CONSUMER LAW

Consumer Law

Consumer Law

Introduction

Consumer law has developed into a discipline in its own right during the last four decades. The purpose of this review is to introduce the reader to some of the key reference points for literature in this area. The subject can be broken down into subcategories, which experts can develop into subjects in their own right, e.g. sale of goods, product liability, consumer credit, financial services etc. However, the references listed here concern consumer law in general. My British origins revealed by my choice of some UK works, although I have tried to select those that take a comprehensive approach. EC law has heavily influenced consumer law in Europe and so it is necessary to include EC material. In addition, since this is a subject that lends itself to comparative research, some US and Commonwealth materials also included.

Journal of Consumer Policy

Journals are an important source of contemporary and specialized contributions. In the consumer law field, two leading journals seek to have an international appeal. Consumer Law Journal tends towards the more conventional, style of legal analysis and has a well-received current survey section. It also has special issues themes on recent topics. For instance, issue 4 of 1999 deals with access to justice. Journal of Consumer Policy, as its name suggests, tends more towards policy, social science, and theoretical contributions. It does however, has some traditional legal articles and has an influential book review section (Drobnig, 2007).

Weatherill provides a succinct overview of the development of EC Consumer Law, placing it within a broader context. Howells & Wilhelmsson takes a more detailed look at the substantive provisions of EC law affecting consumers, and provides a theoretical framework for its analysis. For those who read German, REICH provides an excellent treatment of the development of EC consumer law. It is an interesting, but somewhat dated, comparison of the problems on consumer protection and integration on both sides of the Atlantic provided by Bourgoignie & Trubek.

For a treatment of UK consumer law that also tries to draw upon European and comparative experiences, one might be directs to Howells & Weatherill. Many excellent books, adopts the “law in context” approach and includes comparative material. It is now rather dated, but it can be understood a new edition is in preparation. In the same Law and Context series, Ramsay (1989) is a useful text and materials book. This also has the benefits of including comparative material, but again is now rather dated.

Many analyze brings together many of the most important theoretical writings on consumer law. For instance, it includes examples of Trebilcock's writing, which challenges the view that consumers benefit from protectionism, Pitofsky's views on advertising, Whitford's analysis of disclosure rules, Priest's theory on warranties, and Ramsay's own work on consumer redress. The US was innovative in the field of consumer law in the 1970s and remains an important source of comparison.

Case under the Sales of goods law

Under the Sale of Goods Act, goods sold by a trader to a consumer must be ...