Ensuring effective redress for consumers, SMEs and public organisations: Hausfeld responds to SCJC Call for Evidence
Hausfeld, has submitted its response to the Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC) Call for Evidence, sharing practical insights from ongoing UK competition litigation and other collective redress cases to support the introduction to Scotland’s civil justice framework of an opt-out group proceedings regime.
In its submission, Hausfeld highlights that opt-out collective redress plays a complementary role alongside regulatory enforcement, helping consumers, small businesses and public organisations obtain redress at scale for dispersed, low‑value but systemically significant harms. Individual or opt-in actions alone are not a practical route for compensation to be achieved in respect of wrongs committed by powerful and otherwise unaccountable actors.
The firm identifies how the introduction of a Scottish opt-out regime could best achieve redress for mass harms in Scotland, with appropriate safeguards informed by the UK competition collective experience to date. This will widen access to justice while maintaining robust court oversight.
Scott Campbell, Head of Competition Disputes at Hausfeld, said:
“Scotland’s civil justice framework is a vital part of the country’s economic infrastructure. Introducing a more comprehensive system of collective redress will support not only access to justice but also fair, competitive markets. Our submission aims to contribute constructively to that process.”
Hausfeld’s response highlights:
- The importance of maintaining viable, court‑supervised funding arrangements that enable collective redress where individual claims would be uneconomic.
- The role of collective actions in reinforcing accountability and complementing public enforcement, ensuring compliance is rewarded and misconduct deterred.
- The benefits to consumers, SMEs and responsible businesses from accessible mechanisms that provide practical, enforceable remedies for non-competition mass harms, including data breach.
- As part of its engagement, Hausfeld welcomes ongoing dialogue with stakeholders to ensure that the approach to opt-out collective redress in Scotland is informed by the UK collective redress experience.
