Book contents
- Reviews
- Class Actions and Government
- Class Actions and Government
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Summary of Contents
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Table of Cases
- Table of Legislation
- Abbreviations
- Notes on Mode of Citation
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Preparing a Path to the Stadium
- Part II As a Participant in the Match
- 6 Government as Representative Claimant
- 7 Government as Class Member
- 8 Government as Class Actions Defendant
- 9 Government as Class Actions Beneficiary
- 10 Conclusion: Levelling the Playing Field
- Bibliography
- Index
9 - Government as Class Actions Beneficiary
from Part II - As a Participant in the Match
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2020
- Reviews
- Class Actions and Government
- Class Actions and Government
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Summary of Contents
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Table of Cases
- Table of Legislation
- Abbreviations
- Notes on Mode of Citation
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Preparing a Path to the Stadium
- Part II As a Participant in the Match
- 6 Government as Representative Claimant
- 7 Government as Class Member
- 8 Government as Class Actions Defendant
- 9 Government as Class Actions Beneficiary
- 10 Conclusion: Levelling the Playing Field
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The chapter explores the notion of the government as a financial beneficiary of class actions litigation. Experiences derived from the Comparator Jurisdictions suggest that there are three ways in which a government may benefit, directly or somewhat more tangentially, from class actions litigation. Depending upon the way in which the relevant class actions statute is drafted, the government may benefit from escheat distributions of unclaimed damages; it may be a statutorily designated beneficiary of such unclaimed damages; or it may be a cy-pres beneficiary, where such an order is made by the court or by virtue of a judicially approved settlement agreement. Each of these has been rather controversial, and certainly quite disparately implemented, across the Comparator Jurisdictions.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Class Actions and Government , pp. 315 - 364Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020