Chapter 14Consumer protectionChanges in working patterns and, in particular, the
increased participation of women in the labour market,
mean that shopping often has to be fitted around work.
The overall effect of these changes has been to increase
the power of suppliers at the expense of consumers. The
underlying aim of most modern consumer protection
law is to redress the balance of power.
Consumer protection institutions
A large number of organisations have a role in protect-
ing consumers.
European institutions
The UK became a member of the European Community
(EC) in 1973 and since that time has been subject to
a new source of law emanating from the Council and
Commission in the form of regulations, directives and
decisions. The UK is also bound by the decisions of the
European Court of Justice. The Treaty of Rome, which
established the European Economic Community in
1957, provides that the main aim of the EC is the estab-
lishment of a common market. Although the original
Treaty of Rome did not contain a specific provision
in relation to consumer protection, it was recognised
that the creation of a genuine common market would
entail harmonisation of the consumer protection laws
of member states. A Consumer Protection Programme
was approved in 1972 and a Consumers’ Consultative
Committee was set up by the Commission in the follow-
ing year. A second Consumer Protection Programme
followed in 1981. Unfortunately, progress was very slow
because of the requirement that any directives must be
adopted unanimously by all member states. The Single
European Act, which took effect in 1987, amended the
relevant treaty Article (Art 94, previously Art 100) to
allow proposals in relation to consumer protection to
be adopted by qualified majority voting. The 1991
Maastricht Treaty makes a specific reference to the role
of the EC in contributing to ‘the attainment of a high
level of consumer protection’. EC Directives on con-
sumer protection already adopted include:
■Directive on Liability for Defective Products, imple-
mented in the UK as Part I of the Consumer Protec-
tion Act 1987 (see Chapter 11 ).
■Directive on Misleading Advertisements, imple-
mented by the Control of Misleading Advertise-
ments Regulations 1988 (SI 1988/915), which have
been revoked by the Consumer Protection from
Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (see Chapters 9 and
12 ).
■Directive on Doorstep Selling, implemented by the
Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Con-
cluded away from Business Premises) Regulations 1987
(SI 1987/2117), now replaced by the Cancellation of
Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of
Work etc. Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1816). Under
the regulations consumers have a seven-day cooling-
off period within which they can exercise a right to
cancel if they conclude a contract for goods and ser-
vices away from the trader’s business premises. The
new regulations cover both solicited and unsolicited
visits by traders and will include contracts concluded
at the consumer’s home, work place, at another indi-
vidual’s home or on an excursion organised by the
trader away from business premises. The seven-day
cooling-off period will apply to all contracts with total
payments of more than £35. Any consumer credit
agreement which is entered at the same time as a con-
tract for goods and services is automatically cancelled
if the contract for goods and services is cancelled.
Traders are required to include details of the cancel-
lation rights in any written contract or provide written
details if there is no written contract. It is an offence,
punishable by a maximum fine of £5,000, for a trader
to enter into a contract to which the regulations apply
without complying with the requirements as to
notification of cancellation rights.
■Directive on Package Travel, Package Holidays and
Package Tours, implemented by the Package Travel,
Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations
1992 (SI 1992/3288) (discussed later in this chapter).
■Directive on General Product Safety, implemented
by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (SI
2005/1803) (see Chapter 12 ).
■Directive on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts,
implemented by the Unfair Terms in Consumer Con-
tracts Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/2083) (see Chap-
ter 9 ).
■Directive on Timeshare, implemented by the Time-
share Regulations 1997 (SI 1997/1081).
■Directive on Distance Selling, implemented by the
Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations
2000 (SI 2000/2334).403