The relationship between class actions and government makes for a nuanced and fascinating study. Government sets the scene by implementing and designing the regime, by choosing whether to act as a seed-funder for the regime, and by deciding to what extent it should regulate the regime against worldwide classes being litigated on its doorstep. It can then become a key player in the litigation itself. Government may be a representative claimant bringing the action, or a class member, or a potential financial beneficiary. Most commonly of all, it may be a defendant, being sued under the very regime which it enacted into law. With numerous opt-out class action regimes around the common law world in place, and others on the horizon, the book takes a comparative perspective throughout, and concludes with a series of recommendations, drawn from that comparative analysis of government's intricate interplay with class actions.

'For nearly two decades Professor Mulheron has been living, teaching, writing about, providing expert opinions on and helping to draft legislation in respect of class actions on a global scale. Now she has produced this excellent and eminently accessible text offering invaluable and practical insights and advice for anyone who wishes to understand how class actions are meant to work, how they do work in practice, and what considerations legislators and lawmakers should take into account when introducing or amending class action legislation in their jurisdictions. Her analysis of the government’s dual role as legislator and potential class action party makes this work unique.'

John P. Brown - Litigation Partner, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Canada

'This excellent and stimulating new book from the leading academic commentator on class and group actions will be required reading for all those interested in the field, exploring and analysing from a comparative perspective the symbiotic relationship that exists between class actions and the government.'

Duncan Fairgrieve - British Institute of International and Comparative Law, and Université Paris-Dauphine

'This is a first-class book - clear and comprehensive. As usual, Rachael Mulheron has researched her subject thoroughly and produced an authoritative work which will assist both practitioners and scholars.'

Sir Rupert Jackson QC - 4 New Square, London

'The leading comparative scholar of class action law has done it again. Here, Professor Mulheron reviews the often-overlooked relationship between the class action and government in the UK, United States, Canada, and Australia; the government as system engineer, as operator, and as a party or beneficiary. A work that is comprehensive and erudite, with abundant utility for practitioners and judges as well as for teachers and students.'

Craig E. Jones QC - Thompson Rivers University, Canada

'Mulheron weaves together a stunning kaleidoscope to view class actions through the lens of government. Her imaginative analytical framework and choice of targeted examples deliver fascinating insights into the class action regimes in their cultural and political context, but with a rigour that Mulheron unfailingly delivers. A must for the novice and the specialist.'

Peta Spender - Australian National University