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Access to Justice or Commercialisation of Litigation? Third-Party Litigation Funding in EU Collective Redress

Yagubova, Nazrin LU (2026) JAEM03 20261
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
The thesis analyses one of the most debated issues in EU civil procedural law following the adoption of the Representative Actions Directive in 2020. The Directive introduced a harmonised framework for collective redress within the EU, making it possible to bring both collective compensatory and injunctive actions. At the same time, however, it also created important practical and procedural challenges, particularly regarding the funding of representative actions. Since the Directive allows only non-profit consumer organizations, so-called qualified entities, to bring claims on behalf of collective claimants, it offers very limited funding options, which create procedural flows.
In this context the third-party litigation funders become... (More)
The thesis analyses one of the most debated issues in EU civil procedural law following the adoption of the Representative Actions Directive in 2020. The Directive introduced a harmonised framework for collective redress within the EU, making it possible to bring both collective compensatory and injunctive actions. At the same time, however, it also created important practical and procedural challenges, particularly regarding the funding of representative actions. Since the Directive allows only non-profit consumer organizations, so-called qualified entities, to bring claims on behalf of collective claimants, it offers very limited funding options, which create procedural flows.
In this context the third-party litigation funders become necessary, that they are not a party to the dispute but only financing the representative actions for the return of remuneration and benefiting to the access to justice. This understanding is new to the EU law, and it creates some practical and theoretical issues. One of the main issues is the fear of this practice will commercialise the justice system and litigation. So, the thesis is taking to analyse this tension between commercialisation of justice and access to justice ideas, if somehow this tension can be regulated.
For this purpose, the thesis first analyses the development of collective redress and the emergence of TPLF within the EU legal framework, with particular focus on the RAD. It then examines the legal and theoretical foundations of access to justice and the commercialisation debate surrounding litigation funding. Furthermore, the thesis analyses the current EU regulatory framework and compares selected national approaches towards TPLF, including both restrictive and more permissive models. Finally, the thesis evaluates whether a more coherent approach towards TPLF may be needed within the EU framework in order to balance effective access to justice with the protection of procedural integrity and fairness. (Less)
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author
Yagubova, Nazrin LU
supervisor
organization
course
JAEM03 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
EU law, Civil Procedural Law, Third-party Litigation Funding, Commercialisation of Justice, Access to Justice, European Court of Justice, Representative Actions Directive
language
English
id
9232810
date added to LUP
2026-06-11 08:58:08
date last changed
2026-06-11 08:58:08
@misc{9232810,
  abstract     = {{The thesis analyses one of the most debated issues in EU civil procedural law following the adoption of the Representative Actions Directive in 2020. The Directive introduced a harmonised framework for collective redress within the EU, making it possible to bring both collective compensatory and injunctive actions. At the same time, however, it also created important practical and procedural challenges, particularly regarding the funding of representative actions. Since the Directive allows only non-profit consumer organizations, so-called qualified entities, to bring claims on behalf of collective claimants, it offers very limited funding options, which create procedural flows. 
In this context the third-party litigation funders become necessary, that they are not a party to the dispute but only financing the representative actions for the return of remuneration and benefiting to the access to justice. This understanding is new to the EU law, and it creates some practical and theoretical issues. One of the main issues is the fear of this practice will commercialise the justice system and litigation. So, the thesis is taking to analyse this tension between commercialisation of justice and access to justice ideas, if somehow this tension can be regulated. 
For this purpose, the thesis first analyses the development of collective redress and the emergence of TPLF within the EU legal framework, with particular focus on the RAD. It then examines the legal and theoretical foundations of access to justice and the commercialisation debate surrounding litigation funding. Furthermore, the thesis analyses the current EU regulatory framework and compares selected national approaches towards TPLF, including both restrictive and more permissive models. Finally, the thesis evaluates whether a more coherent approach towards TPLF may be needed within the EU framework in order to balance effective access to justice with the protection of procedural integrity and fairness.}},
  author       = {{Yagubova, Nazrin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Access to Justice or Commercialisation of Litigation? Third-Party Litigation Funding in EU Collective Redress}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}