Reflections on the Protection of 'Vulnerable' Consumers Under EU Law

Reflections on the Protection of 'Vulnerable' Consumers Under EU Law
Author: Lisa Waddington
Publisher:
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2014
Genre:
ISBN:

This article seeks to explore the concept of the 'vulnerable' consumer and to reflect on how EU law protects, or fails to protect, such consumers. Section I of the article considers the current situation with regard to the protection of 'vulnerable' consumers under EU law. The section first examines key EU consumer protection instruments to establish how they address the position of 'vulnerable' consumers, before proceeding to review relevant case law of the Court of Justice on this issue. Section II examines in more detail the concept of 'vulnerability' with regard to consumers, and considers the many different causes of vulnerability. This is linked to a discussion of the related concept of the 'average' consumers. The second part of the article reflects on how EU law could better provide protection to disadvantaged or 'vulnerable' consumers. The article concludes that the current 'one size fits all' category of 'vulnerability' found in EU law is inadequate to provide the protection for the many different kinds of disadvantaged consumers who can fall under the general category of 'vulnerable', and that more targeted measures, and a recognition of the diversity of all consumers, would provide greater levels protection.

Vulnerable Consumers and the Law

Vulnerable Consumers and the Law
Author: Christine Riefa
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2020-10-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1000209709

This book charts the difficulties encountered by vulnerable consumers in their access to justice, through the contributions of prominent authors (academic, practitioners and consultants) in the field of consumer law and access to justice. It demonstrates that despite the development of ADR, access to justice is still severely lacking for the vulnerable consumer. The book highlights that a broad understanding of access to justice, which encompasses good regulation and its public enforcement, is an essential ingredient alongside access to the mechanisms of traditional private justice (courts and ADR) to protect the vulnerable consumer. Indeed, many of the difficulties are linked to normative obstacles and lack of access to justice is primarily a vulnerability in itself that can exacerbate existing ones. In addition, because it may contribute to ‘pushing’ already vulnerable consumers into social exclusion it is not simply about economic justice but also about social justice. The book shows that lack of access to justice is not irreversible nor is it necessarily linked to consumer apathy. New technologies could provide solutions. The book concludes with a plea for developing ‘inclusive’ justice systems with more emphasis on public enforcement alongside effective courts systems to offer the vulnerable with adequate means to defend themselves. This book will be suitable for both students and practitioners, and all those with an interest in the justice system.

The Images of the Consumer in EU Law

The Images of the Consumer in EU Law
Author: Dorota Leczykiewicz
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2016-01-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1509900373

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.

Consumers in European Private Law

Consumers in European Private Law
Author: Joasia Luzak
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre:
ISBN:

This is an introduction of future students of (European) consumer law to its main concepts, such as average and vulnerable consumers, unfairness, product risks. Upon reading you may expect to start being able to place this research area within the legal architecture of European Private Law. You are encouraged to think about the impact of selected issues on consumer protection, including such issues as consumer apathy in enforcing their rights, digitalisation and climate change. Throughout, you are given points for reflection to encourage further reading and help with understanding the content.

Protecting Vulnerable Groups

Protecting Vulnerable Groups
Author: Francesca Ippolito
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 711
Release: 2015-04-30
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1782256148

The concept of vulnerability has not been unequivocally interpreted either in regional or in universal international legal instruments. This book analyses the work of the EU and the Council of Europe in ascertaining a clear framework or a set of criteria suitable to determine those who should be considered vulnerable and disadvantaged. It also explores the measures required to protect their human rights. Key questions can be answered by analysing the different methods used to determine the levels of protection offered by the two European systems. These questions include whether the Convention and the case law of the Strasbourg Court, the monitoring mechanisms of the Council of Europe, EU law and the case law of the European Court of Justice enhance the protection of vulnerable groups and expand the protection of their rights, or, alternatively, whether they are mainly used to fill in relatively minor gaps or occasional lapses in national rights guarantees. The analysis also shows the extent to which these two European systems provide analogous, or indeed divergent, standards and how any such divergence might be problematic in light of the EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Rethinking EU Consumer Law

Rethinking EU Consumer Law
Author: Geraint Howells
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2017-07-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 135167532X

In Rethinking EU Consumer Law, the authors analyse the development of EU consumer law on the basis of a number of clear themes, which are then traced through specific areas. Recurring themes include the artificiality of the EU’s consumer image, the problems created by the drive towards maximum harmonisation, and the unexpected effects EU Consumer Law has had on national law. The book argues that EU Consumer Law has the potential of enhancing the protecting of consumers throughout the EU and could offer a model for consumer law elsewhere in the world, but in order to unlock this potential, there needs to be a rethink with regard to the EU’s approach to consumer law and policy.

