Collective protection of consumer rights: prospects for legislative implementation

Abstract

The prospects and challenges of implementing the institution of collective consumer rights protec­tion in Ukraine in the context of European integ­ration have been examined. The relevance of the work is due to the low efficiency of the current model of individual judicial protection, which often discou­rages citizens from defending their rights because of significant time and financial costs, especially in the case of minor but widespread damages. The research is based on the hypothesis of creating an effective mechanism for representative lawsuits through the activities of qualified organizations, which will significantly strengthen consumer’ legal protection and ensure the prevention of systemic violations by businesses. The study is based on a comprehensive analysis of the provisions of the Draft Law "On the Protection of Collective Consumers Interests," using a comparative legal method (in particular, the expe­rience of Germany, France, and the Netherlands) and content analysis of normative definitions. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed reform generally complies with the requirements of EU Directive 2020/1828, but requires clarification regarding financial support for non-profit organi­zations and the specification of criteria for third-party funding of litigation processes. The necessity of developing supplementary acts has been substan­tiated to ensure transparent monitoring of qualified organizations and to improve procedural norms regarding the allocation of court costs, in order to avoid excessive pressure on the initiators of lawsuits.