During the 1990s many Commonwealth legislatures enacted ‘class action’ or ‘representative proceedings’ legislation.1The main justification for these initiatives was to increase access to justice for claimants particularly where the injury was widespread but the harm suffered by any particular individual was small. Much of this legislation built on developments in the United States, which had developed a sizable jurisprudence in the area. ‘Mass torts’, those defined as having a large impact engaging multiple claimants, have often formed the cause of action in US class actions. A review of the website ‘Big Class Actions‘,2which lists over one hundred current suits in the United States, is instructive on how the class action industry has grown in that country.
The Tobacco Agreement That Went up in Smoke: Defining the Limits of Congressional Intervention into Ongoing Mass Tort Litigation