Geraint Howells

Consumer Protection Law

Contents: Preface The map of consumer protection law European Union consumer policy The quality of goods and services Product and service liability Unfair terms Consumer credit: private law Regulation of trade practices from doorstep to internet Trade descriptions, advertising and unfair commercial practices Public regulation of consumer credit Consumer safety The regulatory offence Competition policy and the consumer interest Consumer law enforcement in England and Wales Access to Justice Index.

Collective Redress Procedures – European Debates

Collective redress mechanisms for consumer claims seek both to allow legal systems to accommodate mass litigation without being overwhelmed and to enable litigation to be viable where individual claims would not be economic. The article maps a number of recent reforms and reform proposals relating to consumer collective redress at national level and comments on EU developments. It notes that there is insufficient recognition of the differences between schemes geared at managing mass litigation as opposed to those aimed at facilitating otherwise non-viable claims. There are however signs that a European style of collective redress procedure is developing, which emphasize the role of public authorities and consumer organizations as gatekeepers to collective redress. The EU is unlikely to be able to impose collective redress procedures on national civil procedures, but the EU could prompt Member States to reflect on the need for national reforms. There may be limited scope for an EU mechanism to address the problem of individually non-viable consumer claims. This would however have to address certain fundamental issues such as the opt-out mechanism, cy-pres distribution and funding if consumer organizations are to be encouraged to bring such actions. At a legal doctrinal level, it is interesting to note the influence of comparative studies on policy development within Member States as well as at the EU level.

Handbook of research on international consumer law

Contents: Preface 1. Consumer Law in its International Dimension Geraint Howells, Iain Ramsay and Thomas Wilhelmsson 2. Consumer Protection and Human Rights Iris Benohr and Hans-W. Micklitz 3. Development and Consumer Law Sothi Rachagan 4. The Consumer and Competition Law Angus MacCulloch 5. Misleading and Unfair Advertising James P. Nehf 6. Protecting Rational Choice: Information and the Right of Withdrawal Christian Twigg-Flesner and Reiner Schulze 7. Unfair Terms and Standard Form Contracts Thomas Wilhelmsson and Chris Willett 8. Sales and Guarantees Cynthia Hawes and Christian Twigg-Flesner 9. Products Liability Law in America and Europe Geraint Howells and David G. Owen 10. Product Safety Regulation Luke Nottage 11. Consumers and Services of General Interest Peter Rott and Chris Willett 12. Consumer Protection and the Internet Patrick Quirk and John A. Rothchild 13. Regulation of Consumer Credit Iain Ramsay 14. Personal Insolvency Johanna Niemi 15. Financial Services Regulation and the Investor as Consumer Dimity Kingsford Smith 16. Individual Consumer Redress Peter Spiller and Kate Tokeley 17. Using Class Actions to Enforce Consumer Protection Law Deborah R. Hensler 18. Enforcing Consumer Protection Laws Colin Scott Index

Rethinking Product Liability: A Missing Element in the European Commission’s Third Review of the European Product Liability Directive.

The paper uses the opportunity afforded by the European Commissions Third Report of the Product Liability Directive to assess the present state of product liability in Europe. It notes that despite the maximal harmonisation character of the Directive there is a risk of divergence between Member States on key issues including the core concept of defectiveness. The Commission seems at times confused (for example, as regards the relationship between defect and fault liability) and more often complacent about the risks of divergence; but this sits uneasily with the espousal of maximal harmonisation. Ultimately there may be a need for a rethinking of product liability to ensure greater clarity as regards the underlying rationale supporting strict liability. This seems unlikely to materialise in the near future and so at the very least the Commission should act to clarify some core concepts that are proving difficult to interpret for the courts.

The Scope of European Consumer Law.

Abstract This comment examines the need for and the proper scope of European consumer law as an element of European law that is separate from legislation concerned with obstacles to the internal market European contract law in general. In proposing the need to maintain a separate basis for European intervention in consumer matters, the essay examines the concept of a consumer in European law in the light of recent cases and legislative developments, the implications of the new policy of maximal harmonization as illustrated by the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, and how the Treaties may need to be adjusted to ensure a high level of protection for consumers in Europe.

