Bio-inspired law: what do zebras and gazelles have in common with workers and consumers?
Text written by: Ivana Kunda, Faculty of Law in Rijeka
Just as animals in their biological environment face the danger of becoming prey or food for another stronger animal, humans face a similar danger in their social environment. Every day, we humans can find ourselves in the position of the weaker party in a legal relationship, for example as workers or consumers. If we feel that we are deprived of some rights from that relationship, we will not always attempt to enforce them. Sometimes we will feel completely powerless against the other stronger party – the employer or the trader. The danger is that we will ultimately become their “prey”.
In nature, animals use different strategies to increase their chances of survival against predators. The formation of large groups of herbivores that live in open terrains, such as zebras, wildebeests or gazelles, helps to reduce the risk of being killed by predators. In large herds from a few dozen up to a thousand individuals, animals increase vigilance and the probability of successful defence of the group as a whole.
Comparable to this strategy is the legal regulation that provides for our right to “defend” ourselves as workers or consumers, together in a group, against the “attack” of an employer or trader. ® In labour relations, this is achieved through the right to establish and join unions and the right to strike, which are guaranteed in Art. 60 and 61 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and in Arts. 165 and 205 of the Labour Act. ® In consumer relations, our position as consumers is strengthened, not only by the right of association according to Art. 134 of the Consumer Protection Act, but also the institution of “representative lawsuits” as a variant of collective redress under the Representative Lawsuits for the Protection of Collective Interests and Consumer Rights Act, which in 2023 replaced the earlier similar mechanism regulated by the Consumer Protection Act. Collective protection of consumers is well-known to the Croatian public mostly owing to the numerous court cases bearing the common denominator “Franak”.
Legally regulated collective action enables more effective protection of the interests of the weaker parties in a legal relationship because, like a herd in a savannah, it enables numerical security. This also confirms the truth of the old wisdom: “Together we are stronger!”