward by the  
pursuer or the defender, and there is no period of adjustment for  
finalising written submissions and presenting them. Nor is there any  
discussion before the hearing devoted to examining the evidence and  
in general no time elapses between the hearing and the delivery by  
the sheriff of a written judgment. In point of fact, the sheriff  
normally gives his decision orally at the end of the hearing. The  
right of appeal to the sheriff-principal is confined to matters of  
law. There may be a further appeal to the Court of Session but only  
if the sheriff-principal gives leave.
The Scottish Consumers' Council therefore suggested that a working  
party be set up not to press for changes in a reform which has been  
in application only for a short while but to study a parallel^  
more simplified procedure. The study made by this working party led in  
January 1979 to the setting up of a local experiment - the Dundee

- 15 -
Voluntary Pilot Scheme, financed in part by the Commission of the  
European Communities.
1.14 The Dundee procedure applied provided that the dispute involved
a sum not exceeding ^500.
The pursuer could serve the writ himself or have it served by the  
administrative staff of the sheriff's office by means of a simple  
form, accompanying it with any documents relating to the dispute. The  
court costs payable upon submission of this form depended ;.or>l the amount  
of the claim (varying from|.1.50 to -£7.50) and no party had to pay  
more than ^.4.25 towards his opponent's costs.
The form was delivered to the defender either by post or by the  
sheriff's administrative staff. If the defender agreed to submit to  
the simplified procedure he had to return’the form with his comments  
in reply within 14 days and the sheriff's administrative staff then 
passed it on to the pursuer.
If the defender did not return the form within the specified period 
or if he refused the invitation to give his comments in reply, the case  
could be dealt with only under the traditional procedure, provided  
that the pursuer issued a summons under that procedure. Use of the  
Dundee procedure was therefore purely voluntary.
The procedure could be used only by individuals or small traders. A  
party could be represented by a lawyer, provided that he paid the  
relevant fees. With the agreement of the arbitrator, a party could be  
represented by a layman.
The two arbitrators involved in this experiment were the sheriffs·v  
of Dundee. The arbitrator attempted to get parties to settle  
their differences by compromise. If he failed, he sett led the dispute  
himself by a decision against which there was no appeal. The hearings  
were held in private and were as informal as possible.
This experiment was publicised by the media, a press officer of
the Scottish Consumers' Council and by means of brochures and notices.
A local committee was formed and information on the

- 16 -
rules of the system was also provided by the local citizens' Advice  
Bureau and Legal Advice Centre and by the information centre, the  
administrative staff of the Sheriff Court and certain solicitors.
The experimental scheme was in operation fromlJanuary 1979 until 31 Dec­
ember 1981 and is now being evaluated by the appropriate Scottish  
authorities.
1.15 In Northern Ireland a special procedure for determining small claims  
(any claim where the sum involved does not exceed f.300, excluding  
certain specific matters) was introduced by the Judicature (N.I.) Act,  
1978. Northern Ireland is divided into four circuits, each circuit  
having its "registrar" (see under England and Wales above).  The  
procedure is simplified in that the normal rules of evidence do not  
apply. While a party may be represented by a lawyer, the fees cannot  
be recovered from the losing party (except in a small number of  
exceptional cases). The registrar's decisions are final and  
conclusive.
About 7000 disputes were settled in this way in 1981.
1.16 In GREECE a special procedure for small claims may be applied by any
of the 300 courts presided over by a judge of first instance. It  
may be used in cases in which the application concerns movable  
property, where the amount claimed does not exceed DR 12 000. The 
simplified procedure is as follows: the parties are not legally
represented and the judge gives them active assistance as he is not  
bound to apply the normal rules of procedure prescribed by the Civil  
Code.

- 17 -
ANNEX 2
DEFENCE AT LAW OF COLLECTIVE INTERESTS

- 18 -
2-01 xn the legal tradition common to the various Member States of the
Community - whether they be "civil law" or "common law" countries -  
a natural or legal person may not institute legal proceedings unless  
he establishes a direct personal interest, in other words unless he  
is qualified to act.
However, the interest of a number of consumers, or of consumers  
generally, may be affected by a trade practice or a dangerous product,  
either actually or potentially. Since no one can take proceedings  
merely to compel the performance of a statutory duty, who then should  
be entrusted with the defence of this "collective" or "general"  
interest?
In some cases, this task will be entrusted to the public prosecutor's  
office, which has far wider responsibility for defending the interests  
of the community as a whole. (A)
In other cases, the protection of consumer interests is more specifically  
assigned to a public body, a kind of "public prosecutor's office"  
specialising in trading and consumer problems. (B)
In the third type of case, an aggrieved individual consumer may  
bring an action to defend both his personal interests and those of all  
consumers who are in the same situation as himself. (C)
Finally, in the last type of case, the defence of the collective  
interest of consumers is entrusted to associations satisfying certain  
criteria. (D)
2 02 (A) Actions brought by the public prosecutor
In most Member States of the Community those rules of consumer law  
which have a penal aspect are subject to sanctions under the normal  
rules of criminal procedure. Offences are investigated by the  
ordinary policy or by authorities specialising in economic matters,

- 19 -
and a public prosecution is brought against offenders in the competent  
criminal courts, in defence of the general interest and of the  
community as a whole.
2.03 In FRANCE,  where the public prosecutor's office decides whether or  
not to proceed, the procedure known as "constitution de partie civile"  
enables an aggrieved individual consumer, or a consumers' association,  
to set criminal proceedings in motion despite failure to act by the  
public prosecutor's office. This procedure is not, however, without  
its risks ("dénonciation calomnieuse" (false accusation) A.373 of
the penal code) and involves certain expenses ("consignâtion"(deposit)  
of at least FF 1,000). It should also be pointed out that the  
individual consumer or association which resorts to this procedure  
may claim damages only for the injury they have themselves suffered  
and cannot be awarded (to distribute on a pro rata basis) damages for  
the injury suffered by a group or body of consumers.
2.04 In the UNITED KINGDOM,  any consumer or consumer protection association  
may institute criminal proceedings in the event of violation of the  
Trade Descriptions Acts of 1968 and 197i if the public authorities  
(Trading Standards Department of the local authorities in Great  
Britain, Department of Commerce in Northern Ireland) do not do so.
In Scotland, on the other hand, only the Procurator Fiscal can  
institute criminal proceedings. It should also be noted that the  
public authorities are free, particularly in so far as criminal law  
applied to economic matters is concerned, to arrange compromise  
solutions and thus put a stop to the harmful acts or practices without  
recourse to legal proceedings.
2.05 In BELGIUM,  the Public Prosecutor is responsible, under the Law on  
trade practices of 14 July 1971, for bringing actions to put a stop  
to certain irregularities which are considered offences.

-  20  -
2.06 (B) Actions brought by a specialized body
1. In two Community countries - Denmark and the United Kingdom -  
administrative bodies exist whose task it is to protect consumer  
interests in general against trade practices which could be harmful,  
to them.
2. In the UNITED KINGDOM the Fair Trading Act, 1973 introduced an  
administrative mechanism which is simple and yet diversified. The  
Director-General of Fair Trading (DGFT) appointed under the Act is  
responsible for monitoring trading activities in the United Kingdom  
with a view to identifying unfair trade practices and monopolies and  
for making appropriate recommendations to the Secretary of State and  
providing him with information and assistance.
3. The DGFT, the Secretary of State or any other minister concerned may  
ask the Consumer Protection Advisory Committee whether the trade  
practice which has attracted their attention is contrary to the  
economic interests of consumers.  The DGFT provides the Committee with  
any information and help it may need. When the Committee has given  
its opinion, the Secretary of State may take measures to solve the  
problem. In practice, the Committee has seldom been consulted and  
there are few cases in which statutory measures adopted in this way  
have given rise to legal proceedings.
4. The DGFT also has to collect evidence of persistent trade practices  
which are unfair to consumers in that they infringe civil or criminal  
law and are prejudicial to their interests. Where the existence of  
such a practice is established, the DGFT tries to pursuade the person  
concerned to undertake in writing that he will refrain in future from  
the practice in question or any other similar practice.
If the DGFT cannot obtain such an undertaking, or the undertaking is  
not respected, he may refer the matter to the Restrictive Practices  
Court or the appropriate county court, which may issue an order  
prohibiting the offender from continuing to indulge in such practices.

-  21 -
The DGFT's Annual Report states that there were 60 such undertakings  
in 1980 in a wide variety of fields. Since the introduction of the  
Act 288 assurances, undertakings or orders have been obtained by the  
Office of Fair Trading.
5. The DGFT has a duty to promote the conclusion and application by  
trade organizations of codes of good conduct favourable to consumer  
interests. As has already been stated, some of these codes provide  
for recourse to arbitration or conciliation procedures. Twenty  
voluntary codes of conduct have been concluded under the auspices of  
the Office.
6. Where the DGFT has reason to believe that a monopoly situation exists,  
he may refer the matter to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission,  
subject to the approval of the Secretary of State. He must also  
investigate mergers which might call for an inquiry and recommend  
measures to the Secretary of State.
7. Under the Competition Act, 1980 the DGFT may inquire into the  
practices of firms which are allegedly distorting competition and, if  
necessary, refer the matter to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
On the Secretary of State's instructions, the DGFT inquiries into and  
reports on price questions about which public opinion has reacted  
strongly.
8. He also keeps a register of restrictive trade agreements and has to  
submit them to the Restrictive Practices Court for assessment, unless  
he is dispensed from having to do so by the Secretary of State on  
the grounds that the agreements are not sufficiently important to  
justify an investigation.
9. The DGFT is also authorized to publish information and advice for  
the benefit of consumers.
IQ. Under the Consumer Credit Act, 1974, he administers the consumer  
credit authorization arrangements, follows social and commercial

-  22  -
trends in relation to consumer credit and hire purchase and ensures  
that the Act, together with its implementing Orders and Regulations,  
is implemented and complied with.
11. Under the Estate Agents Act, 1979, the DGFT has certain powers of
supervision over estate agents, follows social and commercial trends  
in relation to property transactions and ensures that the Act is  
implemented and complied with.
2.07 In DENMARK, the Law of 14 June 1974 on trade practices (MarkedfgSringslov),  
which has been applied since 1  May 1975, set up a special administrative  
institution to provide protection for consumers as a whole, the  
Consumer Ombudsman ("Forbrugerombudsman ). The latter ensures that  
improper trade practices of firms are rectified and generally that  
all the provisions of the Law of 14 June 1974 are properly applied.
On his own initiative or following a complaint from individuals, the  
Ombudsman may, by negotiation, persuade persons who fail to observe  
the statutory provisions to put an end to their illegal practices  
and comply with the Law of 14 June 1974. If the Ombudsman does not  
succeed by negotiation, he may request the Maritime and Commercial  
Court in Copenhagen to issue an injunction prohibiting the illegal  
practice in question.
A trader who violates such a prohibition may be fined or be imprisoned  
for a period of up to six months and anyone who refuses to provide the  
Ombudsman with the information he requires or gives him inaccurate  
information is also liable to a fine. The criminal proceedings in  
question are also instituted before the Maritime and Commercial Court  
in Copenhagen.
The report of the activities of the Consumer Ombudsman shows that  
this department takes action against a wide variety of practices  
contrary to the interests of consumers and encountered both in the  
marketing of products and in the provision of public or private  
services: contractual clauses, misleading and unfair advertising,
advertising of prices, conditions of guarantees, bonuses, discounts,  
competitions with prizes.

