Leichtathletik im Zollernalbkreis 1997 - Leichtathletikkreis Zollernalb

UT Soft Law Review No.4 20122. Lawsuits by Consumer Organizations, etc.The Framework Act on Consumers which was revised in 2006 and came into force in January1. 2008, introduced “organization lawsuits” (Verbandsklage) for the first time in Korea.Under the Act, an organization falling under any of the following categories may file a lawsuit,seeking an injunction prohibiting or suspending an undertaking’s act that directly or repeatedlyinfringes on consumers’ right to the safety of their lives, bodies and property in violationof Article 20 (Compliance with Standards for Enhanced Consumer Rights).1. a consumer organization registered with the KFTC, which satisfies the followingrequirements;a. engaged in consistent efforts to enhance consumer rights as their main purposeb. having a membership of a 1,000 or morec. having been existence for at least 3 years after registration2. The Korea chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Korea Federation of Small & MediumEnterprises and other nationwide trade associations3. a non-profit civil organization, which satisfies the following requirements;a. having received a request from 50 or more consumers to file a organization lawsuiton their behalf for infringement of their rights, which are legally and practically consideredof the same natureb. stating the enhancement of consumer rights as its purpose and having worked forthe last 3 years or longerc. having a membership of 5,000 or mored. registered with the competent central government agency.The organization that brings a lawsuit shall, together with a complaint, an application forpermit of a lawsuit to the court and the court shall allow that lawsuit to proceed, if (i) it isnecessary to serve public interests, (ii) there are no questions about the integrity of the submittedinformation and (iii) 14 days has passed after the organization request to the undertakingan injunction of that infringement in a written form (Art.73 and 74). If the court dismissesthe cause of action offered by the plaintiff organization, no other organizations couldbring a lawsuit on the same basis, except for certain circumstances (Art.75).For this sort of lawsuits concerns only the prohibition or injunction of the questionedinfringement, individual consumers should bring additionally a damage action or file an applicationfor the above mentioned Collective Dispute Settlement in order to redress their actualdamages. 8 The first case of Lawsuit by Consumer Organization was that a civil organizationincluding Kyungsilryeon, the famous civil organization of Korea, and Green Consumer Federation,etc. brought an action against Hanaro Telecom in July 2008, whose name was changedto SK Broadband after being taken over to SK Telecom in September 2008, for it mismanaged8 The class action as of U.S. type, which is contained in the Securities Transactions Act of Korea, has notbeen adopted in consumer law.8