"Constitutionalisation" of consumer rights in European and Polish law

Abstract

Protection of consumer rights must be considered as a new legal phenomenon. Although – as one of the EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner once said – the need for consumer protection is amongst the oldest of all: in the field of contract is as old as the world itself as evidenced by the fact that the first ever consumer contract was made between Eve and the serpent. The snake sold her the apple on the basis of misleading advertising, the product did not conform to a promise given by the seller and the contract included a clause exempting the snake from any liability for damage caused by the defective product. In fact it is only the second half of the XX century which experienced the actual evolution of the protection of consumer rights. It is generally accepted that the consumer rights were first emphasized and acknowledged in President J.F Kennedy’s famous Message to the Congress on 15 March 1962. In this message he not only used the now famous phrase “we all are consumers” but also spelled out the now recognized fundamental consumer rights (the right to safety, the right to information, the right to choose and the right to be heard) (Łętowska, 2004: s. 4). The aim of this essay is to examine the process of creating and constituting consumer rights under European and Polish law. First of all the legal basis for distinguishing such rights will be examined and thereafter the substance of these rights will be defined and their independence evaluated.