Defendant Class Actions and the Right to Opt Out: Lessons for Canada from the United States

Abstract

The recently introduced class action regime in the Federal Court of Canada which - unlike the class action regimes in Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta - authorises the certification of defendant class actions renders a study of defendant class actions desirable. The aim of this article is to explore the most important issue concerning the operation of defendant class actions, namely, whether any restrictions should be placed upon the ability of members of a defendant class to exclude themselves from the class, that is, to opt out.

Keywords: Defendant class actions, Canada, United States, Australia, opt out regime, opt in regime, representative proceedings, access to justice, judicial economy