Joint litigation: is it really that advantageous?

In large cases, such as zoning proceedings, stakeholders often choose to litigate together. By doing so, they want to save costs, especially legal fees. This way, they think they are cheaper. In practice, however, this is not always the case. So too in the ruling discussed in this blog. 

Indeed, in its ruling of 9 October 2024, the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State ruled that compensation for exceeding the reasonable time limit by the administrative body was mitigated because the claimants litigated jointly. 

The reasonable time is laid down in Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). That reasonable time is exceeded if the duration of the overall proceedings is too long. The hearing of the appeal may take up to two years and the hearing of the appeal also up to two years. The reasonable time limit therefore totals 4 years. Therefore, if the entire proceedings take longer than 4 years, the reasonable time limit is exceeded. That was the case in this case. The reasonable time had been exceeded by one year, so the request for compensation was granted. 

However, the Division opted to mitigate the damages because joint litigation ensured that the degree of stress, inconvenience and uncertainty plaintiffs experienced from the over-long proceedings was mitigated as they went through the proceedings together. Ultimately, therefore, the damages of €1,000.00 were divided by the number of claimants who litigated jointly as one party, rather than paying out €1,000.00 each to all claimants. 

This ruling highlights the disadvantages that can be associated with joint litigation. Although this may initially reduce costs, it may ultimately cause you to miss out on compensation or other types of damages. Note, of course, that this ruling is only an example. This ruling involves a relatively small amount of compensation, which obviously does not outweigh the average lawyer's fees. However, there are conceivable situations where substantial damages may be involved, which can significantly exceed the lawyer's fees. 

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