Slovenia
| The institution of class action was introduced into the Slovenian legal system by the Act of 4th October 2017 on collective actions (Zakon o kolektivnih tožbah, ZKolT). The Act entered into force on 21st April 2018.
The institution of class action introduced by the ZKolT is a relatively new solution. A total of 23 class actions were recorded in the register kept by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia between 2017 and 2023 (in 2017 – 1 action, in 2018 – 1 action, in 2019 – 1 action, in 2021 – 1 action, in 2022 – 15 actions, in 2023 – 4 actions). Most of the actions involve claims for damages. The actions were filed against, among others, telecommunications companies, banks, and, in one case, against Apple INC. |
| Implementation of Directive 2020/1828 |
| Type of procedure and model |
Class action;
opt-in or opt-out model – in the action, the claimant proposes which system will apply; ultimately, the court makes the decision and sets a deadline of between 30 and 90 days during which consumers can submit statements of joining or withdrawal; the opt-in model is mandatory where at least one of the claims concerns compensation for non-pecuniary damage or, according to the estimate contained in the action, at least ten percent of the group members seek compensation exceeding EUR 2,000; the opt-in system is mandatory for persons who do not have their permanent residence or registered office in the Republic of Slovenia. |
| Qualified entity to bring an action |
Consumer organization (the court examines whether the entity will be an appropriate representative of the group, according to the criteria specified in the Act), Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Slovenia |
| Third-party funding |
Admissible. The claimant is required to publicly disclose the funding and its source; no conflict of interest shall exists, and funding of proceedings against a competitor is prohibited. The claimant must demonstrate that it has sufficient financial resources or adequate insurance to cover the opposing party’s costs if it loses the collective action.
The funding entity may receive a premium; if the collective action is funded in the form of a loan, the premium is considered unjustified if the agreed premium includes interest exceeding the statutory default interest rate. |
| Facilities for consumers |
The regulations do not specify a minimum group size |
| Other comments |
Even before implementation, it was pointed out that the existing provisions regulating collective redress were largely consistent with Directive 2020/1828. Therefore, the amending act introduces only minor additions to the existing mechanism.
Consumers may additionally bear the costs of funding the action. |
Update: February/March 2025
