Proceedings referring to the protection of collective rights and interests with a review of the situation in Republic of Macedonia

The protection granted in the litigation procedure traditionally bears individual characteristics. It is primarily aimed at achieving individual justice in every particular case, providing the individuals the possibility to exercise their injured or disputed rights. In contemporary conditions, the question which is more and more getting imposed refers to the fact whether such a structure of the civil procedure can meet the needs to provide an adequate and efficient legal protection in disputes where there is a need to protect the rights of tens, hundreds, and even thousands of people in the cases of the so-called 'mass harm situations'. These procedures can achieve not only an adequate compensation to the holder of the right for the resulting violations of that right (even in situations where the interests of the individual are so small, that it does not represent a sufficient incentive for that person to initiate proceedings for the protection of that right), but they also serve for a realization of a more general goal - to achieve the effect of 'deterrence' against future violations of the collective rights and interests. In Republic of Macedonia a general legal framework for protecting collective rights and interests has not been established yet, but this issue is only regulated fragmentary, so there is a question arisen whether the time has come to develop a general legal framework for collective redress procedures.