The World Assembly,
Acknowledging that disputes between firms and individuals often arise over matters of civil rights, employment, and consumer goods;
Noting that joint, class, and collective lawsuits are a crucial avenue through which individuals and small businesses may settle such disputes with larger firms and seek compensation for incidents of wrongdoing;
Understanding that arbitration, when a voluntary decision by two parties in an equal bargaining position, is a valid and often desirable avenue of settling disputes such as those related to international commerce;
Distraught, however, at the widespread use by firms of forced arbitration agreements and agreements that waive the right to sue, which are often a condition of employment or using a product or service, are often poorly-understood by the individual, and often take place in a private forum controlled by said firm;
Recognizing that protecting the ability of individuals to seek relief for violations of their rights protects the public interest and safeguards commerce;
Seeking to end the unjust use of forced arbitration agreements, which undermine the rights of workers and consumers;
Hereby,
- Defines for the purposes of this legislation:
- "Arbitration" as the deciding of a legal dispute in a private forum outside of a member-nation's judiciary or international court of law, the decision made by which is legally binding and enforceable;
- A "forced arbitration agreement" as a legally binding and enforceable agreement mandating the use of arbitration to resolve a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the agreement;
- A "legal action waiver" as a legally binding and enforceable agreement, whether or not part of a forced arbitration agreement, which prevents at least one party to the agreement from participating in a joint, class, or collective legal action concerning a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the agreement, when they would otherwise be able to do so;
- Further defines for the purposes of this legislation:
- An "antitrust dispute" as any dispute arising from an alleged violation of national, international, or other legislation regulating the conduct and organization of firms with the purpose of promoting or maintaining market competition;
- A "civil rights dispute" as any dispute arising from an alleged violation of national, international, or other legislation protecting an individual against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment, in which at least one party alleging such a violation is one or more individuals or their authorized representative;
- A "consumer dispute" as any dispute between one or more individuals who seek or acquire real or personal property, services, investments, money, or credit for personal, family, or household purposes; and the seller or provider of such or a third party involved in the selling or providing of such;
- An "employment dispute" as any dispute between an employer and one or more individuals or their authorized representative, concerning or related to the current work relationship or a prospective work relationship between them;
- Declares:
- No forced arbitration agreement or legal action waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to an antitrust, civil rights, consumer, or employment dispute that arises after this law becomes effective;
- No clause of this legislation shall be applicable to any agreement between a firm and a labor organization, or between labor organizations, unless such an agreement has the effect of waiving or unduly interfering with the ability of an individual to seek judicial enforcement of their legally-given rights;
- No clause of this legislation shall be applicable to any international commercial agreement between two firms, or similar agreement of an international character between two firms, unless such an agreement has the effect of waiving or unduly interfering with the ability of an individual to seek judicial enforcement of their legally-given rights;
- Encourages member-nations to protect the ability of individuals to seek judicial enforcement of their legally-given rights;
- Clarifies that the applicability of this legislation to an arbitration agreement and the validity and enforceability of an agreement to which this legislation applies shall not be determined through arbitration, irrespective of whether said agreement purports to handle such determinations through arbitration;
- Further clarifies that no part of this legislation shall be construed to prevent individuals and firms from voluntarily seeking arbitration of a dispute after said dispute arises.