- 23 -
2.08 In Ireland,  the Consumer Information Act, 1978 created the post of  
Director of Consumer Affairs. The Director, who is statutorily  
independent in the performance of his functions, has a variety of  
powers to deal with false or misleading trade descriptions, misleading  
advertising and misleading price indications, etc. In the first place  
he can request in writing that persons contravening the Act should  
discontinue or refrain from so doing. A further step would be to  
secure an injunction to "cease and desist". The Director also has  
the power to bring or prosecute proceedings in relation to offences  
under the Consumer Information Act.  Since the Director took up office  
in 1979 a number of successful prosecutions have been made.
The functions of the Director also include the promotion of codes  
of practice. He was, for instance, recently involved to a considerable  
extent in the drawing up of a new code of standards for the advertising  
industry.
2,09 (C) Individual actions in the general interest
1. In the "common law" countries, there are three procedures which  
enable an individual to act in the interest of the public:
(a) the "relator action" enables an individual who is not qualified  
to act himself to bring an action as a member of the public  
through the Attorney-General, provided the latter first gives  
his consent, with a view to preventing unlawful activities.
(b) The "class action", also known as the "representative action" in  
England and Wales, is based on the fiction that all the individuals  
concerned by the dispute are acting in person and are represented  
by the party actually before the court.
For such representation to be valid:
- the claim of the party bringing the action must be typical of those  
of the members of the class represented;
- there must be too many members of this class for it to be possible  
in practice to find an alternative solution;
the members of the class must have received notification of the  
proceedings.

- 24 -
(c) The public interest action may be brought by an individual,
bypassing the Attorney-General, in order to ensure the application  
and protection of rights belonging to the public in general or to  
a section of the public.
The party bringing the action must, however, be the holder of a right  
which he is seeking to have enforced or have suffered special loss  
or damage as a result of the infringement of the public's right.
2. The relator and class action are possible in theory in the United  
Kingdom (except Scotland) and Ireland and are also used in Australia,  
Canada and the United States.
3. It should, however, be pointed out that in England and Wales relator  
actions are not used to defend the collective interests of consumers.  
They are used more for defending the interests of inhabitants or a  
particular locality against illegal acts by the local authority, the  
protection of the environment (in particular against certain town  
planning projects) and for the administration of trusts.
4. Class actions or, as they are defined in England and Wales, "represen­
tative proceedings by one or more persons on behalf of a larger number",  
are governed by special procedural provisions (Order 15, Rule 12, of  
the Rules of the Supreme Court and Order 5, Rule 8, of the County  
Court Rules).
5. The effect of the representation procedure is that all the persons  
represented are party to the action, are covered by the decision  
given and are bound by that decision. However, the conditions to
be met before the procedure can be used are so restrictive that they  
have prevented it from being developed, particularly in the field of  
consumer law. In particular, the persons "represented" must have a  
common interest, have suffered identical injury and be eligible for  
the same compensation.
6. The plaintiff and those whom he represents must have the same interest  
in bringing the action. It is not sufficient for them to have  
suffered a common loss for which they seek compensation. Thus, for

- 25 -
example, in a case in which shippers of goods had brought a represen­
tative action because the goods were lost as a result of a shipwreck, 
the court held that the common interest was insufficient because the 
shippers were not sending the goods to the same destination (Markt v 
Knight (1910) 2 KB 1021).
7. Consequently, consumers will seldom be able to institute a class action 
based on a vendor's contractual liability. It would not, however, be 
inconceivable for a request for an injunction to be brought by a group 
of consumers injured by the same illegal practices of a trader.
8. In the Romano-Germanic law countries there are two institutions which 
indirectly give an individual consumer the right to bring an action 
on behalf of consumers generally. Firstly, there is the "action 
civile", which enables the individual consumer to set in motion 
criminal proceedings without being dependent upon the willingness of 
the public prosecutor's office to do so and, secondly, the "action for 
cessation" that an aggrieved consumer may bring in Belgium on the basis 
of Article 55 of the Law of 14 July 1971 on trade practices (see 
above).
9. In Scotland a procedure similar to the representative action may be 
used. Each individual concerned brings his own action and all the 
actions save one are suspended with the parties' agreement, so that 
a single test case then serves as a model for the settlement of all 
the others.
10. In the common law countries, and particularly in England and Wales, 
any person or organization may institute criminal proceedings unless 
the right to prosecute is specifically reserved. This principle 
applies in particular in the case of infringements of the Trade 
Descriptions Acts of 1968 and 1972. It is quite possible for individ­
ual consumers or groups representing the interests of consumers to

- 26 -
bring an action if the public authorities (in this case the Trading 
Standards Departments of local authorities) do not act.
11. It should be noted in passing that a consumer may be all the more
tempted to institute proceedings if he is able to obtain compensation 
(claim for damages or "compensation order") in the event of criminal 
proceed_ngs.  In the United Kingdom, criminal courts can, after 
passing sentence under the Trade Descriptions Acts, make a compensation 
order requiring the defendant to pay compensation for any loss, damage 
or personal injury caused by the offence or any other offence taken 
into consideration by the court in its decision.
2.10 (D) Actions brought by consumer associations
In three Member States consumer associations are expressly entitled to 
bring actions to defend the collective or individual interests which 
they represent. However, the type of action brought, the effect of 
any judicial decision obtained and the conditions which a consumers 
association must satisfy in order to be able to bring such an action 
vary considerably from one country to another.
2.11 FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
Consumer associations may bring actions in two specific cases. On 
the basis of the 1909 Law prohibiting unfair competition (UWG),  
since 1965 associations have been able to institute proceedings, in 
particular by means of an accelerated procedure, to put a stop to 
unfair practices harmful to consumers (e.g. misleading advertising).
At present associations cannot claim damages on behalf of consumers 
who have suffered injury, although the Federal Government has 
recently proposed to the legislative body an amendment of the 1909 
Law which would enable individual consumers or traders to be awarded 
such damages. The new provisions would make it possible for the 
consumer to surrender his individual rights to compensation to the 
association so that the latter can act against the dealer or manufac­
turer responsible. If such an action succeeded the sum of money 
obtained could be divided among the consumers who had surrendered 
their rights, after deduction of the costs involved in the 
proceedings.

-  21 f a  -
Against this new background, the consumer associations' role would be 
to obtain compensation not for a collective claim as such but only for 
a "collectivized" individual claim.
Under the 1976 Law on general business conditions, consumer 
associations can bring an action against a trader to prohibit his use 
of unreasonable contract terms. The action may be brought under an 
accelerated procedure. If the action is successful, any consumer may 
invoke the ruling in his contractual relations with the trader who 
applied these unreasonable terms. (Rulings in favour of consumer 
associations are published in the Bundesanzeiger (Federal Journal) and 
may also be published in the local press at the request and expense of 
the associations).
The consumer associations allowed to bring actions under the Law 
prohibiting unfair competition and the Law on general business 
conditions must satisfy certain specific legal requirements.
2,12 Both according to its statute and in practice, the association must
provide information and advice for customers. In addition, associations 
which wish to bring actions against unreasonable contract terms must 
incorporate other associations also involved in consumer protection, 
or consist of at least 75 natural persons. Similar conditions are 
laid down in the Federal Government's draft law amending the Law 
prohibiting unfair competition in respect of actions for injunctions 
brought by consumer associations under that law. In theory, therefore, 
all consumer associations which satisfy the above conditions may take 
legal proceedings: consumer centres (Verbraucherzentralen) of the
11 Lander, the Consumers' Association (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der 
Verbraucher - AgV),  the Foundation for Comparative Testing (Stiftung 
Warentest) and the Consumer Protection Association (Verbraucherschutz- 
verein - VSV).  In practice, however, the majority of actions brought 
against unfair competition and unreasonable contract terms originate 
from the VSV. The consumer centres of the Lander have expressly 
authorized the VSV to seek injunctions on their behalf.

- 29 -
2.13 In the GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG,  the Grand-Ducal Regulation of
23 December 1974 on unfair competition, as amended by the Grand-Ducal 
Regulation of 17 December 1976, enables the consumers' associations 
represented on the Prices Commission, i.e. in the case in point the 
Luxembourg Consumers' Union, to take two types of action in the 
collective interest of consumers.
(i) It may institute an action to put an end to the act of unfair 
competition or the failure to comply with Articles 5 to 10 of 
the Regulation of 23 December 1974, which concern special sales 
and clearance sales. The action is brought and heard as in the 
case of summary proceedings before the President of the Commercial 
Court. The latter may also order that the decision be posted up 
outside the offender's business premises and published in full or 
in part in newspapers or by any other means, the cost of these 
two advertising measures being borne by the offender.
(ii) It may also bring a civil action before the criminal courts. The 
Luxembourg Consumers' Union has brought these two types of action 
on a number of occasions.
2.14 In BELGIUM,  the Law of 14 July 1971 on trade practices enables consumer 
associations to obtain through the courts the cessation of acts 
constituting an infringement of the provisions of that law which 
protect both competitors and consumers: registered designation of
origin, advertising, loss leaders, liquidation, clearance sales, tied 
sales, free gifts, auctions, forced sales and itinerant trading. The 
procedure takes the form of summary proceedings before the President 
of the Tribunal de Commerce (Commercial Court).  The latter may order 
that the offending act be stopped and also that his judgment be 
published in the newspapers or publicised elsewhere at the expense of 
the offender. Such publication cannot, however, be prescribed unless

