KOLEKTIVNA ZAŠTITA KAO NOVI KONCEPT ZAŠTITE POTROŠAČA U BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI.

Collective protection of consumer interests is a relatively new institut in consumer protection in Europe. The protection procedure started with the adoption of specific European Parliament and Council Directives, and the Recommendation of the Commission of the European Union. In some European national legislation, collective protection is regulated by the Consumer Protection Act, but it is also offered by adopting the special provisions in existing civil procedural laws regarding the protection of collective rights and interests. The expansion of the concept of collective protection has come under the great influence of the institute of class actions, which has its roots upon American legal system. The collective protection offers different types of redress, which do not envisage the same protection content. First subtype of collective redress is an injunctive collective redress, a legal mechanism that ensures possibility to claim cessation of legal behaviour collectively by two or more natural or legal persons or an entity eniteled to bring a representative action. Second subtype of collective redress is a compensatory collective redress, which is a legal mechanism that ensures a possibility to claim compensation collectively by two or more natural or legal person or by an entity entiteled to bring a representative action. In both cases, the entiteled entities that can bring a representative are established by law, and those are the subjects that within their registered or regulated activity, deal with the protection of established collective rights and interests (in Bosnia and Herzegovina those are: Consumer Protection Associations, Ombudsman for the protection of consumers, competent authorities of the Entities, etc.). Protection of the collective interests is essentially based on the protection of the collective interests of certain protected groups. Collective protection can occur in different areas, from the field of environmental protection, protection from discrimination, areas of protection of competition law, to the field of collective protection of consumers, all depending on the protected collective interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]