The directive does not apply in England and Wales due to Brexit.

In England and Wales, there is no dedicated class action regime. Claims in which multiple claimants seek similar relief can however be brought in a number of ways:

• Group litigation orders (GLOs): A GLO is an order of the court, made where multiple claims give rise to common or related issues of fact or law. These are opt-in claims where a claimant must take positive action to join the action and damages are often assessed on an individual basis following judgment. A GLO is publicised and has a cut-off date by which any claimant wishing to join the action must do so. Any judgment on a GLO issue will bind all other claims listed on the GLO register. The use of GLOs has declined in recent years (although there has been an increase recently in relation to certain types of claims).
• Representative action under Civil Procedure Rule 19.8: Representative actions can be brought by a representative claimant on behalf of persons who have the “same interest” in a claim. They can be opt-out claims (ie, all members of the class will automatically be included, unless they opt out). In order to be classed as a representative action, all of the class must have the same interest in the litigation. This requirement is tightly controlled by the court to ensure that the representative can be relied on to conduct litigation in a way which promotes and protects the interests of all members of the represented class. If the court is satisfied that this test has been met, it has discretion to order that the claim proceed as a representative action. The successful use of this regime has to date been relatively limited, although there has been an increase recently in claims seeking to using this procedure.
• Group litigation managed by the court: The court also has case management powers which allow it to manage similar cases together on a bespoke basis. Such claims are made on an opt-in basis, with one or more claimant law firms bringing claims on behalf of large numbers of claimants. Although these claims may not be suitable for a GLO, they will involve close connections between the issues of fact and law in dispute; and they tend to be managed together by a docketed judge who deals with case and costs management, interim applications and potentially the trial itself. Various test claims will be determined at trial to decide the common issues and other factual and legal matters which will indicate how the remaining claims should be decided. The above three routes are collectively referred to as ‘Court proceedings’ in this entry.
• Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT): UK law also provides for class actions where there have been breaches (or alleged breaches) of competition law (e.g. an abuse of dominance or anti-competitive agreements including cartels). Since 1 October 2015, it has been possible for claims to be brought by a class representative on behalf of an entire class of claimants, without the need for each member of the class to actively participate in the litigation (so-called “opt out” claims, where class members are automatically involved in the litigation unless they actively choose not to be). In order to proceed, the proposed class representative must apply to the CAT for permission (for a collective proceedings order (CPO)) to bring the claim on behalf of the class and for the proceedings to move forward as a collective action. A CPO may be granted only where the CAT is satisfied that individual claims: (1) raise “the same, similar or related issues of fact or law”; and (2) are “suitable to be brought in collective proceedings”. Since the first CPO was granted in 2021, there has been a steady increase in applications for CPOs.