- 30 -
it helps put an end as quickly as possible to the offending act, in 
view of the effects of that act, and it cannot be enforced until the 
decision has become final (no possibility of appeal).  Proceedings to 
obtain compensation for damage suffered and criminal proceedings are 
dealt with by the civil or criminal courts under the rules of general 
law.
In order to be able to bring an action for cessation, consumer 
associations must satisfy a number of conditions. Their object must 
be the protection of consumers; they must enjoy legal personality and 
be represented on the Conseil de la Consommation (Consumer Council).
The Belgian courts seem to interpret the first two conditions in a way 
restricting the admissibility of actions by consumer associations.
For instance, by a judgment of 1  October 1976 (JT 2/4/1977, p. 241), 
the Turnhout Commercial Court declared inadmissible an action 
instituted by associations which did not satisfy the constitutional 
formalities laid down by the Law of 27 June 1921 on non-profit-making 
associations (publication or statutes and deposit of a list of members) 
and thus adopted a formal conception of the existence of legal 
personality.
In addition, in the same judgment, the Turnhout Court decided that an 
association grouping together cooperatives cannot claim to represent 
the interests of consumers. It thereby adopted a strict interpretation 
of the condition whereby the corporate object of the association which 
brings an action for cessation must be protection of the consumer,
2.15 In FRANCE a distinction is made between two types of association.
Registered associations within the meaning of the Law of 1 July 1901 
may bring actions before civil or administrative courts. They may 
also lodge complaints with the public prosecutor's office. This rule 
applies in the same way to registered associations set up for the 
protection of certain social categories of the environment, or aimed 
at promoting artistic, sporting or leisure activities.
The Royer Law specifically confers on approved consumer associations 
the right to bring a civil action before any court in order to obtain 
compensation for direct or indirect damage to the collective interest

- 31 -
of consumers (and not only in the case of the offences provided for 
in this law, namely misleading advertising and discriminatory 
advantages.
The Royer Law does not, however, enable consumer associations to 
bring a civil action in the event of infringement of the rules of 
free competition. This exclusion can be seen as a vestige of the 
traditional principle whereby only the public prosecutor's office may 
protect the general interest by means of criminal proceedings.
Independently of the criminal conviction, the court dealing with the 
civil action may order that the practice be stopped, without imposing 
a penalty, and publication of the judgment and of corrective 
advertisements (in cases of misleading advertising).
In this casej then consumers benefit indirectly from the decision 
delivered following proceedings to which they have not been party.
It is, however, impossible for aggrieved consumers each to obtain a 
share of the damages by arranging for a consumers' association to sue 
on their behalf. Compensation for the damage suffered must be the 
subject of separate claims in the case of each consumer.
Three criteria must be met before an association can be approved and 
bring a civil action. The association must:
i. have been in existence for more than a year (age criterion);
ii. be representative (at least 10 000 members nationwide, no 
precise number regionally or locally);
iii. produce and distribute publications or be on call to provide 
advice and hold consumer information meetings.
Approval is an administrative procedure. It is granted by ministerial 
order (national associations) or prefectorial order (local or regional 
associations).

- 32 -
Ten national associations have been approved by ministerial order 
and 47 regional or local associations have been approved by 
prefectorial order.
In France, no recent official statistics are available on the number 
of cases in which civil actions have been brought by consumer 
associations.
It should be noted that certain consumer associations have adopted 
the habit of requesting that judgments be published in "50 millions de 
consommateurs" and "Que choisir",  the two monthly magazines aimed at 
consumers generally.
2.16 In the UNITED KINGDOM,  there are no bodies or associations with the
power to bring actions to defend the collective interests of consumers. 
The Director-General of Fair Trading and the local authorities perform 
their duties by virtue of the statutory powers vested in them and must 
of course act within the limits of those powers. In England and Wales 
the Attorney-General's powers are based on the common law, which 
consists of the general body of judicial decisions. For example, it 
has recently been established that he could not be forced to give 
his consent to a person wishing to bring a case for the sole purpose 
of asserting a public right.
Representative proceedings may be instituted by or against "one or 
more persons on behalf of a larger number" with a common interest in 
the case. The persons acting jointly are not regarded as "a larger 
number" unless they are more than five, unless the sum claimed is 
very small or unless all the persons concerned wish to be represented.
2.17 In the NETHERLANDS,  individual consumers and, since 1980, consumer 
organizations may bring an action before a civil court to seek the 
prohibition or amendment of misleading advertising (Article 1416 of 
the Civil Code).
In 1981 a draft law on the banning of unfair general conditions of 
sale was presented to Parliament. This draft proposes that certain

- 33 -
organizations or associations may ask the Court of Appeal at The 
Hague to declare that clauses contained in certain general conditions 
are unfair.
2.18 In DENMARK,  Article 13 of the Marketing Act contains provisions 
concerning the institution of the civil proceedings provided for in 
the law Such actions may be brought not only by the Ombudsman but 
also by other persons having a legal interest therein, for instance 
a consumer, a businessman or an association of businessmen or 
consumers. Under the general rules of the Law on civil proceedings 
(Article 253), any person with a legal interest in seeing a party to
a dispute win his case before the court, may intervene in that case in 
order to support the party in question. The general interest of 
associations in promoting their aims may warrant such intervention, 
even if the party concerned is not a member of the association. The 
public authorities may also intervene where the court decision on a 
point of law is of great interest to the authorities in dealing with 
identical or similar cases.
2.19 In ITALY,  consumer associations are not entitled to institute legal 
proceedings in order to defend the collective interests of consumers.
Since Article 2601 of the Civil Code states that trade associations 
may bring actions to put a stop to acts of unfair competition, certain 
authors - such as Professors Santaga and Ghidini - suggest that the 
same facility should be made available to consumer associations.
With regard to the conditions which consumer associations should 
satisfy in order to bring such actions for cessation or other 
"collective" actions, the approach of Professor Ghidini - as explained 
in Montpellier in 1975 and in his book "Per i consumatori" - is both 
original and interesting.
Professor Ghidini considers that the interest of the consumer is the 
combination of an individual interest and a group interest: an

- 34 -
individual interest in the protection of specific interests relating 
to given situations (health, hygiene, economic benefits, etc.) and a 
group interest to the extent that it belongs in an identical manner 
to everybody.
This group interest must, however, be recognized and protected for the 
benefit of everyone in the same way, independently of any division or 
organization of individuals into groups or social categories. Even 
if the threats to that interest are normally felt at the individual 
level, in actual fact they affect the group as a whole. The reaction 
of the individual to the threat in question assumes importance for the 
group as a whole. After all, the interests of consumers, according 
to Professor Ghidini, are permanently threatened in that they depend 
directly and "technologically" on the system of production and are 
potentially in conflict with those of producers.
From this analysis Professor Ghidini draws a number of logical 
conclusions as regards legal action by consumers.
Firstly, he considers that the protection of an interest must be 
afforded to everyone who can prove that the interest has been 
objectively affected, even if that person has not personally suffered 
from such infringement of the interest. From this he deduces that 
any consumer or user, or any group of consumers or users, whatever 
the manner in which it is organized and whatever the number of its 
members, may act to request protection of an interest provided that 
it can prove that the interest in question has been infringed.
Secondly, he considers that since the interest of the consumer is 
both an individual and a group interest, the association or group 
has the same rights as the individuals concerned and that again no 
condition or restriction should be imposed on the defence of the 
right to protect consumers, by taking into account the number of 
members or the representatives of the organization in question. 
According to Professor Ghidini, all these conditions are based 
(wrongly) on a corporatist conception of the interest of consumers.

- 35 -
ANNEX 3
CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION

- 36 -
CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION CENTRES
3.01 Since traditional legal proceedings prove too cumbersome, too slow 
and too expensive for dealing with disputes involving small sums, 
some countries have sought other, less costly, procedures that are 
more easily accessible to consumers. Of these, the introduction of 
conciliation and arbitration bodies has often given satisfactory 
results. Conciliation and arbitration centres exist in six Community 
countries (Belgium, Denmark, Federal Republic of Germany, France, 
Netherlands, United Kingdom) and we shall describe them below.
Of the countries referred to, only Denmark and France have introduced 
public arbitration bodies, although they are very different from each 
other. In Denmark, apart from the many private bodies, there exists 
an appeals board, which normally deals with all disputes concerning 
goods and services. In France, Post Office Box No. 5 000 was created 
to deal with the problems of consumers with regard to purchases and 
services. All disputes, except those concerning the status of persons 
and disputes between individuals and a public authority, may, however, 
be referred to the juge conciliateur in the town halls.
In the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands and the United 
Kingdom, the arbitration systems are private; they operate within 
the framework of voluntary codes of conduct.
It should be noted that the decisions of the various arbitration 
boards are more or less binding but are never enforceable, which 
means that the plaintiff must go to court of the defendant does not 
comply.
There are no arbitration boards in Italy. The second paragraph of 
Article 102 of the constitution expressly forbids the creation of 
extraordinary or special judges although it allows the establishment 
of specialized sections attached to ordinary courts, even with the 
participation of competent private individuals. The legislature has 
not, however, seen fit to avail itself of this facility so far.
x
X

- 37 -
3.02 As it is often difficult to define in the member countries the
respective areas of conciliation and arbitration, these two matters 
will be dealt with under the same heading. First of all, we shall 
describe the essential features of each of the two systems.
Conciliation bodies normally act in three ways.
Q) Preventive action.  Conciliatory bodies may conclude with certain 
categories of firm, agreements in the nature of a code of ethics 
in order to obviate, or at least reduce, the possibility of 
disputes with consumers.
(2) The ending of reprehensible practices on an amicable basis.
Where complaints about irregular commercial practices on the part 
of certain traders are referred by consumers to a conciliatory 
body, the latter may make representations to the traders informing 
them that complaints have been made about them and inviting them 
to put a stop to the reprehensible practices. Action of this kind 
is generally effective, particularly if it comes from bodies which 
are highly representative and enjoy unquestionable moral 
authority.
(3) Amicable settlement of disputes.
A conciliatory body which has received a complaint from a 
consumer can easily propose to the other party involved an 
amicable arrangement which will take account in an equitable 
fashion of the respective interests of the parties concerned. Here 
again the quality of the arrangement will depend to a large 
extent on the reputation enjoyed by the conciliatory body; the 
same will apply to the conditions under which the arrangement, 
accepted by common accord of the parties concerned, is 
implemented.
Arbitration bodies
The arbitration bodies make it possible to prevent the courts from 
becoming congested by disputes involving small sums. The procedures 
employed by them are also quicker and less formal and sometimes less 
expensive than traditional legal proceedings. Moreover, the fact that

- 38 -
the arbitration bodies are generally organized by the individual 
trades or professions to a large extent simplifies the problems. The 
powers of these bodies and the extent to which arbitration awards are 
binding vary according to the country concerned.
Below we describe the various conciliation and arbitration systems 
existing in the Community countries.
3.03 BELGIUM
An interesting initiative has just been taken by the President of the 
Brussels Commercial Court. On 1  May 1979 a special department was 
set up to deal with questions and complaints concerning trade 
practices. Consumers and small and medium-sized firms can now turn 
to it with any complaint or dispute relating to dishonest commercial 
practices (selling methods, labelling, indications of price and 
quality, advertising, order forms, etc.). Disputes can be settled 
by means of the conciliation procedure which was already provided for 
by law but rarely applied until now.
Mention must also be made of the procedure introduced by the Belgian 
Judicial Code whereby the dispute is submitted at the request of one 
or both of the parties to "juge conciliateur" (conciliating magistrate), 
who tries to bring about an agreement. If this attempt fails, the 
parties may appear in court the same day so that their dispute can be 
settled by a judgment.
There are also in certain specific fields quasi-judicial arbitration 
procedures operating with the assistance of such trade bodies as 
the "Vertrouwenscommissie van de verbruikers en textielreinigers"
(Select Committee of Consumers and leaning Firms) in the case of the 
dry cleaning and laundry trade.

