This book is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of information about ways in which consumer activism has reshaped the economic and political well-being of citizens in the United States and around the world. This all-encompassing collection of information about consumer activism and the consumer movement will provide students, public officials, business groups, and other activists with a one-stop source of facts and insights. The contributors explore hundreds of major consumer protections that have significantly enhanced the quality of life and safety for all Americans, showing how these protections were won through the skillful and determined work of leading activists and activist organizations. Many of the stories told here are related by the activists themselves, often for the first time. More than 140 entries offer a comprehensive treatment of the consumer activism of specific organizations, their leaders, and strategies. The book also includes more than 40 entries about consumer movements in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. A timeline of key events and a listing of the most important books on the subject of consumer activism help provide context for the individual entries as do two introductory essays. Cross references in each entry establish linkages among topics. Provides the single most comprehensive source available of information about consumer activism and advocacy Shows how activism has influenced laws and regulations affecting more than 40 consumer issues Shares personal accounts from activists about their work on these issues Details information on U.S. national consumer organizations and many state and local consumer groups, including their goals, strategies, leaders, finances, and impact Offers insights into the ways consumer activist groups have interacted with other nonprofits, policymakers, regulators, and business groups

This book consists of contributions exploring from different perspectives the 'images' of the consumer in EU law. The images of the consumer form the foundation for various EU policies, more or less directly oriented towards the goal of consumer protection. The purpose of the volume is to establish what visions of the consumer there are in different contexts of EU law, whether they are consistent, and whether EU law's engagement with consumer-related considerations is sincere or merely instrumental to the achievement of other goals. The chapters discuss how consumers should be protected in EU contract, competition, free movement and trade mark law. They reflect on the limits of the consumer empowerment rationale as the basis for EU consumer policy. The chapters look also at the variety of concerns consumers might have, including the cost of goods and services, access to credit, ethical questions of consumption, the challenges of excessive choice and the possibility to influence the content of regulatory measures, and explore the significance of these issues for the EU's legislative and judicial process.

The Research Handbook on EU Consumer and Contract Law takes stock of the evolution of this fascinating area of private law to date and identifies key themes for the future development of the law and research agendas. This major Handbook brings together contributions by leading academics from across the EU on the latest developments and controversies in these important areas of law. The Handbook is divided into three distinct and thematic parts: firstly, authors examine a range of cross-cutting issues relevant to both consumer and contract law. The second part discusses specific topics on EU consumer law, including the consumer image within EU law, information duties and unfair contract terms. The final part focuses on a number of important subjects which remain current in the development of EU contract law and presents a number of innovative solutions to the challenges presented in parts one and two. This timely and insightful Handbook will provide both a comprehensive survey of this area of law for the novice researcher and fresh food-for-thought for scholars who have been researching this area of law for many years. Contributors include: E.A. Amayuelas, H. Beale, J.M. Bech Serrat, C. Busch, R. Canavan, P. Cartwright, O.O. Cherednychenko, G. Comparato, G. Cordero-Moss, A. Cygan, L. Gillies, M. Graziadei, M.W. Hesselink, G. Howells, C. Mak, V. Mak, H.-W. Micklitz, B. Pozzo, P. Rott, J. Rutgers, J.M. Smits, Y. Svetiev, E.T.T. Tai, C. Twigg-Flesner, W.H. van Boom, J. Watson, F. Zoll

The book renders a basic overview, in the English language, of current issues and problems in international and Swiss finance market law for both an international and national readership. The first part is concerned with basic facts and figures and the international framework upon which Swiss finance market law is based (in particular, the IMF, WTO, GATS, BIS, IOSCO etc., as well as EU law), followed by an overview of the events regarding dormant accounts. The second part elaborates on the SNB, the FBC and the Swiss banking and securities law (including takeover law). Separate chapters are devoted to the securities alliances, the corporation as a finance instrument and investment funds. Finally, the book covers relevant criminal law subjects in the finance field, banking confidentiality and administrative and legal assistance.

This book seeks to enrich and, in some cases, reverse current ideas on corruption and its prevention. It is a long held belief that sanctions are the best guard against corrupt practice. This innovative work argues that in some cases sanctions paradoxically increase corruption and that controls provide opportunities for corrupt transactions. Instead it suggests that better regulation and responsive enforcement, not sanctions, offer the most effective response to corruption. Taking both a theoretical and applied approach, it examines the question from a global perspective, drawing on in particular a regulatory perspective, to provide a model for tackling corrupt practices.

This is the first systematic comparative study into how consumer alternative dispute resolution (ADR) systems work, the differing national architectures within which they operate, and how they can be improved. It describes ADR schemes in France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK, as well as emerging pan-EU dispute resolution schemes. The use of techniques of mediation, conciliation, and adjudication are noted. The book also covers EU measures on consumer ADR, and the 2011 proposals for legislation on ADR and online dispute resolution. Data on volume, cost, and duration of ADR schemes are compared, both between different systems and with courts. The findings underpin EU and national developments, and outline options for future policy. Proposals are included for the functions, scope, performance, essential requirements, architecture, and operation of ADR systems. The relationships between ADR, courts, and regulators are discussed, and the need for reforms are noted. This is a ground-breaking work that will have a major impact on European legal systems. (Series: Civil Justice Systems)

This collection of essays is dedicated to Brian Harvey,the retired Professor of Property Law at the University of Birmingham. The contributions reflect his eclectic interests and bring new insights to issues of property law, both real and personal, consumer protection, auction sales and tax. Historical, human rights, public law, European Community and international aspects are addressed in addition to persistent domestic conveyancing concerns. Contributors: Peter Cook, David Feldman, Jonathan Harris, Tim Kaye, Jeremy McBride, Frank Meisel, Norman Palmer, Deborah Parry, David Salter, Carla Shapreau, John Stevens, Mark Thompson, Nick Wikeley and John Wylie.

Acclaim for the first edition:'Steve Weatherill provides an excellent thought-provoking account of EU consumer law and policy. It will be required reading for all those interested in this important subject.' - Paul Craig, St John's College, Oxford, UK 'This is a characteristically excellent book by Steve Weatherill, combining incisive legal analysis of an important policy field with an authoritative and up-to-date account of the underlying legal and constitutional framework.' - Grainne de Burca, European University Institute, Italy This new edition of Stephen Weatherill's acclaimed book provides a comprehensive introduction to all facets of the EU's involvement in consumer law and policy. Consumers are expected to benefit from the EU's project of economic integration, enjoying wider choice and improved quality, and yet they need protection from the dangers that flow from malfunctioning and unfair markets. The EU's consumer law and policy is an attempt to have the best of both worlds - a liberalized yet properly regulated trading space for Europe. This highly esteemed book, now in a brand new edition, provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the subject, explaining the evolution of consumer law and policy in the EU in terms of both legislative and judicial activity. The book also situates EU consumer law and policy within its broader social, political and economic context, providing a window to a range of wider issues (and tensions) relating to Union regulatory strategies and their effect on the member states. It concludes with a newly written examination of the relationship between EU and national initiatives of market regulation - symbiosis or disruption? A readable yet critically sound textbook, this fully updated edition will be indispensable for both postgraduate and undergraduate students of EU law. It will also appeal strongly to all academics, regulators and practicing lawyers with an interest in EU trade law or indeed European law more generally. Contents: 1. The Evolution of Consumer Policy in the European Union 2. Negative Law and Market Integration 3. The Law and Practice of Harmonisation 4. Market Transparency and Consumer Protection 5. Regulating the Substance of Consumer Transactions 6. Product Liability 7. European Private Law 8. Advertising and Marketing Law 9. Product Safety Regulation 10. Access to Justice 11. Conclusion: The Challenges of EU Consumer Law Index

New rules on distance contracts provided for the Consumer Rights Directive of 25 October 2011 do not apply to package holidays or contracts falling within the scope of the Timeshare Directive. Moreover, contracts for passenger transport services and contracts for the provision of accommodation, car rental, catering or leisure services if the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance are not covered by some of these rules. Yet measures aimed at protecting the consumer when a contract is concluded via the phone, the Internet, by mail or other means of distance communication play a role in tourism. This book helps readers to navigate through uncertainties in travel contracts regarding information requirements, the right of withdrawal or providing alternative services. Findings reveal that consumer acquis is inadequately adapted to the features of the tourism industry when an optional instrument based on the Draft Common Frame of Reference might be used in the future.

As the volume of international business transactions continues to grow dramatically, and as trade relations develop between an ever-increasing number of countries, it is inevitable that many questions of comparative business risk and liability should arise. What common elements underlie the various methods of limiting product liability applied in different national jurisdictions? How do different legal regimes protect the legitimate rights of consumers? These were the fundamental questions addressed by a seminar on warranties and disclaimers held within the framework of the 2000 Annual Conference of the International Bar Association in Amsterdam. The seminar - jointly sponsored by IBA Committees S (Products, Liability, Advertising, Unfair Competition and Consumer Affairs), M (International Sales and Related Commercial Transactions) and CC (Corporate Counsel) - consisted of four introductory summaries and 33 country reports by local practitioners. The presentations focused on many important issues, including the following: legal and contractual warranties in contracts for the supply of goods or services between manufacturers, distributors and end-users; methods of communicating disclaimers and limitations of liability; strategies for securing limitations of liability downstream; and variations in the legal effectiveness of disclaimers and limitations.

