Sustaining Access to Justice
New Avenues for Costs and Funding
Will be published approx. on 28. December 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
328 pages
978-1-5099-8163-2 (ISBN)
Description
This book explores the complex landscape of costs and funding of civil justice.
Access to civil justice continues to be undermined by State retrenchment of legal aid budgets, increases in procedural costs, the complexity of court procedures, and severe delays in the dispensation of justice. This has resulted in a shift from public to private funding of civil litigation, and the emergence of new business models and forms of private justice. The book explores the dynamic landscape of legal costs and financing from 3 perspectives: regulatory frameworks in public and private funding; new trends and challenges in contemporary legal financing; and the transformative potential of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and online dispute resolution (ODR) procedures to streamline civil justice processes and expand access to justice. By addressing the intersectionality of legal, economic, political, market and social dynamics, the book helps readers gain a better understanding of the inherent complexity of costs, funding, and their implications for access to justice. This timely resource offers academics, policymakers, and practitioners valuable insights into the dynamics that shape the current state and future prospects of civil justice in Europe to help create sustainable pathways for improved access to justice.More details
Persons
Xandra Kramer is Professor of Private Law at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Professor of Private International Law at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
Masood Ahmed is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Leicester, UK.
Adriani Dori is Post-doctoral Researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
María Carlota Ucín is Post-doctoral Researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Content
1. New Avenues for Costs and Funding: The Quest for Access to Justice, Adriani Dori (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands), Masood Ahmed (University of Leicester, UK), Xandra Kramer (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands) and María Carlota Ucín (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
Part I: Public and Private Funding of Civil Justice - Regulatory Perspectives
2. Third-Party Litigation Funding as a Vehicle for Access to Justice: A Sustainable Avenue or a Dead End? Alan Uzelac (University of Zagreb, Croatia)
3. The Regulation of Litigation Funding in Europe: An Application of Principal-Agent Theory, Adrian Cordina (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
4. Trends in Funding of Collective Litigation, Maria José Azar-Baud (Université Paris-Saclay, France)
5. Justice for a Price: Funders, Fees, and the Representative Actions Directive, Eduardo Silva de Freitas (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
Part II: New Trends and Challenges in Contemporary Legal Finance
6. The Private Funding of Litigation: A Critical Analysis of Crowdfunding in England and Wales, Rachael Mulheron (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
7. The German Litigation Funding Market's Black Swan Event: Takeaways from a New World of Litigation Funding and Legal Services Provision, David Markworth (Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany)
8. Dispute Funding in Sweden - Old System and New Trends, Eva Storskrubb (Uppsala University, Sweden)
9. Wet and Dry under One Umbrella: The Interplay between Funding Opportunities and Litigation Strategies in the Dutch Collective Actions Field, Jos Hoevenaars (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
10. ESG and Litigation Funding - Tied at the Hip? A Practitioner's View, Thomas Kohlmeier and Marcel Wegmüller (Nivalion, Germany)
11. No Such Thing as a Free. Lawsuit? Some Thoughts on Public Interest Litigation and Lessons from the United States, Magdalena Tulibacka (Emory University, USA)
12. The Uses and Abuses of Disclosure of Litigation Finance in US Law, Anthony Sebok (Cardozo Law School, USA)
Part III: Beyond Litigation: Cost-Effective Strategies for Alternative Dispute Resolution and Online Dispute Resolution
13. ADR, Mandatory Consumer Mediation and the Impact on Civil Litigation, Stefaan Voet (KU Leuven, Belgium)
14. Fostering ADR without the Stick of High Litigation Costs: T e Cases of Italian and Turkish ADR Reforms, Fatma Arslan (University of Warwick, UK)
15. Revisiting 'Mandatory Mediation: An Oxymoron?': Advancing Access to Civil Justice Through Mandatory ADR, Dorcas Quek Anderson (Singapore Management University)
16. The Promising Potential of Online Mediation to Reduce Financial Barriers to Access Justice: A Case Study into Online Mediation in the Netherlands, Emma van Gelder (Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
Part I: Public and Private Funding of Civil Justice - Regulatory Perspectives
2. Third-Party Litigation Funding as a Vehicle for Access to Justice: A Sustainable Avenue or a Dead End? Alan Uzelac (University of Zagreb, Croatia)
3. The Regulation of Litigation Funding in Europe: An Application of Principal-Agent Theory, Adrian Cordina (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
4. Trends in Funding of Collective Litigation, Maria José Azar-Baud (Université Paris-Saclay, France)
5. Justice for a Price: Funders, Fees, and the Representative Actions Directive, Eduardo Silva de Freitas (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
Part II: New Trends and Challenges in Contemporary Legal Finance
6. The Private Funding of Litigation: A Critical Analysis of Crowdfunding in England and Wales, Rachael Mulheron (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
7. The German Litigation Funding Market's Black Swan Event: Takeaways from a New World of Litigation Funding and Legal Services Provision, David Markworth (Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany)
8. Dispute Funding in Sweden - Old System and New Trends, Eva Storskrubb (Uppsala University, Sweden)
9. Wet and Dry under One Umbrella: The Interplay between Funding Opportunities and Litigation Strategies in the Dutch Collective Actions Field, Jos Hoevenaars (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
10. ESG and Litigation Funding - Tied at the Hip? A Practitioner's View, Thomas Kohlmeier and Marcel Wegmüller (Nivalion, Germany)
11. No Such Thing as a Free. Lawsuit? Some Thoughts on Public Interest Litigation and Lessons from the United States, Magdalena Tulibacka (Emory University, USA)
12. The Uses and Abuses of Disclosure of Litigation Finance in US Law, Anthony Sebok (Cardozo Law School, USA)
Part III: Beyond Litigation: Cost-Effective Strategies for Alternative Dispute Resolution and Online Dispute Resolution
13. ADR, Mandatory Consumer Mediation and the Impact on Civil Litigation, Stefaan Voet (KU Leuven, Belgium)
14. Fostering ADR without the Stick of High Litigation Costs: T e Cases of Italian and Turkish ADR Reforms, Fatma Arslan (University of Warwick, UK)
15. Revisiting 'Mandatory Mediation: An Oxymoron?': Advancing Access to Civil Justice Through Mandatory ADR, Dorcas Quek Anderson (Singapore Management University)
16. The Promising Potential of Online Mediation to Reduce Financial Barriers to Access Justice: A Case Study into Online Mediation in the Netherlands, Emma van Gelder (Utrecht University, the Netherlands)