- 39 -
3.04 DENMARK
In Denmark, three types of institution may arbitrate or take 
conciliatory action in disputes involving consumers.
Firstly, there is the ombudsman for the protection of consumer 
interests, whose office was created by the Law of 1  May 1975.
Secondly, there is the Consumer Complaints Board, which came into 
existence on 1  June 1975.
Lastly, there are the private appeals bodies approved by the 
Consumer Complaints Board.
A. The ombudsman for the protection of consumer interests
The ombudsman for the protection of consumer interests is appointed 
on the same terms as a judge. The law does not, however, confer 
upon him the status of judge nor a status comparable to that of the 
ombudsman who is elected by Parliament and is independent of the 
civil service. The consumer ombudsman is simply a senior official 
responsible for his own department. The latter comprises, apart 
from the ombudsman himself, a departmental head with a legal 
training and eight lawyers and administrators. The decisions of 
the ombudsman may not be brought before any other authority but, 
in the performance of his duties in general, the ombudsman comes 
under the Ministry of Commerce.
The ombudsman has a number of tasks, of which the main one is to 
ensure compliance with the provisions regarding normal commercial 
practices and the other provisions of the law. How he is to 
exercise this supervisory role has never been specified. Everyday 
experience has shown, however, that the exercise of this supervision 
has been facilitated as a result of the assistance given by 
consumers, traders, trade associations, the press and various 
bodies which make requests or complaints to the ombudsman.
The ombudsman is required to ensure that vendors act in accordance 
with the law. The principal means at his disposal is that of 
negotiation in order to obtain the voluntary agreement of those 
concerned. Negotiations are used as a way of achieving both the 
establishment of general rules and the adoption of specific

- 40 -
measures. The aim is to enable the ombudsman to exert an influence, 
for instance, in connection with the definition of the principles 
relating to the terms of standard contracts or advertising content 
so that the legitimate interests of consumers are taken into 
consideration. In cases where the law has been broken, the ombuds­
man would also try first of all to negotiate an amicable solution.
This procedure proves to be more effective than a long, expensive 
court case. No legal sanctions can be applied if the agreements 
concluded between the ombudsman and various trades or industries 
are not observed. What at first sight might appear to be a weakness 
works perfectly well in practice, however, in the sense that the 
vast majority of those concerned do respect the agreements that 
have been concluded.
If the ombudsman considers that a vendor has infringed the 
provisions of Articles 1  to 5 of the Law on trade practices, and 
negotiations do not bring about a change in attitude, he may 
institute civil proceedings to have the offending practice banned.
The ombudsman may himself order a provisional ban pending the 
decision of the court. The action to have the provisional ban 
confirmed must be brought no later than the following working day.
The ombudsman is not the only person who can bring an action for a 
definitive ban; anyone who has a legal interest to defend may 
do so.
3.05 B. The Consumer Complaints Board
The Law setting up the Consumer Complaints Board entered into force 
on 1  June 1975.
As with the Law on marketing practices, the Law establishing the 
Consumer Complaints Board was based on the work of the committee 
set up to study consumer problems.  One of the tasks of the comm­
ittee was to study the possibility of establishing a procedure for 
examining compilants that would be both quick and satisfactory, 
both for consumers and for the business circles involved. It was 
also to submit, if necessary, a bill on this subject. The committee's 
findings were brought together in a preort which advocated that a 
law on marketing practices be adopted, an ombudsman responsible for

- 41 -
consumer protection be appointed, and a Consumer Complaints Board
be set up.
The broad lines of the committee's proposals were embodied m  the 
bill which the Government submitted in spring 1974, and which was 
adopted by the Folketing in June 1974.
Among the general points made by the committee, on which the law 
is based, we shall mention the following:
"The Committee is of the opinion that experience in Denmark, as 
abroad, has shown that there exists an evident need to improve the 
possibilities available to the consumer for settling disputes 
resulting from the purchase of consumer goods or from contracts
involving consumption.
3.06 The Committee also considered that reform of the procedure
be bound up with cooperation between the courts and the extra­
judicial appeals bodies. On this matter, it should be pointed out
in particular that:
"The Committee attaches ... the utmost importance ... to cooperation 
between the appeals bodies and the courts. For this reason 
should be regarded as a fundamental principle that an appeal lodged 
with an extra-judicial body should not rule out the possibility of 
bringing the matter before the traditional courts.^ While the 
disputes in question traditionally come under the jurisdiction of 
the courts, it must be noted that at present the appeals are not 
being brought before the courts and that, alongside the latter, a 
number of appeals bodies have been established which enjoy great 
confidence. Even a radical reform of judicial procedure cannot 
offset the advantages connected with the existence of such bodies. 
In addition to the economic and psychological factors referred to, 
these bodies have rapidly accumulated a wealth of experience which 
gives them incontestable authority in these matters and their 
intervention makes it far more easy to distinguish between simple 
disagreements and real disputes.

- 42 -
The Committee was not of the opinion that a satisfactory extra­
judicial procedure could be worked out by merely altering and 
harmonizing the appeals bodies that exist on a voluntary basis. 
While the maintenance of some of these bodies was likely to present 
problems of an economic nature, it was virtually impossible to 
reorganize them in such a way as to cover the whole of the consumer 
sector.
1. Terms of_reference_of_the_Consumer_Com 2laints_Board
a. General principle of the law
The general principle of the law is that consumer may lodge 
appeals with the Board concerning goods and services.
The concept of consumer is defined more precisely in the 
explanatory memorandum, where it is stated that only the 
final consumer may lodge an appeal with the Board. This does 
not, however, rule out the possibility of a trader or 
manufacturer lodging a complaint concerning goods used by 
him in his business provided that those goods are not used 
for production purposes or are not acquired with a view to 
being resold.
The text of the law does not state whom the complaint must be 
lodged against, but it emerges from the explanatory memoran­
dum that only appeals against traders are covered. Even if 
this is not expressly stated in the explanatory memorandum, 
the trader must also be acting in his business capacity.
Complaints concerning goods or services may be brought 
before the Board.
The underlying principle in the law and its explanatory 
memorandum is that the Board will take a decision after 
examining the legal aspects of the case.

- 43-
b. Exceptions
Under Article 2 of the law, the Minister for Commerce may 
adopt provisions whereby cases involving goods or services 
supplied by public undertakings may be brought before the 
Board. This applies to electricity, gas and heating supplies 
and the carriage of goods and persons.
The decree of the Minister for Commerce concerning the Board's 
field of action stipulates that only appeals involving goods 
or services whose value is not less than Dkr 100 or more than 
Dkr 10 000 are admissible. Also, a number of sectors are 
excluded from the Board's terms of reference, such as building 
materials, new buildings, alterations, maintenance and repair 
works on properties and the letting of properties or parts of 
properties; motor vehicles, their components and maintenance 
and repair work on motor vehicles; foodstuffs and stimulants; 
services rendered by members of the professions; credit and 
insurance.
2. Lodging of § 22eals_with_the_Board_and_ 2reparation_of_the
In order to be able to lodge an appeal with the Board, the 
consumer must first have approached the trader without success. 
The appeal will be lodged using the special forms drawn up by 
the Board. These forms may be obtained from consumers' and 
trade associations and from the offices of public authorities, 
particularly from court registries, whose administrative staff 
will, if necessary, help those concerned to fill in the forms. 
When the appeal is lodged, the applicant must pay a fee of 
Dkr 25.
The Board has a secretariat at present consisting of one head of 
legal service, seven lawyers and twelve other staff. The 
secretariat is responsible for dealing with written requests, 
telephone calls and personal visits by consumers. Experience 
has shown that it is possible for the secretariat to satisfy and 
deal with a very large number of enquiries without further 
formality so that there is no need for formal investigation.

- 44 -
The secretariat is responsible for drawing up the dossier for 
investigation of a case by the Board, the two parties being 
given a specified period o£ time within which to submit their 
comments, in the event of any enquiries or requests for 
information.
The secretariat may endeavour to settle the dispute amicably by 
proposing a solution that is equitable for both parties. It 
may also reject complaints which it considers cannot be 
investigated by the Board and those which seem to be obviously 
without foundation. The Board may authorize the secretariat 
to decide cases concerning goods, work or services the value of 
which does not exceed a certain amount, currently Dkr 200.
3. Composition of the Board and investigation of cases
Under Article 4 of the law, the Board consists of a bureau and 
representatives of consumer interests and business circles, who 
will be appointed by the Minister for Commerce. The chairman 
of the board will be a lawyer, who must satisfy the general 
conditions required in order to be appointed as a judge in 
Denmark. In addition to the chairman, a vice-chairman, who is 
a judge, will be appointed. The Board has 52 members, represen­
ting consumers and traders, who take part in the work in rotation.
Article 5 stipulates that at least one member of the bureau 
must participate in the investigation of a case by the Board.
At least two members chosen by the bureau to represent on an 
equal basis consumers and businessmen must also take part in an 
investigation.
It is the Board which decides whether an appeal is admissible 
and whether it is competent to act (it rejects appeals which 
require the hearing of witnesses on oath or a difficult legal 
examination).
The parties cannot appear before the Board while the investigation 
is in progress, but the chairman may authorize them to do so, 
together with any witnesses, if special circumstances so require.

