Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE CML4011

 
TITLE Consumer Protection and Regulation of Business

 
UM LEVEL 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course

 
MQF LEVEL Not Applicable

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Commercial Law

 
DESCRIPTION Learning Outcomes

- By the end of the study-unit, students should have mastered the special evolving status of consumers in Maltese legislation.
- Students will be introduced to the historical evolution of consumer protection and should be able to able to place it in the context of the phenomena of law generally and commercial law in particular.
- Students will gain intellectual as well as a practical insight into consumer issues and into how consumer disputes may be resolved.

Objectives

This study-unit introduces students to the relatively new are of law broadly described as ‘consumer law’ and placing it into context. It will help students become familiar with the evolution and recognition of the figure of the consumer in Malta and offers a general introduction to the historical evolution and development of local consumer-oriented legislation, and of the principles, structures and remedies introduced in the law for the promotion of consumer interests. The students will be offered a practical approach to the enforcement of consumer remedies and to the workings and functions of the various structures envisaged in the legislation.

Description

The following subjects and issues shall be covered in greater detail:

- Examine the rationale for establishing a consumer policy and consideration of the ethical and philosophical basis for adopting legal measures in favour of consumers; the consumer as the weaker party in transactions with traders, and how consumer law seeks to redress economic and information imbalances;
- Discuss the character and status of “consumer law”, and its classification as a hybrid collection of rules within the context of public law and private law techniques and remedies;
- Identify the principal landmarks in the development of local consumer protection initiatives, including the two White Papers published by Government in 1991 and 1993;
- Review the principal provisions, implications and significance of the first consumer-related laws, namely the Consumers Protection Act 1981, the Trade Descriptions Act 1986 and the Doorstep Contracts Act 1987;
- Analyse the main provisions of the Consumer Affairs Act 1994, including administrative and judicial structures and the substantive provisions, and examining which parts of the Act were adopted by way of the transposition of the EU acquis;
- Examine the general status of the consumer in the ordinary law, particularly the Civil Code, and try to acquire a broad understanding of the interplay between consumer protection measures with other sectors of regulation such as competition law, financial services, health, food, medicine and product safety, quality standards;
- Comment on the impact of European Union consumer protection directives and their transposition into domestic law.
- The legislation that shall be mainly considered in this study-unit shall be the Consumer Affairs Act, but the salient features of the Doorstep Contracts Act, the Trade Descriptions Act, and the Product Safety Act shall also be examined.

Reading List

- The Consumer, Society and the Law, 3rd Edition, 1973.
- Consumer Protection Law, G Howells and S Weatherill, 2nd ed. 2005, Ashgate.
- Il Diritto dei Consumatori, G Alpa, 2002, Laterza.
- EU Consumer Law, S Weatherill, 2nd ed. 2005, Elgar.

Law Theses:
1. The effects of the Consumer Affairs (Amendment) Act (XXVI Of 2000) on some aspects of the Law of Obligations; 2002; Claudine Zarb
2. The Regulation of Advertising of goods in Maltese consumer-related legislation; 2002; Teresienne Bezzina
3. The Protection of the Financial Services Consumer under Financial Services and Consumer Legislation; 2003; Joseph Bugeja
4. Product Liability under EC and Maltese Consumer Law; 2003; Maria Eugenia Buttigieg
5. The role of regulators and competition authorities in ensuring competitive markets in Malta; 2006; Ingrid Spiteri Bailey
6. Disclosure of information as a legal technique in consumer protection; 2006; Lorraine Pulis

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Students taking this study-unit need to have a background in law.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Examination (1 Hour) Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Annalies Azzopardi
David Fabri (Co-ord.)
Antoine Grima

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit