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.

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.

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 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)

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.

The recent introduction of the Consumer Protection Act revolutionised consumer rights in South Africa. Along with that, it also fundamentally altered the way in which businesses are required to treat their clients, imposing a new set of obligations – or at least a formalised set of responsibilities – that had been easily circumnavigated or simply ignored before. Marketing campaigns, returns policies, contracts, quality issues, and a host of business practices had to be reviewed and reappraised. Some businesses have done this, while many blithely continue as if nothing has changed, little appreciating the risks of non-compliance and – perhaps more importantly – failing to appreciate that treating consumers fairly is simply a sound business practice. This new work provides a comprehensive overview of consumer law – not just the Act – in a way that follows the typical chain of consumer transactions. It serves to guide, educate and enlighten the professional, the business person and the consumer alike. No business or professional adviser should be without it. Written by a leading specialist in the field, it is simple, clear, comprehensive, authoritative and accessible.

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.

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 investigates the concept of procedural autonomy of Member States in the light of EU law. Does procedural autonomy still adequately describe the powers of national lawmakers and courts to design their civil procedural systems or is it misleading? For the last few decades, Europe has been in a period of increasing Europeanisation of civil procedure. Increased powers of the EU have resulted in hard law, case law and soft law that regulate many types of domestic and cross-border civil cases. These rules have both direct and indirect implications for national procedural law.Gaining insights from selected European jurisdictions (Belgium, England and Wales, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden), this book explores the concept of procedural autonomy from different angles: Is procedural autonomy an adequate term? How is procedural autonomy understood nationally, and is there variation among the Member States? Do some types of EU law or specific characteristics of EU civil procedural law restrain procedural autonomy more than other? How can these differences be explained and is it possible to identify the sources causing such discrepancies?Procedural Autonomy across Europe is a stimulating discussion for lawyers with an interest in civil procedure.

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.

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.

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?

In the 1970s, the Federal Trade Commission had embarked on an activist consumer protection and antitrust agenda which resulted in severe public and congressional backlash, including calls to abolish the agency. Beginning in 1981, under the direction of Chairman James Miller, the FTC started down a new path of economically-oriented policymaking. This new approach helped save the FTC and laid the groundwork for it to grow into the world-class consumer protection and antritrust agency that it is today. The Regulatory Revolution at the FTC examines this period of transition in light of continuing debate about the FTC's mission. Editor James Campbell Cooper has assembled contributions from leading economists and scholars, including many of the central figures in the Miller-era Commission and today's FTC, who provide a comprehensive and revealing story about the importance of economic analysis in regulatory decision-making. Together, they foster a crucial understanding of the evolution of the FTC from an agency on the brink of extinction to one widely respected for its performance and economic sophistication.

A book series devoted to the common foundations of the European legal systems, the Ius Commune Europaeum series includes comparative legal studies as well as studies on the effect of treaties within national legal systems. All areas of the law are covered. The books are published in various European languages under the auspices of METRO, the Institute for Transnational Legal Research at Maastricht University.This book contains an empirical study of the converging effects of the harmonisation policies used by the European lawmaker in consumer sales law. It aims to fill a gap in existing literature, by looking at what European consumer sales law harmonisation has achieved and by developing a methodology to measure the convergence it has led to. The work encompasses both a substantive comparison as well as a numerical approach.While in the former, five directives and their subsequent transposition in the national laws of Member States are analysed, the latter focuses on the creation of the Convergence Index as a measurement tool for the effects of the harmonisation process. The book will be useful to both academics as well as policy makers, as it aims to trigger further debate regarding benchmarking in European consumer law. Such debate will play a role in further academic research aimed at determining whether harmonisation does indeed strengthen the internal market.Catalina Goanta has conducted her doctoral research at the Maastricht European Private Law Institute (Maastricht University) under the supervision of Jan Smits and Caroline Cauffman, funded by the HiiL-UM Chair on the Internationalisation of Law.

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.

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).

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.

'Disruptive innovation', 'the fourth industrial revolution', 'one of the ten ideas that will change the world'; the collaborative/sharing economy is shaking existing norms. It poses unprecedented challenges in terms of both material policies and governance in almost all aspects of EU law. This book explores the application - or indeed inadequacy - of existing EU rules in the context of the collaborative economy. It analyses the novelties introduced by the collaborative economy and discusses the specific regulatory needs and instruments employed therein, most notably self-regulation. Further, it aims to elucidate the legal status of the parties involved (traders, consumers, prosumers) in these multi-sided economies, and their respective roles in the provision of services, especially with regard to liability issues. Moreover, it delves into a sector-specific examination of the relevant EU rules, especially on data protection, competition, consumer protection and labour law, and comments on the uncertainties and lacunae produced therein. It concludes with the acute question of whether fresh EU regulation would be necessary to avoid fragmentation or, on the contrary, if such regulation would create unnecessary burdens and stifle innovation. Taking a broad perspective and pragmatic view, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the collaborative economy in the context of the EU legal landscape.

This book explores how concerns can be raised about the NHS, why raising concerns hasn't always improved standards, and how a no-fault open culture approach could drive improvements. The book describes a wide range of mechanisms for raising concerns about the NHS, including complaints, the ombudsman, litigation, HSIB, and the major inquiries since 2000, across the various UK jurisdictions. The NHS approach is contextualised within the broader societal developments in dispute resolution, accountability, and regulation. The authors take a holistic view, and outline practical solutions for reforming how the NHS responds to problems. These should improve the situation for those raising concerns and for those working within the NHS, as well as providing cost savings. The no-fault approaches proposed in the book provide long-term sustainable solutions to systemic problems, which are particularly timely given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the NHS. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers, ADR practitioners, practising lawyers, and policy makers.