- 45 -
The Board may require the unsuccessful party to bear all or 
part of the cost of expert opinions or of the fees paid.
In all other cases, the Board itself bears the cost of any 
expert opinions it considers necessary.
The Board adopts its decisions by majority vote.
The Board's decisions, which are public, may not be the subject 
of an appeal to another administrative authority. The Board 
acts in complete independence both in the investigation and in 
its decisions.
4. Details of the_activitieg of the Complaints Board
During the first four months of the Board's activities, 2 850 
enquiries were made to the secretariat by consumers, including 
2 000 telephone calls, a good hundred or so personal visits and 
approximately 750 written enquiries.
The enquiries were broken down as follows:
standard contracts regarding the delivery of newspapers and 
books: approximately 125;
the purchase and repair of cameras, watches and optical 
instruments: 125;
The purchase and repair of bicycles and motor cycles: 50;
furniture, furnishing fabrics and furnishing goods: 250;
clothing: 275; 
ironmongery: 150.
It soon became apparent that certain forms of selling, such as 
door-to-door selling or other forms of sale outside the vendor's 
business premises, such as mail order sales, give rise to an 
extremely high number of complaints. It should also be pointed 
out that these complaints concerned a small number of traders.

- 46 -
It was found that in the cases investigated by the Board most 
of the complaints were justified. The Board held that consumers 
did not have to observe the contracts they had concluded since 
the latter were void or that the consumers could rescind their 
purchase contracts in view of the major defects which they 
contained.
It should be pointed out that the secretariat is entitled to 
reject complaints which do not seem to be within the Board's 
jurisdiction or where it is clear that the consumer cannot 
succeed. It deals with about 40% of the cases submitted to the 
Board in this way.
3.Q7 C. Private appeals bodies and their relations with the Board
At the time when the law setting up the Consumer Complaints 
Board entered into force, a considerable number of private 
appeals bodies existed which covered a large part of the consumer 
sector. These bodies were not abolished but a system of approval 
was instituted for those which wished to continue their 
activities, and provision was made for the possibility of setting 
up new private bodies after the entry into force of the law. 
Collaboration between consumers' representatives and business 
and trade circles on these private bodies was entirely satisfac­
tory and there was no reason to overload the public sector. It 
is the Board which approves private appeals bodies. The effect 
of this approval is that the Board itself cannot deal with 
complaints concerning areas for which there exist private 
appeals bodies. Nor can the decisions taken by these bodies be 
the subject of an appeal to the Board,
Approval may be granted only if the rules governing the body 
offer the parties concerned adequate guarantees (composition of 
the body, procedure).  Approval may be limited in time and 
revoked if the Board considers that the required conditions are 
no longer met. The Board has laid down certain principles 
regarding the conditions to which approval is subject:
1. The body must consist of an equal number of representatives 
of consumers' organizations and of traders.

- 47 -
2. The body must have the necessary knowledge of the law to 
investigate complaints and have as chairman, if possible, a 
lawyer offering every guarantee of impartiality.
3. Rules governing eligibility are laid down with regard to the 
members of the body and the staff of the secretariat.
4. The body's activities must cover the whole or the bulk of the 
commercial activities of a given branch or sector.
5. Each party must be able to submit his comments within a 
specified period and have access to such information held by 
the other party as is important for the decision and to the 
reports of experts used for the purposes of the investigation.
6. The body must adopt its decision after examining the legal or 
technical aspects of the facts of the case. It may, however, 
bring about an amicable settlement of a case on a basis which 
would not suffice as the ground of a decision.
7. The body must act in plenary session, each member having access 
to all the information regarding the dispute. Decisions must 
be taken by simple majority.
8. Decisions and amicable agreements must be recorded in writing. 
Decisions must be accompanied by a statement of grounds. 
Decisions and amicable agreements must be signed by the 
chairman of the body or by the person empowered by him to do so.
9. The parties concerned must receive a copy of the decision or 
of the amicable agreement and must also be informed of the 
manner in which an appeal may be made to the courts.
10. Neither of the parties may make a payment to the other party 
while the case is being investigated.
11. Anyone must be able to examine the decisions of the body.
Appeals may be made to the Minister for Industry against decisions
of the Board relating to the approval of private appeals bodies.
Up to 1  January 1976, the Board granted approval of private
bodies in the following sectors:
Estate agencies, insurance, secondary residences, gas or electrical

- 48 -
domestic appliances, driving shcools, building, fur trade, radio 
and television sets, travel agents, cleaners, laundries, air 
conditioning plant, sanitary installations.
3.08 D. The courts' relations with the Board and the private bodies
a..  i-ce_betweeTi_tlie_Boar< i  and a_privat e_body
A dispute may not be referred simultaneously to the courts and 
to the Board or a private body. The law stipulates that the 
parties may not bring an action before the courts on the matters 
in dispute while the case is pending before the Board or a 
private body.
Where an action is pending before a court and the consumer 
wishes to refer the matter to the Board or a private body, the 
court will suspend the case for an indeterminate period. It 
will inform the consumer of the possibility of referring the 
matter to the Board or a body. The consumer has an absolute 
right and the court does not have to decide whether or not his 
request is justified.
b. Enforcement_of_decisions of the Board or a_private body
Neither decisions of the Board nor decisions adopted by private 
bodies are enforceable. The law stipulates that either of the 
parties may refer the matter to the courts where the Board or a 
private body has given a decision. If the decision of the Board 
or the body is not complied with, the secretariat brings, at 
the request of the applicant or on his behalf, an action before 
the courts. A consumer whose complaint is partly or entirely 
upheld by the Board or a private body does not therefore have 
to take legal proceedings himself.
It has also been laid down that consumers who satisfy the 
conditions making them eligible for legal aid are exempt from 
any costs in connection with actions brought by them (or by the 
secretariat) for the purposes of securing the enforcement of a 
decision of the Board or a private body or of an amicable 
agreement concluded as a result of their intervention. The same 
applies where the action is brought by the opposing party in

- 49 -
order to obtain an amendment of the decision or the amicable 
agreement to the detriment of the consumer. The consumer will, 
if he satisfies the conditions for exemption from payment, not 
may costs to the opposing party if he loses the case; any 
costs to be paid to the opposing party are borne by the 
Treasury.
There are no precise statistics on the number of persons in 
Denmark who qualify for legal aid, but as the conditions are 
not very strict it can be put at 80% of the population.

- 50 -
In France, conciliation, which used to be compulsory before every 
court, was in 1958 retained only before courts of first instance 
specializing in everyday disputes.
In November 1977 "Post Office Box No 5000" was introduced in every 
department to clear up on a friendly basis any difficulties 
encountered by consumers in relation to goods and services.
At the same time, "conciliateurs" were introduced at cantonal level. 
Their task is more general than that of P.0. Box No 5000. They can 
deal with any dispute and do not specialize in the consumer field.
Attached to the directorate of competition and consumer affairs of 
each department, P,0. Box No 5000 is contacted simply by letter.
The staff classify complaints according to whether they involve:
(i) a contractual dispute between traders, tradesmen and consumers 
arising at the time of a consumer transaction;
(ii) an instance of failure to comply with the rules in force 
complained of by consumers ;
(iii) requests by consumers for advice and guidance.
Where the claim suggests that an infringement has been committee or 
where the consumer seeks help and advice, the letter is sent 
direct to the appropriate administrative department. Where the 
dispute is of a contractual nature, the letter is sent to one or 
more consumer or trade associations.
Where mere transmission of the claim does not result in a settlement, 
the file may be sent to a tripartite conciliation board consisting 
of representatives of the authorities, consumers and the trade 
concerned.
The "conciliateurs" differ in many respects.3.09FRANCE

- 51 -
Appointed by the first President of the Cour d’Appel (Court of 
Appeal), at his descretion, without any special condition as to 
their representativeness, they act in the name of equity.
No specific instrument specifies their powers or the procedure 
applicable before them.
The "conciliateurs" usually receive complainants at the town hall 
and then invite the other parties to appear with a view to reaching 
an agreement. As a rule, no written record is kept of the meetings. 
The agreements concluded before them are not recorded in writing.
When this formality is completed, the minutes must be lodged with 
the court registry and may be accompanied by an order for enforcement.
The number of cases dealt with by these bodies is much smaller than 
that submitted to the ordinary courts. They are too recent an 
institution, however, for definitive conclusions to be drawn from 
their relative success.

- 52 -
3.10 NETHERLANDS
There are in the Netherlands a large number of conciliation and 
arbitration bodies which provide aggrieved consumers with a way of 
making their complaints heard without too much expense or unpleasant­
ness. From the legal point of view, these bodies vary considerably. 
Some make awards on a basis of arbitration, others in the form of 
"binding recommendations", and yet others in the form of non-binding 
opinions. As well as these bodies, there are disciplinary boards.
All of these institutions also differ widely as regards their 
regional distribution, composition, procedure, cost of access, 
popularity, etc.
The various bodies of this kind are more often than not divided up 
by sector of activity. Apart from the advantage of the discipline 
provided by a trade organization, these bodies offer the further 
advantage that proceedings are less formal and time-consuming. 
However, it is only as a result of the highly structured nature of 
trades and businesses in the Netherlands that these bodies are able 
to operate effectively,
A number of examples are given below to illustrate the various types 
of conciliation and arbitration bodies.
3.11 Committees for dealing with disputes
There has long been in the Netherlands a whole series of committees 
for dealing with disputes, whose task it is to examine claims by 
consumers concerning transactions with traders and to give a ruling 
on such claims. Such decisions mostly take the form of a "binding 
recommendation" delivered on the basis of a clause which is often 
already contained in the contract and provides that, in the event of 
a dispute, the parties will refer the matter to a third party to 
decide how the contract should be interpreted or performed. Strictly 
speaking, the binding recommendation therefore forms part of the 
contract. It is therefore possible to ask the court, as in the case 
of any other part of a contract, to give a ruling on its value (that 
is to say its reasonableness and fairness),  In certain sectors of 
activity, such committees are set up either by consumer organizations

- 53 -
in cooperation with trade associations, or by the trade associations 
themselves, or by independent experts. Although these committees 
have certain advantages from the consumer's point of view (speedy, 
informal procedure, generally low costs, opinions of specialists), 
they may also, because of their semi-judicial nature, not provide 
adequate safeguards as to the quality of the procedure and the 
impartiality of the judgment. The authorities have considered it 
advisable to improve the processing of complaints from consumers.
In 1975 they set up for that purpose a system whereby committees 
for dealing with complaints are approved and financed, so as to 
promote the creation and continued existence of those which deal, in 
each sector of activity, with consumer complaints, provided they 
satisfy a number of criteria. Since then, nine such committees have 
been approved. The Consumentenklachten foundation provides for 
the needs of eight of them (travel, leisure, household goods, dry- 
cleaning, laundering, the laying of floors, the installation of 
kitchens and the public services (water, gas, etc.)), by means among 
other things of government grants, while the Bontwaarborg foundation 
supports the committee which deals with disputes concerning furs.
An important condition for the approval of committees is that their 
composition must guarantee their impartiality. This means that if 
representatives of the trade concerned sit on the committee, an 
equal number of representatives of consumer associations must also 
sit on it. Moreover, the chairman must be independent of the 
groups on the committee and he must have a law degree.
Another important condition is that committees for dealing with 
disputes must operate in accordance with the requirements expressly 
laid down. Their rules of procedure must, in particular, specify 
the type of dispute admissible, the time limit and procedure for 
referring the matter to the committee, the hearing of the parties, 
the type of decision, the grounds for the decision and its 
communicat ion.
Hearings must be held in public and decisions must be published.
Although the procedure is inexpensive, claimants must contribute to 
the costs, their share varying from FL 20 to FL 45. If the claim 
proves well-founded, this contribution will be reimbursed by the 
defendant.

