CONSUMER PROTECTION IN BRITAIN IN NEED OF REFORM

Abstract

IN the last three decades many acts and regulations have been introduced in Britain to serve the interests of consumers and as a consequence a new branch of law has evolved: consumer protection. These acts concern many aspects of public and private law. Within private law they mainly deal with contract law and the law of restitution. For example, the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (henceforth CPR 1987), and the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (henceforth CCA 1974) confer a right on the consumer to cancel a contract. This right of cancellation arises in the context of consumer protection. Yet from the perspective of private law it is part of the law of contract. A cancelled contract is treated as if it had not been made and as a consequence each party has to give back what he received under the contract. The contract is unwound. Again, any questions on how to unwind a contract belong only in a contextual sense to the law of consumer protection. On our map of private law they are part of the law of restitution.