This edited volume covers the challenges currently faced by consumer law in Europe and the United States, ranging from fundamental theoretical questions, such as what goals consumer law should pursue, to practical questions raised by disclosure requirements, the General Data Protection Regulation and technology advancements. With governments around the world enacting powerful new regulations concerning consumers, consumer law has become an important topic in the economic analysis of law. Intended to protect consumers, these regulations typically seek to do so by giving them tools to make better decisions, or by limiting the consequences of their bad decisions. Legal scholars are divided, however, regarding the efficacy and effects of these regulations; some call for certain policies to be abolished, while others support a regulatory expansion.

This book discusses the role of private law as an instrument to produce financial and social inclusion in a context characterised by the redefinition of the role of the State and by the financialisation of society. By depicting the political and economic developments behind the popular idea of financial inclusion, the book deconstructs that notion, illustrating the existence and interaction of different discourses surrounding it. The book further traces the evolution of inclusion, specifically in the European context, and thus moves on to analyse the legal rules which are most relevant for the purposes of bringing about the financialisation of the citizen. Hence, the author focuses more on four highly topical areas: access to a bank account, access to credit, over indebtedness, and financial education. Adopting a critical and inter-disciplinary approach, The Financialisation of the Citizen takes the reader through a top-down journey starting from the political economy of financialisation, to the law and policy of the European Union, and finally to more specific private law rules.

This volume considers the theme of the protection of the user in the field of information technology, and more specifically in relation to software licences, electronic information services and Internet access services. Litigation in IT usually stems from the users' feeling that their expectations have been frustrated at performance. When dealing with such cases, the courts seem to increasingly take the objective of user protection into account. How is this protection implemented? Is this trend generally desirable? Is this judicial protection excessive? What are the constraints met by IT providers that should be taken into account in litigation? How can the user's position be improved? "User Protection in IT Contracts" extensively presents the reasons why, and the ways in which national courts may decide a case in favour of the user. Many practical issues are considered in this respect. Which factors appear relevant to deal with liability claims in IT? Are exemption clauses always enforceable? What are the implications of information duties for IT providers? How can general conditions be safely incorporated to a contract? What is the validity of shrinkwrap licences? Is it safe to rely on an entire-agreement clause? This book exhaustively reviews these issues in English, Dutch and French law.

Collective redress has gained momentum in Europe and North America. Legal reforms are driven by different institutional conditions but show a limited degree of convergence. In this book, seventeen contributions from the US, Canada, and the Member States of the European Union put the interplay of public enforcement and private collective judicial enforcement into perspective. The parameters of analysis are the constitutional dimension (i.e. three multi-level systems compared US, EC, and Canada, vertically: allocation of powers between levels and distinction between regulation and private law and administrative control versus judicial control; horizontally: degree of harmonization, trans-border litigation, choice of law), the institutional dimension (the players, regulatory and judges, private organization and lawyers) and the substantive dimension (regulation through administrative law versus regulation through tort or contract law, standard setting (strict liability versus negligence), remedies (injunctions and damages). These three parameters are then broken down into five sections: general comparison, the public/private enforcement divide, remedies concerning the distinction between injunction and damages as well as between class actions and group actions, negotiation and adjudication, trans-border litigation and international private law. The final chapter develops prospects to indicate the way ahead.

Ronny Someck is an enormously popular poet and radio host in Israel. Born in Iraq, he spent his childhood in a transit camp for new immigrants. This is his first full-length book to appear in English; his Sephardi voice is rich with slang, hot music, street gangsters and army commandos, and the odors of falafel and schwarma. In what other poet could we find Tarzan, Marilyn Monroe, and cowboys battling with Rabbi Yehuda Halevi for the hearts and souls of Israelis?

The book focusses on the enforcement of consumer law in order to identify commonalities and best practices across nations. It is composed of twenty-eight contributions from national rapporteurs to the IACL Congress in Montevideo in 2016 and the introductory comparative general report. The national contributors are drawn from across the globe, with representation from Africa (1), Asia (5), Europe (15), Oceania (2) and the Americas (5). The general report proposes a general introduction to the question of enforcement and effectiveness of consumer law. It then proceeds to identify the variety of ways in which national legislatures approach this question and the diversity of mechanisms put in place to address it. The general report uses examples drawn from the reports to illustrate common approaches and to identify more original or distinct unique approaches, taking into account the reported strengths and weaknesses of each. The general report consistently points readers to particular national reports on specific issues, inviting readers to consult these individual contributions for more details. The national contributions deal with the following areas: the national legal framework for consumer protection, the general design of the enforcement mechanism, the number and characteristics of consumer complaints and disputes, the use of courts and specialized agencies for the enforcement of consumer law, the role of consumer organizations and of private regulation in the enforcement of consumer law, the place of collective redress mechanism and of alternative dispute resolution modes, the sanctions for breaches of consumer law and the nature of external relations or cooperation with other countries or international organizations. These enriching national and international perspectives offer a comprehensive overview of the current state of consumer law around the globe.

