Marc Shelley

Brazil's legal system shares a common heritage with legal systems in the European Union. When it comes to collective redress, however, Brazil and the EU appear headed in opposite directions. The European Commission has articulated a series of recommendations to balance access to justice for both consumers and industry by, among other things, preserving the loser-pay rule, requiring a determination of admissibility at the earliest opportunity, and prohibiting punitive damages. Brazil should… Show more

Brazil's legal system shares a common heritage with legal systems in the European Union. When it comes to collective redress, however, Brazil and the EU appear headed in opposite directions. The European Commission has articulated a series of recommendations to balance access to justice for both consumers and industry by, among other things, preserving the loser-pay rule, requiring a determination of admissibility at the earliest opportunity, and prohibiting punitive damages. Brazil should heed the European recommendations rather than the path recommended in various proposals currently in the National Congress. Show less

This article examines the steps taken by the European Commission to develop its Recommendation on collective redress and where the key features already exist in current national laws.

Co-author of U.S. chapter on product liability law and trends in 2008-2015 editions of comparative legal treatise.

The class action debate in France has been partially driven by several high-profile product defect scandals in recent years. In response, a new French consumer law recently passed legislative and constitutional muster, which includes a troubling class action procedure for consumer protection and antitrust claims, and the government has already indicated it wishes to extend the model to health and environmental claims too.

Co-author of chapter surveying developments in class action lawsuits and legislation around the world in 2009-2014 editions of product liability litigation treatise.

On April 17, 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled in Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. that there is a presumption against the extra-territorial application of US common law to foreign entities for alleged violation of international law on foreign soil. Although none of the justices foreclosed the possibility entirely, this decision should substantially rein in the Alien Tort Statute and provide some reassurance to product manufacturers with global operations.

The Organisation for Economic 
Co-operation and Development (OECD) has launched a global online consumer product recall portal that gives consumers, businesses and governments easy access to the latest information on products recalled from the markets in Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States. 
The OECD’s efforts mark an ambitious evolution in the availability of such data on product safety risks on a global scale by making the information public and easily searchable. It remains to be… Show more

The Organisation for Economic 
Co-operation and Development (OECD) has launched a global online consumer product recall portal that gives consumers, businesses and governments easy access to the latest information on products recalled from the markets in Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States. 
The OECD’s efforts mark an ambitious evolution in the availability of such data on product safety risks on a global scale by making the information public and easily searchable. It remains to be seen whether this portal will aid the management of product safety risks and propel discussions of greater harmonisation of safety standards, or instead create new headaches for in-house counsel and compliance teams by confusing consumers and widening manufacturers’ litigation risks.
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