Glossary

• Author: Suzanne Chiodo
• Pages: 231-233

GLOSSARY

aggregate

damages.

Damages

can

sometimes

be

determined

without

ref



erence

to

the

individual

class

members

’

discrete

claims.

This

can

occur

when

the

defendant

’

s

liability

has

been

established

and

some

or

all

class

members

are

entitled

to

monetary

relief,

and

it

is

possible

to

calculate

the

totality

of

the

harm

caused

by

the

defendant.

In

this

situation,

an

“

aggregate

damages

”

award

can

be

made

to

the

class

as

a

whole,

which

is

subsequently

apportioned

among

the

class

members.

certification.

Many

(but

not

all)

jurisdictions

have

a

certification

require



ment

for

class

actions,

where

a

motion

must

be

brought

for

court

approval

of

the

action

as

a

class

proceeding.

Certification

can

be

a

controversial

issue,

as

it

imposes

on

class

actions

a

requirement

that

is

not

imposed

on

ordinary

proceedings.

The

certification

stage

generally

requires

that

sev



eral

criteria

be

met.

In

some

jurisdictions,

this

includes

an

assessment

of

the

merits

of

the

action,

while

certification

in

other

jurisdictions

is

solely

a

procedural

hurdle.

class,

class

members.

The

group

on

whose

behalf

a

class

action

is

brought

is

generally

defined

in

the

statement

of

claim

(for

example,

“

all

Canadians

who

ingested

drug

X

between

2012

and

2016

”

),

and

the

individuals

in

this

group

are

known

as

“

class

members.

”

class

proceeding.

An

action

or

application

brought

on

behalf

of

a

group

of

people

(the

class),

which

claims

that

this

group

has

been

affected

by

the

actions

of

one

or

more

defendants.

For

the

purposes

of

this

book,

“

class

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