Class actions and Georgian group protection
The class action, as a concept, comes from United States law: there, a single representative stands for thousands of injured consumers in one case. Georgian law knows no such procedural form — but the Law of Georgia on Protection of Consumer Rights creates functional analogues: the participation of non-commercial legal persons where the rights of a group of consumers are violated, the right to apply to the Agency or the sector regulator, and the voidness of unfair standard terms. This page explains what can be done for group interests under Articles 22, 28, 35 and 37 of that law.
Representation of a group interest
Under Article 37, non-commercial (non-profit) legal persons are entitled to participate in the protection of consumer rights, including the development and implementation of protection policy. Especially important is subparagraph 'a' of that article: where the rights of a group of consumers established by the law are violated, such a person takes part in preparing the relevant statement — the provision that stands closest to a class action.
Under the same article, non-commercial persons cooperate with business associations and state organs to defend the rights of groups of consumers, facilitate the resolution of disputes through mediation, and participate in information campaigns and educational programmes — group protection is thus realised through representative organisations.
A special rule concerns sector regulators: certain rules laid down in separate articles of the law do not extend to them, and in exercising the competence they act under procedures they themselves establish — the form of application and the manner of examination therefore differ by sector.
Application to the Agency and to court
Under the first paragraph of Article 28, the consumer may apply, regarding a violation of the law, to the public-law legal person — the Georgian Competition and Consumer Protection Agency — or to the sector regulator. The second paragraph of the same article states clearly that this right does not deprive the consumer of the right to apply to a court or to arbitration, or to resolve the dispute through mediation. The response to a group violation is thus twofold — administrative and judicial.
An Agency decision is appealed to court within 30 calendar days of its delivery to the trader (Article 35); and the appeal of a decision establishing a violation does not deprive the Agency of the power to impose the corresponding fine on the trader.