Class Actions and the 'mixed Law' Regimes That Have Embraced Them: A Comparative Reflection on Class Actions in the South African and Quebec Legal Systems

• Author: Monique Pansegrouw and Shaun E Finn
• Pages: 235-259

235

CLASS ACTIONS AND THE

“MIXED LAW” REGIMES THAT

HAVE EMBR ACED THEM:

A COMPA R ATIVE REFLECTION

ON CLASS ACTIONS IN THE

SOUTH AFRICAN AND QUEBEC

LEGAL SYSTEMS

Monique Pansegrouw and Shaun E Finn

Abstract: Over the course of the la st few decades, clas s actions

have gone from being an essent ially America n phenomenon

to one that is tru ly international. Cl ass actions have als o

transcended t he common law world and have been adopted

by civilian jurisdictions a nd by “mixed law” juri sdictions

such as Quebec and South Af rica. In the following ar ticle,

the authors exami ne how this unique form of complex litiga-

tion has been developed by t he courts of South Africa and ap-

plied in the context of a recent silicosi s case brought against

the gold mining industr y. The authors proceed to analyze the

case — and the is sues to which it gives rise — from the st and-

point of Quebec law and civi l procedure. This ana lysis shows

that while import ant distinctions e xist between Quebec a nd

South Africa, t he two mixed law juri sdictions are als o quite

similar when it comes to cl ass actions and have much to learn

from one another.