Registry of Collective Actions

In the recent ruling in re “Municipalidad de Berazategui c/ Cablevisión” (1), the Supreme Court warned about an increase in collective actions with identical or similar questions of law or fact being tried in different courts across the country. The Supreme Court notified that this matter be immediately resolved since it created a real possibility of issuing contradictory decisions and the risk that rulings in one case might have res judicata effects on some other which is being tried in different Courts.
 
Consequently, and in the absence of class action rules issued by the Congress, the Supreme Court intended to give a partial solution to the abovementioned problems by providing the (i) Registry and (ii) the Certification Order which we will briefly describe below.
 
1. Registry
 
The Registry will be public, free of charge and of access, and it will operate under the authority of the Secretary of the Supreme Court. The Registry must record by order of appearance all collective actions (i.e. collective amparos and class actions). In principle, it will be operative for National and Federal Courts; however, the intention of the Supreme Court is to conclude cooperation agreements with the Supreme Courts of the Provinces and of the City of Buenos Aires for reciprocal sharing of the information registered therein.
 
Any notification before the Registry must be performed by the court where the case is tried. It will be electronic and shall contain:
 
a. The names and domicile of the parties and the attorneys handling the case;
 
b. The precise identification of the class;
 
c. The identification of the subject matter of the claim and an accurate description of the rights with a collective impact that concern collective assets, or the rights with a collective impact that concern individual but homogeneous assets;
 
d. The Public Prosecutor’s intervention and its capacity; and
 
e. Copy of the Certification Order.
 
2. Certification Order
 
Article 3 of the annex regulation provides that the court must determine by order whether to certify the action as a collective action before the notification to the Registry is performed.
 
The Certification Order must:
 
a. Identify the collective assets involved in the case;
 
b. Recognize that representative parties will adequately protect the interests of the class; and
 
c. Determine the best notice that is practicable under the circumstances to all those who might have an interest in the result of the litigation.
 
 
 


1. CSJN, September 23, 2014, “Municipalidad de Berazategui c/ Cablevisión S.A. s/ amparo” (M. 1145. XLIX).