La acción colectiva en defensa de los consumidores y la competencia judicial internacional de los tribunales españoles

Abstract

This doctoral thesis is divided into two parts. The first examines the system of collective redress mechanisms for consumer protection existing in Spain, and the second deals with the aspects of international jurisdiction (IJ) in matters of collective redress. Both parts maintain a common line of analysis: the interest of consumers that this instrument is intended to protect. In the first part, the procedure for collective consumer protection is entirely analyzed, mentioning the cross-border aspects when necessary, but focusing on the most relevant national substantive and procedural elements. Both existing and proposed law are addressed with a broad analysis of existing case law in this area. In the second part, we study the IJ at three levels: the IJ rules contained in conventional rules, European Union law and internally produced private international law rules. A particularly extensive study is carried out, due to its relevance and application, of European Union law and, specifically, of the aspects of the qualification of the collective action by the Court of Justice of the European Union, as well as the accommodation of collective redress in the different forums of jurisdiction: special, protective and general. The same analysis is carried out on the basis of internal Private international law rules.