- 54 -
There are also a number of committees which do not have approval, 
such as the ANWB-BOVAG committee, within which the ANWB represents 
consumers and BOVAG the motor trade. This committee gives rulings 
free of charge in the form of binding recommendations in response to 
written complaints concerning vehicle repairs or second-hand car 
guarantees.
3.12 Arbitration tribunals
In contrast to the committees for dealing with disputes, for which 
no express provision is made by law, the activities of "arbitrators" 
are governed in a fairly detailed manner by the Code of Civil 
Procedure. The Code makes a distinction according to whether or not 
an arbitration clause exists.
The arbitrators must decide cases "according to the rules of law", 
unless the parties empower them to act as mediators. The enforcement 
of arbitration awards requires the "exequatur" (order) of the 
tribunal's chairman. The latter may not examine the substance of the 
case, the only ground for refusing the "exequatur" being failure to 
comply with the necessary formalities.
The main reasons for chosing arbitration are as follows:
1. specialist knowledge of the arbitrators;
2. speeding up of the procedure, which is less formal.
It would appear, however, that in practice proceedings are often 
fairly lengthy and not necessarily less expensive,
In the Netherlands, an example of an arbitration tribunal is the 
Arbitration Council for the Building Industry. The Council consists 
of a large number of members (building experts) who may be chosen by 
the parties to the dispute or appointed by the Council's chairman 
to sit on an ad hoc arbitration committee.
The procedure is at first written, then oral, with, if necessary, an 
on-the-spot enquiry. It generally gives rise to an arbitration 
award (see above).
In addition to the arbitration tribunals for each sector of activity,
there is the Dutch Arbitration Institute which hears appeals, and 
any person may approach it if necessary.

- 55 -
3.13 Consultation or conciliation bodies
There are a large number of bodies of this bype, only a few of which 
will he mentioned here by way of example.
First of all, the consumer organizations "Consumentenbond" and 
"Consumenten Kontakt" both have consultation and conciliation 
servie s. Their members may seek, either in writing or by telephone, 
assistance in solving, or preventing, all sorts of problems.
There are also various specialist organizations such as the house­
holders' association (in the housing sector) and the ANWB (in the 
highways and waterways sector) which give advice to their members 
(and sometimes to third parties) and if necessary act on their 
behalf.
Mention should also be made in this context of such public bodies 
as the legal aid offices and the social services. These two bodies 
have a very wide field of action which covers not only problems 
encountered by consumers but also those connected with social 
security, divorce, etc.
3.14 Disciplinary tribunals
A large number of professional and trade organizations have 
"disciplinary" tribunals. These are bodies of professional colleagues, 
in some cases set up by law, which give rulings on complaints of a 
collective nature or made by individual consumers.
Examples are the Indemnity Insurance Companies' Supervisory 
Committee, the Supervisory Chamber of the Dutch Association of 
Insurance Brokers, the Arbitrage-Instituut Bouwkunst (architects) 
and the Supervisory Boards of the Dutch Lawyers' Association (set up 
under the law relating to lawyers).

- 56 -
3·15 FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
A, Arbitration bodies provided for under Article 27(a) of the Law 
prohibiting unfair competition
Under the powers accorded them in Article 27(a) of the Law 
prohibiting unfair competition, the Lander Governments have set 
up arbitration bodies ("Einigungsstellen") within the Chambers 
of Commerce and Industry in order to bring about an amicable 
settlement between parties involved in a dispute concerning trans­
actions with a consumer, all civil law disputes falling within 
the scope of Article 13 of the law may be referred to these bodies, 
with a view to reaching an agreement, by either party, even without 
the consent of the opposing party. The arbitration body may make 
a compromise proposal but cannot make an arbitration award, If a 
dispute has been referred to a court, the hearing may be adjourned 
at the request of one of the parties, provided that the parties 
concerned apply to the arbitration body before the new hearing in 
order to reach an amicable settlement. The procedures observed 
by these arbitration bodies are largely laid down by orders 
published by the Lander.  They aim at an amicable settlement where 
possible. Hearings by arbitration bodies are not normally held 
in public.
3.16 B. Conciliation bodies of the chambers of industry and commerce
These bodies were set up with the aim of preventing a confrontation 
between suppliers and consumers by means of self-imposed rules 
for settlement of consumer disputes, and avoiding the imposition 
of binding rules by the legislative authorities.
The legal basis is Article 1  of th^ Law on chambers of industry 
and commerce (IHK Gesetz).  An essentially uniform model procedure 
was developed by a working party of the Deutscher Industrie- und 
Handelstag (German Industrial and Trade Association), the 
umbrella organization of the chambers of industry and commerce.
The jurisdiction of the conciliation bodies extends to disputes 
between private ultimate consumers and firms belonging to the 
chamber concerning goods and services of a non-craft nature.

- 57 -
At the end of February 1977, 75% of all chambers of commerce and 
industry (54) had a total of 62 conciliation bodies to deal with 
complaints and claims made by consumers. Thirty six of these 54 
chambers have permanent conciliation bodies, while in the case of 
the other 18 these bodies have not yet been formalized. Thirteen 
of the 19 chambers which to date do not yet have a conciliation 
body attached to them do not intend to set one up in the future, 
while six of them are at present planning to do so.
Twenty nine chambers of commerce and industry have an arbitration 
board. These boards consist of a chairman and two assessors 
(representing respectively manufacturers and traders, and 
consumers).  In three other chambers there are plans to set up such 
a board. In 25 chambers the conciliation body consists of 
administrators, advisers and experts from the chamber. In 25 
chambers the conciliation body is directed by independent lawyers 
(m ostly judges) and in 19 chambers by competent staff from the 
chamber itself.
In all, 35 chambers involve consumers' organizations in the 
conciliation procedure and a further three intend to do so. It is 
mainly the local branches of the federation of German housewives 
and the head offices of the consumer organizations in the different 
Lander that are involved in these procedures. Representatives of 
consumers' organizations are already invited to act either as 
assessors or merely as consultants in 35 chambers in all. In 
general, the chambers of commerce consider that collaboration 
with consumers' organizations is satisfactory.
The conciliation bodies try to settle most cases by interviews 
and attempts at mediation and try to avoid going through with 
formal proceedings. They deal with an average of 20 complaints 
a month.
The chambers generally accept only written complaints though 
some do accept verbal complaints, particularly those made by 
telephone.

- 58 -
3.17 C. Arbitration and conciliation bodies for specific sectors
Apart from the conciliation bodies set up by the chambers of 
industry and commerce., there are a number of other arbitration and 
conciliation bodies such as
- the mediation bodies of the Chambers of Crafts
- the arbitration bodies of the motor vehicle repair and mainten­
ance sector
- the arbitration bodies of the used car trade;
- the arbitration bodies for complaints concerning dry cleaning;
- the arbitration bodies for radio and television service 
engineers,
There has hitherto been no detailed analysis of the scope of these 
bodies, the number of complaints, the procedures and the percentage 
of successes.
Their activity can be illustrated in greater detail by the example 
of the widespread and well known arbitration bodies in the motor 
vehicle repair and maintenance sector.
The Schlichtungsstelle fiir das Kraftfahrzeughandwerk Hamburg 
(Conciliation body of the Hamburg motor vehicle repairers),  which 
consists of an equal number of trade and consumer representatives, 
provides an interesting example of a conciliation procedure. It 
was set up in May 1970 by the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobilclub 
(ADAC),  which represents the interests of motorists, and by the 
Innung des Kraftfahrzeughandwerks Hamburg (Corporation of Hamburg 
Motor Vehicle Repairers), which represents the interests of the 
repair shops. Its objective is to settle, in an impartial, 
unbureaucratic manner, as inexpensively as possible and at no 
cost to the parties, disputes between clients and repair shops 
concerning the need for, or the execution and calculation of, 
repair work, and at the same time to improve the climate of mutual 
understanding between clients and repair shops in general and to 
avoid disputes by providing information.

