On 8 September 2021, the court in Stichting Massaschade & Consument v. Airbnb Ireland decided on the Stichting’s request to extend the term for lodging a claim.[1] It follows from Article 1018d(1) of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (DCCP) that a legal entity referred to in Article 3:305a DCC can bring a class action for the same event or events within three months before the same court where a class action has already been brought. This period may be extended by a maximum of three months in accordance with paragraph 2 if a legal entity that meets the conditions requests the court to do so. In Stichting Massaschade & Consument v. Airbnb Ireland, the Stichting based this claim on the fact that it wished to await preliminary ruling proceedings before the Supreme Court, which were instituted against Airbnb on a different matter. The Stichting asserted that initiating proceedings on this point before that time would be an unnecessarily costly and time-consuming affair. It therefore requested the District Court to grant it a 9-month extension. The District Court went on to rule that there is no legal basis for doing so, stating first and foremost that the period of nine months is longer than the maximum period of three months that is permitted. Secondly, the District Court concluded that the Stichting wished to make the decision whether or not to bring a class action dependent on the outcome of preliminary ruling proceedings. It considers this to be contrary to the literal text of Article 1018d(2) DCCP, as it follows from said text that the interest group must have already decided to also bring a class action, but merely needs more time for its execution than the initial three months.

[1] Cause-list decision of 8 September 2021 in STICHTING MASSASCHADE & CONSUMENT v. AIRBNB IRELAND UC.