Editing Class action (section)

=== Germany ===

Class actions are generally not permitted in Germany, as German law does not recognize the concept of a targeted class being affected by certain actions. This requires each plaintiff to individually prove that they were affected by an action, and present their individual damages, and prove the causality between both parties.

Joint litigation ({{lang|de|{{ill|Streitgenossenschaft|de|Sammelklage#Streitgenossenschaft}}}}) is a legal act that may permit plaintiffs that are in the same legal community with respect to the dispute, or are entitled by the same factual or legal reason. These are not typically regarded as class action suits, as each individual plaintiff is entitled to compensation for their individual, incurred damages and not as a result of being a member of a class.

The combination of court cases ({{lang|de|{{ill|Prozessverbindung|de|Prozessverbindung}}}}) is another method that permits a judge to combine multiple separate court cases into a single trial with a single verdict. According to § 147 [[Civil procedure code of Germany|ZPO]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zivilprozessordnung § 147 Prozessverbindung |url=https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/zpo/__147.html |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=Bundesministerium der Justiz |language=de}}</ref> this is only permissible if all cases are regarding the same factual and legal event and basis.

==== Mediation procedure ====
A genuine extension of the legal effect of a court decision beyond the parties involved in the proceedings is offered under corporate law. This procedure applies to the review of stock payoffs under the Stock Corporation Act ({{lang|de|Aktiengesetz}}). Pursuant to Sec. 13 Paragraph 2 of the Mediation Procedure Act ({{lang|de|Spruchverfahrensgesetz}}), the court decision concerning the dismissal or direction of a binding arrangement of an adequate compensation is effective for and against all shareholders, including those who have already agreed to a previous settlement in this matter.

==== Investor model case proceedings ====
The Capital Investor Model Case Act ({{lang|de|Kapitalanleger-Musterverfahrensgesetz}}) is an attempt to enable model cases to be brought by a large number of potentially affected parties in the event of disputes, limited to the investment market.<ref>{{cite web |author= |url=http://kollektiverrechtsschutz.de/kapmug-verfahren/ |title=KapMuG-Verfahren |language=de |trans-title=KapMuG proceedings |work=Kollektiver Rechtsschutz |date= |access-date=2021-05-30 }}</ref> In contrast to US class actions, each affected party must file a lawsuit in its own name in order to participate in the model proceedings.

==== Model Declaratory Action ====
Effective on November 1, 2018, the Code of Civil Procedure ({{lang|de|[[Zivilprozessordnung (Germany)|Zivilprozessordnung]]}}) introduced the Model Declaratory Action (§ 606 ZPO) that created the ability to bundle similar claims by many affected parties efficiently into one proceeding.

Registered Consumer Protection Associations can file – if they represent at least 10 individuals – for a (general) judicial finding whether the factual and legal requirements for of claims or legal relationships are met or not. These individuals have to register in order to [[Inhibition (law)|inhibit]] their claims. Since these Adjudications are more of a general nature, each individual must assert their claims in their own court proceedings. The competent court is bound by the Model Declaratory Action decision.

==== Associate Action ====
German law also recognizes the associative action ({{lang|de|Verbandsklage}}), which is comparable to the class action and is predominantly used in environmental law. In civil law, the associative action is represented by a foreign body in the matter of asserting and enforcing individual claims and the claimant can no longer control the proceedings.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/554206/25f3f376cf4a44e6f4a5c41f399642db/wd-7-070-12-pdf-data.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020192526/https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/554206/25f3f376cf4a44e6f4a5c41f399642db/wd-7-070-12-pdf-data.pdf |archive-date=2019-10-20 |url-status=live | title=Sachstand WD 7 –3000/070 –12 | publisher=Deutscher Bundestag: Wissenschaftliche Dienste | date=2012-03-19 | language=de | access-date=2019-10-20}}</ref>

==== Class action with relation to the United States ====
Class actions can be brought by Germans in the US for events in Germany if the facts of the case relate to the US. For example, in the case of the [[Eschede train disaster]], the lawsuit was allowed because several aggrieved parties came from the US and had purchased rail tickets there.