The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive is the most important directive in the field of trade practices to have emerged from the EC but it builds upon European activity which has sought to regulate trade practices on both a sectoral and horizontal level. It is an umbrella provision, which uses general clauses to protect consumers. How effective this approach is and how it relates the existing acquis are fundamental issues for debate. This work provides a critical appraisal of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive linking discussion of it to general debates about how fair trading should...

Consumer law and policy continues to be of great concern to both national and international regulatory bodies, and the second edition of the Handbook of Research on International Consumer Law provides an updated international and comparative analysis of the central legal and policy issues, in both developed and developing economies. Taking a thematic approach, and yet highlighting issues in different national contexts, the Handbook explores issues which are common to all countries, such as social policy and effective business regulation, and relates consumer law to contemporary trends in...

This two-volume set contains a compilation of path-breaking and well-cited literature as well as otherwise original contributions to the international debate on consumer protection. It focuses in particular on the role and policy of consumer law as well as on the approaches and methods of research in this domain. Key papers regarding the various instruments and issues surrounding consumer law are included. The picture that emerges from this title is an area of law that is profoundly international and multidisciplinary. This collection will be a useful tool for consumer law researchers and...

First published in 1999, this book focuses on the new role of private law in late modernity. It analyses the pressures for changes in this area of law due to the present processes of privatisation and marketisation. The perspective is welfarist: in what ways and to what extent can the welfare state expectations of the citizens be defended through private law mechanisms when state-offered security is diminishing? Which alternatives are available when developing private law? The questions are discussed against the background of theories concerning important features of late modern society, for...