The government gave a qualified go-ahead to class actions this week.

In its response to a report by the Civil Justice Council (CJC) which recommended the introduction of a new collective redress procedure last year, the Ministry of Justice said that class actions could be developed by each government department on a sector-by-sector basis.

However, it rejected the idea of creating a generic collective redress procedure applicable to all cases.

It said it would be up to each department to decide the details of the procedure, such as opt-in against opt-out, and whether exemplary damages should be available.

The power to allow class actions will be in primary legislation, and the MoJ will develop a policy framework document to assist policymakers and others. The CJC will develop some generic procedural rules, including mandatory use of alternative dispute resolution.

CJC chief executive Bob Musgrove said the council ‘welcomes the positive response by government in accepting the considerable majority of our proposals’.

Mark Harvey, head of the harmful products team at Welsh firm Hugh James, expressed concern that the sector-by-sector method might be too slow for areas where there is ‘pressing need’, such as group personal injury claims.

Ingrid Gubbay, a co-author of the CJC report and consultant in the London office of US class action firm Hausfeld, said the ‘very diluted’ response provided a ‘very slow and unwieldy’ process to introduce the procedure.