Clash Actions: Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights and Class Actions

This article provides Canadian examples of class action involving First Nations children and examines the complex and sometimes conflicting relationship between class actions and human rights remedies. The paper highlights the risks of class actions displacing human rights awards, the ethical challenges in relationships between class counsel and Indigenous victims, and the limited effectiveness of settlements in preventing recurring injustices. The article concludes by calling for stronger regulation of class action lawyers and tethering such proceedings to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other human rights standards, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.