Technological and economical developments require contracting parties to be informed and advised: informed about the characteristics of the services or the goods they order; well advised about their choices and options; informed about the remedies that may be used against them; and well protected from the consequences of a lack of information or notification.This book analyses several aspects of these information and notification duties. It is the result of fruitful collaboration as part of the Ius Commune Research Schools Contract Law and Law of Obligations research programme. Information and notification duties were the theme of a contract law workshop during the 19th Ius Commune Conference in Edinburgh in November 2014. This book contains the proceedings of that workshop, with contributions by Sanne Jansen (Leuven), Johanna Waelkens (Leuven), Johan Vannerom (Leuven), Carien de Jager (Groningen), Joasia Luzak (Amsterdam), Gerard de Vries (Amsterdam), and Mark Kawakami and Catalina Goanta (Maastricht), with an introduction by Ilse Samoy (Leuven) and Marco B.M. Loos (Amsterdam).

The importance of services in the EU economy has increased exponentially in the last decades as have the number and scope of EU rules, both those liberalising the provision of services and those protecting their recipients or consumers - the passengers, patients, viewers and bank depositors. However, these consumers, in their capacity as citizens, are increasingly disillusioned with the EU and its institutions. This book, written by practitioners, academics and advocates before the European Court, reflects on these developments, examining rules in numerous service sectors, from the capping of roaming call charges upheld in the Vodafone decision, through health care, to the requirement for air carriers to care for and compensate passengers approved in the generous Sturgeon judgment. The Court's positive approach may have been guided by a desire to consolidate the notion of EU citizenship, a status introduced, but without clear content, at Maastricht. The book therefore considers whether these uniform, EU-wide, consumer rights may not form an important component of such European citizenship. The Commission's proposal to make 2013 European Year of Citizens seems to favour such a view.

Since the introduction of the European Unfair Contract Terms Directive (UCTD), there have been far-reaching developments in the digital landscape which have significantly altered the nature of consumer contracts. This timely book examines the changes that have taken place since the advent of the UCTD and analyses the challenges that they pose for consumers entering online standard form contracts today. Illuminating the ways in which digital technology has revolutionised markets and caused a growing number of traders to transition to online business models, Unfair Contract Terms in the Digital Age assesses how the modern contracting landscape adversely impacts consumers. Chapters explore the manifold risks of digitalisation, addressing issues from the lack of transparency of website terms and conditions to the new reach of mass market operators exerting control over European consumers. Against the backdrop of this digital transformation, the book evaluates the key features of the UCTD, questioning whether the Directive can adequately protect Europe's online consumers and counter the perils of unfair terms in standard form contracts. This cutting-edge book is an invaluable resource for scholars and students of consumer law, regulation, and public policy. Policy-makers in EU institutions will also benefit from its assessment of unfair terms law in the digital era.

Because of its enormous economic power and susceptibility to corruption, public procurement - the purchase by government of goods and services - has come under increasing regulation as world trade expands. Three international leaders in public procurement law fully explain how the procurement award process must be managed to achieve its goals in global market economy. This work should educate government officials, trade lawyers, and students in how to comply with existing and emerging regulatory schemes as they: select a contractor and plan the contract, with detailed attention to terms, conditions and specifications; allow for national security, national industrial development, and environmental protection; get value for money and avoid waste of public funds; publicize contracts; combat corruption; secure successful completion of contracts; balance pressures to buy from domestic sources with the economic benefits of international competition; harness procurement power to promote social and environmental goals; enforce compliance with public procurement rules; and recognize circumstances under which discretion-based (rather than rules-based) initiatives may be more effective.

This book reflects the research output of the Committee on the International Protection of Consumers of the International Law Association (ILA). The Committee was created in 2008, with a mandate to study the role of public and private law to protect consumers, review UN Guidelines, and to model laws, international treaties and national legislations concerning protection and consumer redress. It has been accepted to act as an observer not only when the UNCTAD was updating its guidelines, but also at the Hague Conference on Private International Law. The book includes the contributions of various Committee members in the past few years and is a result of the cooperation between the Committee members and experts from Australia, Brazil, Canada and China. It is divided into three parts: the first part addresses trends and challenges in international protection of consumers, while the second part focuses on financial crises and consumer protection and the third part examines national and regional consumer law issues.

Web Systems Design and Online Consumer Behavior takes and interdisciplinary approach toward systems design in the online environment by providing an understanding of how consumers behave while shopping online and how certain system design elements may impact consumers' perceptions, attitude, intentions, and actual behavior. This book contains theoretical and empirical research from expert scholars in a number of areas including communications, psychology, marketing and advertising, and information systems. This book provides an integrated look at the subject area as described above to further our understanding of the linkage among various disciplines inherently connected with one another in electronic commerce.