Dictionary of Statuses within EU Law

Dictionary of Statuses within EU Law
Author: Antonio Bartolini
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 630
Release: 2019-01-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3030005542

This Dictionary analyses the ways in which the statuses of European citizens are profoundly affected by EU law. The study of one’s particular status (as a worker, consumer, family member, citizen, etc.) helps to reconsider the legal notions concerning an individual’s status at the EU level. The Dictionary includes a foreword by Evgeni Tanchev, Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union, which illustrates some interesting features of the Court’s case law on statuses.The Dictionary’s core is composed of 79 chapters, published in alphabetical order. Each brief chapter analyses how the individual status was conditioned or created by contemporary EU law, or how the process of European integration modified the traditional juridical definition of the respective status. The Dictionary provides answers to the following questions: Has the process of European integration modified the traditional juridical definition of individual status? Has the concept of legal status now acquired a new function? What role has EU law played in developing a new modern function for the concept of individual status? Are the selection of a specific individual status by EU law and the proliferation of such statuses, which is synonymous with the creation of new privileges, collectively undermining the goal of achieving substantive equality between EU citizens? Does this constitute a return to the past? Under EU law, is it possible to create a uniform definition of the legal status of the person, over and above the definition that is provided by a given Member State’s legal system?

Vulnerability and Data Protection Law

Vulnerability and Data Protection Law
Author: Gianclaudio Malgieri
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2023-04-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 019269751X

Vulnerability has traditionally been viewed through the lens of specific groups of people, such as ethnic minorities, children, the elderly, or people with disabilities. With the rise of digital media, our perceptions of vulnerable groups and individuals have been reshaped as new vulnerabilities and different vulnerable sub-groups of users, consumers, citizens, and data subjects emerge. Vulnerability and Data Protection Law not only depicts these problems but offers the reader a detailed investigation of the concept of data subjects and a reconceptualization of the notion of vulnerability within the General Data Protection Regulation. The regulation offers a forward-facing set of tools that-though largely underexplored-are essential in rebalancing power asymmetries and mitigating induced vulnerabilities in the age of artificial intelligence. Considering the new risks and potentialities of the digital market, the new awareness about cognitive weaknesses, and the new philosophical sensitivity about the condition of human vulnerability, the author looks for a more general and layered definition of the data subject's vulnerability that goes beyond traditional labels. In doing so, he seeks to promote a 'vulnerability-aware' interpretation of the GDPR. A heuristic analysis that re-interprets the whole GDPR, this work is essential for both scholars of data protection law and for policymakers looking to strengthen regulations and protect the data of vulnerable individuals.

Access to Justice for Vulnerable and Energy-Poor Consumers

Access to Justice for Vulnerable and Energy-Poor Consumers
Author: Naomi Creutzfeldt
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2021-07-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 150993944X

How do ordinary people access justice? This book offers a novel socio-legal approach to access to justice, alternative dispute resolution, vulnerability and energy poverty. It poses an access to justice challenge and rethinks it through a lens that accommodates all affected people, especially those who are currently falling through the system. It raises broader questions about alternative dispute resolution, the need for reform to include more collective approaches, a stronger recognition of the needs of vulnerable people, and a stronger emphasis on delivering social justice. The authors use energy poverty as a site of vulnerability and examine the barriers to justice facing this excluded group. The book assembles the findings of an interdisciplinary research project studying access to justice and its barriers in the UK, Italy, France, Bulgaria and Spain (Catalonia). In-depth interviews with regulators, ombuds, energy companies, third-sector organisations and vulnerable people provide a rich dataset through which to understand the phenomenon. The book provides theoretical and empirical insights which shed new light on these issues and sets out new directions of inquiry for research, policy and practice. It will be of interest to researchers, students and policymakers working on access to justice, consumer vulnerability, energy poverty, and the complex intersection between these fields. The book includes contributions by Cosmo Graham (UK), Sarah Supino and Benedetta Voltaggio (Italy), Marine Cornelis (France), Anais Varo and Enric Bartlett (Catalonia) and Teodora Peneva (Bulgaria).

Elgar Encyclopedia of Law and Data Science

Elgar Encyclopedia of Law and Data Science
Author: Comandé, Giovanni
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2022-02-18
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1839104597

This Encyclopedia brings together jurists, computer scientists, and data analysts to map the emerging field of data science and law for the first time, uncovering the challenges, opportunities, and fault lines that arise as these groups are increasingly thrown together by expanding attempts to regulate and adapt to a data-driven world. It explains the concepts and tools at the crossroads of the many disciplines involved in data science and law, bridging scientific and applied domains. Entries span algorithmic fairness, consent, data protection, ethics, healthcare, machine learning, patents, surveillance, transparency and vulnerability.