Italy's Senate has approved an amendment to the 2008 budget that would introduce collective class action lawsuits to Italy's legal system for the first time.

The Italian class action would be more restrictive than its US equivalent to avoid unnecessary proliferation of lawsuits that might further clog up Italy's legal system. Class actions would initially be available in Italy only to members of consumer associations and user groups. It was not immediately clear whether shareholders and bondholders could directly initiate such suits.
Pressure to introduce class actions in Italy mounted after large corporate failures at companies such as food and dairy firm Parmalat hit thousands of retail investors.
US-style class actions allow individuals to aggregate claims into one lawsuit, giving consumers or shareholders the incentive to pursue compensation, often for small sums, when it would be costly or time-consuming to take action individually.
The budget and its amendments must be approved by both houses of parliament by the end of the year. The measure involving class actions would come into effect 180 days after the budget's approval. (pi)