Common European Sales Law (CESL) : commentary

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on a Common European Sales Law ANNEX I COMMON EUROPEAN SALES LAW Part I Introductory provisions Chapter 1 General principles and application Section 1 General principles Section 2 Application Part II Making a binding contract Chapter 2 Pre-contractual information Section 1 Pre-contractual information to be given by a trader dealing with a consumer Section 2 Pre-contractual information to be given by a trader dealing with another trader Section 3 Contracts concluded by electronic means Section 4 Duty to ensure that information supplied is correct Section 5 Remedies for breach of information duties Chapter 3 Conclusion of contract Chapter 4 Right to withdraw in distance and off-premises contracts between traders and consumers Chapter 5 Defects in consent Part III Assessing what is in the contract Chapter 6 Interpretation Chapter 7 Contents and effects Chapter 8 Unfair contract terms Section 1 General provisions Section 2 Unfair contract terms in contracts between a trader and a consumer Section 3 Unfair contract terms in contracts between traders Part IV Obligations and remedies of the parties to a sales contract or a contract for the supply of digital content Chapter 9 General provisions Chapter 10 The sellers obligations Section 1 General provisions Section 2 Delivery Section 3 Conformity of the goods and digital content Chapter 11 The buyers remedies Section 1 General provisions Section 2 Cure by the seller Section 3 Requiring performance Section 4 Withholding performance of buyers obligations Section 5 Termination Section 6 Price reduction Section 7 Requirements of examination and notification in a contract between traders Chapter 12 The buyers obligations Section 1 General provisions Section 2 Payment of the price Section 3 Taking delivery Chapter 13 The sellers remedies Section 1 General provisions Section 2 Requiring performance Section 3 Withholding performance of sellers obligations Section 4 Termination Chapter 14 Passing of risk Section 1 General provisions Section 2 Passing of risk in consumer sales contracts Section 3 Passing of risk in contracts between traders Part V Obligations and remedies of the parties to a related service contract Chapter 15 Obligations and remedies of the parties Section 1 Application of certain general rules on sales contracts Section 2 Obligations of the service provider Section 3 Obligations of the customer Section 4 Remedies Part VI Damages and interest Chapter 16 Damages and interest Section 1 Damages Section 2 Interest on late payments: general provisions Section 3 Late payments by traders Part VII Restitution Chapter 17 Restitution Part VIII Prescription Chapter 18 Prescription Section 1 General provisions Section 2 Periods of prescription and their commencement Section 3 Extension of periods of prescription Section 4 Renewal of periods of prescription Section 5 Effects of prescription Section 6 Modification by agreement ANNEX II STANDARD INFORMATION NOTICE EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The Tobacco Challenge: Legal Policy and Consumer Protection

Contents: Preface Tobacco - a challenge to the law Tobacco litigation Product liability in the US - from asbestos to riches? Product liability beyond the US Regulatory responses to tobacco and legal challenges Regulating tobacco The future challenges for tobacco control Index.

Britain's best kept secret? An analysis of the credit union as an alternative source of credit

At any time, the significance of a new device which facilitates saving and borrowing and encourages the prudent management of credit and debt is clear. Given the present credit market, in which certain categories of borrowers either cannot purchase credit or can only do so on disadvantageous terms, then the importance of such an alternative only increases. The credit union is such a device. It has an established and proven record of success in many countries but, outside of Northern Ireland, credit unions are in their infancy in the United Kingdom. This article examines the possibilities credit unions afford, against the background of the increasing problem of debt in the United Kingdom. We contend that credit unions can afford a partial solution to the debt problem, but that attention should also be placed on their limitations.ZusammenfassungDie Bedeutung neuer Wege zur Erleichterung des Sparens und der Kreditnahme und zur Verbesserung des Managements von Kredit und Schulden stand immer außer Frage. Sie hat in der gegenwärtigen Lage des Kreditmarktes eher noch zugenommen, denn bestimmte Personenkreise können einen Kredit entweder überhaupt nicht oder nur zu ungünstigen Bedingungen erhalten. Der Kreditverein ist ein solcher neuer Weg. Er hat in vielen Ländern nachgewiesenermaßen erheblichen Erfolg, aber in Großbritannien (mit Ausnahme Nordirlands) steckt er noch in den Kinderschuhen. Der Beitrag prüft die Möglichkeiten von Kreditvereinen vor allem vor dem Hintergrund des wachsenden Schuldenproblems in England. Er behauptet, daß der Kreditverein tatsächlich einen Teil dieses Problems lösen kann, weist aber auch auf die Grenzen dieser Einrichtung hin.

Towards a better understanding of unfair commercial practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of unfair commercial practices in advertising and marketing law.Design/methodology/approach – The differences addressed in the paper relate to the role or tasks of consumer law in regulating the marketplace.Findings – A comparison of the UK, German and Nordic approaches reveal interesting differences at least in nuances in the approach to omission of information as an unfair commercial practice.Originality/value – The paper provides useful analysis of the deeper understandings behind unfair commercial practices law.

Pre-Contractual information duties in the optional instrument

So far, the European Union has only harmonised unfair terms law in re-lation to business to consumer (B2C) contracts. In principle, the limited scope of the Unfair Terms Directive has no implication for what should happen to unfair terms in business to business (B2B) contracts. Framing the question in terms of whether the consumer protection contained in the acquis should be extended to businesses is misleading, because it is not the scope of protection that is limited by the Directive, it is the scope of the harmonisation endeavour. Th e Directive simply does not aff ect business to business contracts and, thus, is neutral on the issue of unfair terms control in business relationships. Th e scope of the draft for a possible Optional Instrument that was produced by a European Commission Expert Group (ECL (EG)),