- 59 -
Between May 1970 and the end of 1974 a total of 7 219 complaints 
was referred to the relevant body (Technical Division of ADAC 
Hamburg, which has a staff of two - an engineer and a secretary). 
The bulk of these complaints were dealt with at the preliminary 
procedure stage, some by an amicable agreement between the 
customer and the repair shop. Only in 423 cases was a procedure 
initiated before the conciliation board, which consists of a 
lawyer (the judge), who presides, and two representatives, one 
from the ADAC, the other from the Motor Vehicle Repairers' 
Corporation. In over 50% of the cases dealt with the board held 
that the complaint was completely or partly justified.
In most of the cases the sum at issue was below DM 100. The board 
makes awards with due regard for substantive law and equity. 
Lawyers are not allowed to appear before the conciliation body.
The costs incurred by the conciliation body (currently around 
DM 1  800 a month) are shared equally by the ADAC and the Motor 
Vehicle Repairers' Corporation.
The average duration of proceedings was from two to three months. 
Oral proceedings lasting half an hour on average are generally 
sufficient to conclude the proceedings. Where the proceedings do 
not lead to an amicable settlement between the parties, the board' 
decision is generally announced immediately after the end of the 
proceedings.
Unlike the award of an arbitration tribunal, decisions of the 
conciliation body do not have the force of a final judgment 
between the parties concerned. These decisions are, however, 
strictly observed by the workshops in question. Under a decision 
of the Hamburg Motor Vehicle Repairers' Corporation all repair 
shops affiliated to the Corporation (approximately 80% of all 
repair shops in Hamburg) are required to comply with decisions of 
the conciliation body.
So far there have been only two instances of garages being 
expelled from the Corporation for failing to comply with decisions

- 60 -
The conciliation body endeavours, by means of a public information 
service, to prevent as far as possible disputes between customers 
and repair shops. The body considers the main causes of disputes 
to be as follows:
1. Failure on the part of the garage to provide the customer with 
sufficient technical information;
2. Vague instructions from the customer;
3. Excessive workload at the garages;
4. Imprecise estimates of cost by the garage;
5. The customer's inability to judge the need for repairs carried 
out.
In the meantime, a further 61 towns and cities in the Federal 
Republic have set up conciliation bodies (often also called 
arbitration bodies) with equal representation in the motor 
vehicle repair and maintenance trade on the lines of the Hamburg 
model. The ADAC considers that the conciliation bodies have 
proved their worth. The Warentest institute (Berlin) is also 
positive in its assessment and has recommended that such 
"remarkably successful" bodies should be set up in other 
industries, since it would appear that recourse is seldom had to 
the institute's existing conciliation bodies.
3.18 D. Other arbitration and conciliation bodies
The Medical Councils have conciliation bodies for questions 
concerning medical ethics and architects have set up conciliation 
bodies for disputes between architects and their clients. 
Arbitration bodies have also been established by certain service 
industry associations, e.g. the Association of Salvage and Break­
down Firms. Overall, the trend to set up extra-judicial settlement 
procedures for consumer disputes in the service sector that 
started to emerge in 1974 has increased recently.

- 61 -
3·19 UNITED KINGDOM
In addition to the new official arbitration procedures for minor 
disputes provided for in the county courts, there exists in the 
United Kingdom an informal system of arbitration for small claims.
The schemes in question do not permit legal representation and only 
private individuals (and not traders) may bring complaints. Also, 
arbitration systems quite different from these have been promoted by 
the Office of Fair Trading on the basis of codes of practice.
"Arbitration under codes of practice"
Under Section 124(3) of the Fair Trading Act, 1973, it is incumbent 
on the Director-General of Fair Trading to encourage representative 
trade associations to lay down standards of ethics with a view to 
protecting the interests of consumers. This is a task to which the 
Director-General attaches the highest importance since there are 
certain fields in which the protection of the interests of consumers 
is best assured by self-imposed discipline on the part of members of 
the trade rather than by official controls.
Since 1973, trade associations have established, in collaboration with 
the Office of Fair Trading, codes in the following fields:
Sale of domestic electrical appliances and after-sales service 
Package tours
Sale and servicing of motor vehicles
Sale and repair of shoes
Laundering
Furnishing
Funeral directors
Photography-
Mail-order selling
Direct sales and services
Glass and glazing
The Office has also helped to introduce codes covering the postal 
and telecommunications services.

- 62 -
Although in certain respects the codes simply repeat the provisions 
applicable to the sale of goods and services and reaffirm rights 
which the consumer would enjoy in any case, they confer, in other 
important areas, additional duties on the trader and additional 
rights on the consumer.
Thus, according to the code applied by the Association of British 
Travel Agents (ABTA),  travel agencies cannot impose an exchange rate 
variation surcharge less than 30 days before the departure date, and 
if the holiday has to be changed considerably the customer must be 
given an opportunity to cancel his reservation and obtain reimbursement 
in full of any payments made.
Similarly, the codes concerning the repair of electrical appliances 
lay down time limits for carrying out on-the-spot repair work and 
minimum periods during which spare parts must be kept in stock after 
an appliance has ceased to be manufactured.
3.20 One of the fundamental principles of the Office's policy on codes is 
that they must provide for an effective system of settling disputes, 
consisting generally of three or four stages. Dissatisfied consumers 
should first of all approach the trader direct, then, if they do not 
obtain satisfaction, they should consult a local consumer assistance 
body such as the Citizens' Advice Bureau or a Trading Standards 
Department. The third stage consists in an attempt at conciliation 
by the appropriate trade association. In some cases, the trade 
association can provide additional services: for example, the Shoe
and Allied Trades Research Association (SATRA) administers the Foot­
wear Testing Centre, which can have tests carried out in the event 
of a dispute between a customer and a retailer in order to determine 
whether the defect in a shoe is due to faulty manufacture or misuse 
by the consumer.
As the fourth and last stage, most codes give the consumer who 
prefers not to institute proceedings before the county court or 
sheriff court the option of resorting to low-cost, independent 
arbitration organized by the Chartered Institute of Aribtrators. 
Disputes which have been submitted to arbitration can no longer be

- 63 -
brought before a court.  The amount which the consumer has to pay for 
arbitration is generally between fl 0 and £ 15.
The arbitrator appointed by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators 
gives a ruling according to the rules of law, that is to say he has 
to consider encroachments on rights recognized by the law and not 
alleged infringements of a provision of the code. He decides on 
documentary evidence alone so as to limit the trader's costs should 
he lose. No appeal from the arbitration award is possible unless 
points of law are raised.
Recently (1981), the Office took stock of the means of redress 
available to consumers under the codes of conduct and came to the 
conclusion that, for consumers facing adherents of a code, arbitration 
remains a useful means of redress in parallel with conventional legal 
action. The report ends with a few recommendations, the most 
important of which are as follows: the arbitration machinery provided
for under the various codes should be as harmonized as the specific 
nature of trades allows; arbitration should be based only on 
documentary evidence in order to limit costs; time limits should 
be laid down for the conclusion of the conciliation and arbitration 
states; arbitrators should be able to call on expert opinion without 
cost to the parties and, lastly, arbitration awards should always 
state the grounds on which they are based.

- 64 -
ANNEX 4
ADVICE CENTRES

ADVICE CENTRES
In pursuit of an active policy of preventive protection of the public 
in legal matters and especially with regard to consumer affairs, all 
the member countries of the Community have for a number of years 
encouraged the setting up of advice centres to help all citizens 
with problems of a legal nature. The British led the way here by 
setting up a network of law centres and consumer advice centres 
throughout England, Wales and Scotland.
The Advice Centres vary widely from one country to another and also 
differ within the same country. Generally speaking, however, they 
deal with a variety of problems ranging from disputes between tenants 
and landlords and labour disputes to disputes between producers and 
consumers.
Broadly speaking, the centres may be divided into two categories:
1. The private centres, run by members of the legal profession,
students or trade unionists.
Although private, such centres may receive official assistance. 
They exist in all the member countries although only to a very 
limited extent in Italy.
2. The official centres.
These centres may operate under the auspices of certain 
ministries, be attached to courts under legal aid schemes, be run 
by the local authorities or operate at Land level in the Federal 
Republic of Germany.
Apart from in the latter country, such centres also exist in 
France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Obviously the advice given by competent lawyers or by official 
departments provides the public with assistance of a higher quality- 65 -
4.01

-  66  -
in an area where the wrong advice may sometimes have serious  
consequences. However, as many of the problems dealt with by the  
"law shops" are minor ones and are often of the same type, those  
which are run by non-lawyers manage to provide those seeking advice  
with the information they require to defend their rights, and there­
fore meet the demands made upon them.
A description is given below of the Advice Centres existing in the  
various countries of the Community.
4.02 IRELAND
A scheme of Civil Legal Aid and Advice was introduced in December  
1979. The scheme aims to provide legal services, including legal  
advice and legal aid in court proceedings, to persons of limited  
means who genuinely need them but cannot afford them. The scheme is  
comprehensive in scope, although a small number of categories of  
proceedings are excluded. Legal aid is not available under the  
scheme for proceedings for trivial amounts measured at present by  
way of a limit of IR 150; legal advice can, however, be given in  
the case of claims for small amounts.
The Legal Aid Board, the independent body founded by the State  
which administers the scheme, have established a number of law  
centres throughout the country where applicants can seek legal aid  
and advice, and it is hoped that further centres will be established.
The scheme is means-tested and it contains provisions whereby the  
merits of the case which an applicant wishes to bring before the  
courts are assessed by the Board before public expenditure is  
incurred.
The scheme provides legal aid and advice through Law Centres staffed  
by solicitors in the full time employment of the Legal Aid Board.

- 67 -
4.03 BELGIUM
The legal aid advice and defence centre is competent to give verbal  
advice, except where legal proceedings are concerned, to people of  
modest financial means.
In acMition, advice is sometimes provided on specific matters by  
certain authorities, for instance:
- The Ministry of Economic Affairs has a service providing  
information on the new laws on rents;
- The Trade Unions;
- The "ligue des families"
- The "tele barreau", a free legal advice service at the Palais  
de Justice, Brussels, which can be contacted by telephone;
- The "Info-consommateurs" information centre, established in  
Brussels by the "Test-Achats" consumer association.
"Law shops" have also been set up by lawyers in a number of working  
class districts in Brussels in order to help foreigners in particular.

-  68 -
4.04 DENMARK
In Denmark legal advice centres provide citizens with advice on many  
everyday problems - family matters, wills and succession, questions  
of tortious liability, the purchase of various articles, leases on  
living accommodation, conditions of employment.
Legal advice is also given to people who need to fill in applications  
for legal aid or institute proceedings in minor cases.
In the Copenhagen area legal advice is given by a government-subsidized  
private body; the advice is free and is provided by law students  
and lawyers. Outside Copenhagen the advice is given by private  
lawyers. A very modest sum is charged for each consultation (25% of  
the fee is paid by the client, 75% by the State).
The advice system differs in many respects from legal aid, it reaches  
a much larger number of citizens (80%) and no prior request is  
necessary.
The administrative departments of the courts publish annually a list  
of the lawyers who give legal advice. These departments will send a  
copy of the list direct to anyone requesting it.

