소비자단체소송제도

Abstract

As the saying goes, “Where there is right, there is remedies (ugi jus ibi remedium),” there should be remedies where there are rights. Remedies for rights mean that those who have been directly harmed receive remedies. In other words, remedies for rights can be said to be compensation for damages. In cases of small or large-scale collective damages, remedies should be available through related procedures. However, even if a judgment is received from a court, if it is impossible to enforce it, it cannot be considered that the rights have been properly remedied. Furthermore, even if rights such as compensation for damages are remedied, if indiscriminate claims for damages are made against the other party, a crisis in the economic order may occur. Therefore, in the case of collective damages, if remedies are received through procedures, the ultimate homework that must be solved is not only the function of claiming compensation for damages, but also the question of how to claim compensation for damages and within what scope through procedures of the state or corporations, if compensation for damages is possible. German class actions have developed through Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the Unfair Competition Overcoming Act of 1896, Article 13, Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (UWG) of 1909, and Article 10, Claim for Recovery of Profits of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act of 2004. In 1976, the right to file a class action was recognized in the General Terms and Conditions Regulation Act, and later in 2001, the procedural law was stipulated in the Act on Omissions (UKlag) and the substantive law was stipulated in Articles 305 to 310 of the German Civil Code. Since then, it has been continuously studied through the Capital Investor Sample Procedure Act (KapMuG) of 2005, the Sample Confirmation Litigation (MFK) of 2018, and the Sample Confirmation Litigation (MFK) and Redress Litigation (AFK) of the German Consumer Rights Enforcement Act (VRUG) since the Sample Confirmation Litigation was removed and separated from the German Civil Procedure Code in October 2023. It is possible to secure the possibility of economic efficiency in litigation costs and a method of securing procedures through a claim for damages through a group (Verband). It is necessary to examine the flow of the German group lawsuit system carefully and to deeply examine the possibility of applying the German system to our country's legislation under the principle of good faith on specific issues such as consumer rights protection, scope of right to sue, and claim for damages.