Public End through Private Means: A Comparative Study on Public Interest Litigation in Europe

Public interest litigation aims to enforce through judicial proceedings not only the rights and interests of the individual claimants, but also those of the whole social group to which they pertain, if not of the whole collectivity. In this sense, it seeks to represent the rights of minorities, advance equality and bring positive social change through the courts. This article aims to situate the debate over public interest litigation in Europe by arguing that, although imperfect, it can still represent a key tool for societal change and for the protection of the new social and meta-individual rights, whenever responsible public actors fail to do so. In particular, building on previous academic literature and on the existing case law, the article, first examines the evolving concept of public interest litigation. Second, it generally presents the complex European architecture of judicial protection in which the different procedural techniques of public interest litigation are called to operate. Finally, under the comparative yardstick, it focuses on three relevant techniques available in such a European framework: constitutional review, the pilot-judgement procedure and class actions.