- 69 -
4.05 FRANCE
A number of advice centres are open to the public. Unfortunately,  
it is not possible to give a complete list. We shall therefore  
confine ourselves to listing the better-known ones.
1. In most courts reception services run by lawyers provide all kinds  
of information, in particular on the procedure to be followed
in order to bring proceedings and on the various stages of the  
proceedings.
2. In some town halls, lawyers give free advice anonymously to anyone
who needs it. The times and days when they are available for
consultation are specified by the town hall authorities. In  
addition, information sheets on legal matters published by the  
Ministry of Justice and dealing with the organization of the courts,  
legal aid, divorce and maintenance are made available to the  
public.
3. "SOS Lawyers": this advice service operates in Paris from Monday
to Friday. In urgent cases a lawyer intervenes anonymously to  
advise members of the public on problems that are worrying them.  
Those using the services pay very little.
4. The Paris departmental notaries' association provides free  
information on matters concerning the activities of notaries.
5. "Law shops".
For some years now lawyers, students and ordinary citizens have  
been getting together within associations in
order to provide legal information free of charge or on payment  
of a small fee. These "shops" are to be found in the working  
class districts of Paris and in certain other French towns (Lille,  
Strasbourg, Grenoble, Rouen, Toulouse). These groups are intended  
to provide ordinary people with information in simple, comprehen­
sible language, and defend them if need be.

- 70 -
6. The Institut National de la Consommation (National Consumers'  
Institute) provides an information service on consumer problems  
for individuals in Paris.
7. The unions régionales d'organisation de consommateurs (UROC -  
regional unions of consumer organisations) provide information 
free of charge to consumers who have a specific problem, as does  
the Chambre de Consommation d'Alsace for the towns of Strasbourg  
and Mulhouse.
8. The trade unions and political parties always have someone on call  
to give free advice to their members.
9. The Association d'information juridique des travailleurs (Workers'  
Legal Information Association) and the Association d'information  
juridique des salariés (Wage-Earners' Legal Information Association),  
which under the arrangements of the Law of 1901 are made up of  
members of the legal profession, have concluded contracts with  
works committees in order to provide the staff with the  
information they need as regards both social law (work, social  
security), and the law relating to housing, the family and
consumer matters (insurance, credit).

- 71 -
4.06 ITALY
Italian law makes no provision for legal aid outside the framework  
of legal proceedings.
In Milan, however, a group of lawyers has recently decided to make  
itself available to the members of a consumer's association for a  
few hours a week to provide them with advice on all kinds of  
matters. The advice will be free of charge.
The principal trade union organizations also provide their members  
with an advice service in the field of labour law and social  
security law. As regards social security law proper - retirement  
pensions, pensions for occupational accidents and diseases - the  
major Italian trade unions have set up bodies which, from the  
institutional point of view, provide workers and pensioners with  
advice and assistance in administrative proceedings instituted  
against the public institutions which administer social insurance.  
These bodies - which are known as "enti di patronato" - are  
officially recognized under Italian law (cf. legislative decree  
C.P.S. of 29 July 1947, No 804).

- 72 -
4.07 LUXEMBOURG
In the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the ministerial regulation of  
16 November 1976 established a legal reception and information  
service under the authority of the Minister for Justice. This  
service is provided
- on a regular basis by an official of the court who receives  
visitors and directs them to the appropriate departments, giving  
them the necessary technical information and means;
- on certain days, by a committee consisting of a lawyer or a  
third-year trainee lawyer assisted by a second year or first- 
year trainee lawyer. The task of the committee is to give  
individuals general advice on the extent of their rights and the  
ways and means of asserting them, listen to their complaints  
about difficulties encountered in asserting their rights and  
suggest ways of getting round them.

- 73 -
4.08 NETHERLANDS
There are many services on offer in the Netherlands. Below we
shall confine ourselves to mentioning the major ones.
1. The legal aid centres, which might be called "official" centres,  
may appoint a lawyer on normal terms or give advice themselves.
For a long time the latter approach has been the exception but  
the centres have expanded their activities in this field over  
the past few years. Special sessions are organized for consul­
tations in various areas of the region. Recently certain centres  
have started to employ one or more non-practising lawyers to carry  
out these duties.
2. The trade unions advise their members and pay their lawyers' fees  
in certain cases. The same applies to the big consumers' and  
motorists' associations, as well as the largest general consumers'  
association, the "Consumentenbond", which proceeds in this  
manner when it expects a court ruling likely to settle a question  
of principle of importance to consumers.
3. Certain political parties and other organizations (for instance  
a broadcasting station and a women's association) have a private  
"mediator" to whom complaints may be addressed. The television  
programme "Ombudsman" broadcast by one of the radio and television  
channels has a large staff for this purpose. A number of  
channels also have special radio and television programmes for  
consumers.
4. The social workers employed by local authorities and other  
departments give advice on certain matters and, in other cases,  
help those concerned to seek the advice of experts. Some big  
towns have appointed a special "mediator" or "ombudsman" to deal  
with problems involving the municipality itself.
5. Recently, an institution was created in the Netherlands known as  
"de nationale Ombudsman". Anyone can address complaints to him

- 74 -
about the public authorities.
6. In all conurbations with more than 100 000 inhabitants and even  
in certain other communes, there are one or more "law surgeries",  
either private or run by the universities. These "surgeries"  
are managed by young lawyers in private practice and/or by the  
university staff. They employ law students, who each work for  
periods of approximately eight months. The "surgeries" are open 
mainly in the evenings and generally confine themselves to giving  
advice. They normally help anyone seeking assistance. Sometimes,  
in particular where legal proceedings seem to be necessary, they  
send their clients to the legal aid office. The public contributes  
only to the administrative costs (FI 10 at the most).
7. After a decree of separation or divorce, the court appoints a  
notary to draw up the act of separation of estates where approp­
riate. If legal aid has been granted the services of the notary  
are free. The president of the court may instruct a notary to  
draw up free of charge wills or other documents (the notary system  
derived from Roman law is in force in the Netherlands),  but such  
decisions are rare, mainly because the drawing up of wills and  
marriage settlements is not expensive (around FI 100). In  
Amsterdam young notaries' clerks provide an hour's free consul­
tations a week. This idea has been taken up in other towns.
x
x x
The "law surgeries" are subsidized either by a university, by the  
State or the commune, or by both. The students or lawyers involved 
in these services work on a voluntary basis, as do the notaries in  
the case of their weekly hour of free consultations.
The trade unions, political parties and social workers, however,  
pay their legal advisers.

- 75 -
4.°9 UNITED KINGDOM
1. Under the "legal aid and advice scheme", people of limited means  
may obtain, on payment of a small charge or free of charge, the  
advice of solicitor or counsel and assistance on questions of  
English or Scots law.
The scheme enables a solicitor to provide the person concerned,  
as if he were a fee-paying client, with assistance on any matter  
normally dealt with by a solicitor. This assistance may comprise,  
for instance, advice, the drafting of letters and documents, and  
the negotiation of settlements. It does not, however, cover  
matters in connection with legal proceedings, as these are  
covered by legal aid. Assistance is given on both criminal and  
civil matters. Assistance may be granted only up to a set fee;  
the solicitor may not provide advice or assistance for which the  
fee will exceed |A5 without having obtained the approval of the  
Regional Committee in whose jurisdiction the matter is raised.
With such approval, however, there is no limit to the services  
that may be rendered, except with regard to the institution of  
legal proceedings.
Under this scheme, advice and assistance are available to anyone  
whose weekly income (after deductions for income tax and national 
insurance contributions and certain allowances for dependants)  
does not exceed J^85 or who is in receipt of social security 
benefits and (in either case) whose disposable capital (i.e.,  
savings which can be easily realized, after certain deductions  
for dependants) does not exceed 600. If his net income exceeds  
«£40 per week the client must pay part of the solicitor's fees.
The amount of his contribution to the cost is calculated on a  
sliding scale, starting at ^5.00 for a disposable income of  
between and jf50 and rising to <2?49 for a disposable income of  
i85.
The same scheme has been in operation in Northern Ireland since  
November 1979. The legal aid and advice scheme is administered  
by the Law Society (the controlling body in the case of solicitors),

- 76 -
but the conditions under which advice may be sought are governed 
by statute.
Thirty-seven offices, each with its own staff, have already been  
established in those areas of England and Wales where a need  
for legal services has made itself felt. The solicitors at these  
law centres specialize in labour law and social security law,  
fields rarely covered by private sector lawyers, and thus provide  
aid and legal advice and represent their clients.
2. Alongside this system, there exists an independent network of  
Legal Advice Centres which provide free advice and are open for  
a few hours a week. They are generally staffed by lawyers  
working on a voluntary basis.
It is important to note that they differ from one another to quite  
a large extent, both in terms of organization and of size.
3. Consumer Advice Centres.
These centres are established in the main shopping streets in  
major towns and provide consumers with all kinds of information  
and advice on their purchases. They are also competent to deal  
with complaints.
Some of the centres consist of mobile units (caravans serving  
villages). In all there are around 60 consumer advice centres.  
They are financed by Government grants and by local authorities.
4. Housing Advice Centres.
The purpose of these centres is to deal with the specific  
problems of those who use them. There are around 150 of these  
centres and two-thirds of them are run by local authorities.
The others are independent and financed by the Catholic Housing  
Aid Society.

- 77 -
.  FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY4.10 ---------------------------
Und
er the Beratungshilfegesetz (legal aid law) of 18 June 1980  
(BGB1. I, page 689) people in need are entitled to legal aid in  
matters not involving court proceedings. This aid consists of legal  
advice and, where necessary, representation. Legal aid is given by  
a lawyer whom the consumer is free to choose. The consumer may  
apply direct to the lawyer for this purpose. He pays the lawyer  
a fee of only DM 20 and even this may be waived in cases of extreme  
need. The State pays the rest of the lawyer’s fee for the legal  
aid. Before going to a lawyer, the consumer may also consult the  
district court first. In simple cases the court can also provide  
legal aid, if the consumer's problem can be resolved by providing  
information on the spot, referring him to other possibilities of  
assistance or accepting an application or declaration. Otherwise  
the district court issues the consumer with a voucher entitling him  
to consult a lawyer of his choice. The legal aid law contains  
certain conditions for the granting of legal aid designed to prevent  
the misues of legal aid facilities. In Hamburg and Bremen a  
procedure was introduced some time ago whereby public bodies provide  
legal advice. This replaces legal aid under the legal aid law in  
those Lander. In Berlin the consumer has the choice of turning to  
one of the legal advice bodies that have existed there for some  
time or using the legal aid facilities under the legal aid law.
Associations established on an occupational or similar basis (such  
as trade unions, employers' associations, professional bodies) may  
as part of their work advise and assist their members on legal  
matters (Article 1, para. 7 of the Rechtsberatungsgesetz- Law on  
legal advice ). The Verbraucherzeutralen in the Lander are  
subsidized from public funds and are also empowered to provide  
legal assistance to consumers in matters not involving court  
proceedings (Article 1(3)(8) of the Law on legal advice).