Funding of justice has significant consequences for the enforcement of rights and impacts directly on access to justice and the right to a fair trial as constitutional rights. Access to justice in turn essentially impacts on the effective enjoyment of any other constitutional right, since having the actual means to access a court in case of a potential breach strengthens that right. Public funding, such as legal aid, has come under pressure due to the reality of financial austerity measures and the tightening public budgets in many countries. This has contributed to privatization and marketisation of funding in ever more jurisdictions. Private forms of funding include inter alia litigation insurance, third-party litigation finance and crowdfunding, as well as different forms of assigning or selling claims. As public funding is in decline and as market liberalization in the field of justice increases, crucial questions related to the rule of law, access to justice and social and economic development, in the intersection between states, citizens and business are raised. For example, potential questions of conflict of interest and how to ensure a basic level of equality of access to funding, whilst at the same time protecting market freedom. Some of the contributions in the volume deal with the consequences of privatization of funding of justice on access to justice from a general, principled and theoretical perspective. Other contributions deal with specific regulatory developments or issues at the EU level, alternatively at the local level in specific jurisdictions. Further contributions deal with crucial issues of funding of justice in environmental matters, that are increasingly relevant and topical in practice.

A range of international and European Union legal instruments exert influence on the national civil procedure rules of European Union member states. Some specifically aim for the harmonisation of national procedural law across Europe, while others primarily focus on facilitating cross-border litigation, enforcing rights or setting minimum standards. However, often the same time instruments cause fragmentation, reduce coherence and challenge prevailing concepts and doctrines of national civil procedure law.With a view to carefully selected North Western jurisdiction (EU and EEA member states) this book explores how EU, EEA, and international legislation, judicial activism on EU and national level, and new soft law instruments affect national civil procedure law and how, in turn, national rules may impact the development of international instruments. How are the respective countries affected by a particular (EU) regulation? Has the regulation generated changes of the national law? Are European rules, or national rules following from them, applied in court practice? Are there differences in the approach towards implementation and application of EU law, and if so why and with what consequences? Do international influences serve as an impetus for national reforms, or are they implemented mechanically? Do hard law approaches produce more harmonisation or convergence than soft law approaches?

This seventh volume in the Swedish Studies in European Law series brings together some of the most prominent scholars working within the fast-evolving field of EU civil justice. Civil justice has an impact on matters involving, inter alia, family relationships, consumers, entrepreneurs, employees, small and medium-sized businesses and large multinational corporations. It therefore has great power and potential. Over the past 15 years a wealth of EU measures have been enacted in this field. Issues arising from the implementation thereof and practice in relation to these measures are now emerging. Hence, this volume will explore the benefits as well as the challenges of these measures. The particular themes covered include forum shopping, alternative dispute resolution, simplified procedures and debt collection, family matters and collective redress. In addition, the deepening of the field that continues post-Lisbon has occasioned a new level of regulatory and policy challenges. These are discussed in the final part of the volume which focuses on mutual recognition also in the broader European law context of integration in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice.

The regulation of cross border civil and commercial litigation is a burgeoning EU policy area. Legislative measures and other initiatives now provide a framework for the regulation of cross-border service of documents, obtaining evidence, establishing jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments, enforcement orders, legal aid, alternative dispute resolution, payment orders, and small claims. In addition, overarching measures have been enacted including the creation a judicial network and judicial training structures.
This book offers the first detailed analysis of the EU's activity in procedural harmonization, spanning civil procedure, private international law and European law. The book situates the development of the policy area and its regulation in relation to broader themes of the European integration process: market building, citizenship, fundamental rights, subsidiarity and governance. It provides a detailed analysis of the legislative measures and assesses their impact on fundamental principles of civil justice, including due process rights. The case-law in the area is also analyzed, including the introduction of the principle of mutual recognition. The book concludes with a comparative analysis of the EU's approach with broader international efforts for procedural harmonization.