Traditionally, consumer law has played an instrumental role in the EU as a tool for market integration. There are now signs in the new EU legal framework and jurisprudence that this may be changing. The Lisbon Treaty contains provisions affecting consumer law and, at the same time, it grants binding legal force to the EU Charter, which in turn adds a fundamental rights dimension to consumer protection. This evolution, however, is still at an early stage and may be thwarted by conflicting trends. Moreover, it may generate tensions between social objectives and economic goals. This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of these developments and examines new avenues that may be opening for consumer law, focusing on three key areas: financial services, electronic communication and access to justice. Through a systematic analysis of relevant cases, the book traces the development of a human rights dimension in consumer law and details the ramifications that the post-Lisbon legal framework may have on consumer protection and policy. This book concludes by proposing new directions in consumer law, striking a compromise between social and economic demands.
European Convention on Human Rights – Article 10 – Freedom of expression 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises. 2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary. In the context of an effective democracy and respect for human rights mentioned in the Preamble to the European Convention on Human Rights, freedom of expression is not only important in its own right, but it also plays a central part in the protection of other rights under the Convention. Without a broad guarantee of the right to freedom of expression protected by independent and impartial courts, there is no free country, there is no democracy. This general proposition is undeniable. This handbook is a practical tool for legal professionals from Council of Europe member states who wish to strengthen their skills in applying the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in their daily work.
In recent years, EU consumer law has been subject to spectacular decisions by the European Court of Justice, with important consequences for the private law of Member States. Currently, it is under scrutiny by the EC Commission, which has just published a proposal for the revision of important aspects of the EU consumer law acquis. The authors have taken a broad horizontal approach at the European acquis, thereby reflecting on the history, the achievements and also the shortcomings of EC law.
The Law of the European Union is a complete reference work on all aspects of the law of the European Union, including the institutional framework, the Internal Market, Economic and Monetary Union and external policy and action. Completely revised and updated, with many newly written chapters, this fifth edition of the most thorough resource in its field provides the most comprehensive and systematic account available of the law of the European Union (EU). Written by a new team of experts in their respective areas of European law, its coverage incorporates and embraces many current, controversial, and emerging issues and provides detailed attention to historical development and legislative history of EU law. Topics that are constantly debated in European legal analysis and practice are touched on in ways that are both fundamental and enlightening, including the following: .powers and functions of the EU law institutions and relationship among them; .the principles of equality, loyalty, subsidiarity, and proportionality; .free movement of persons, goods, services, and capital; .mechanisms of constitutional change – treaty revisions, accession treaties, withdrawal agreements; .budgetary principles and procedures; .State aid rules; .effect of Union law in national legal systems; .coexistence of EU, European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), and national fundamental rights law; .migration and asylum law; .liability of Member States for damage suffered by individuals; .competition law – cartels, abuse of dominant position, merger control; .social policy, equal pay, and equal treatment; .environmental policy, consumer protection, public health, cultural policy, education, and tourism; .nature of EU citizenship, its acquisition, and loss; and .law and policy of the EU’s external relations. The fifth edition embraces many new, ongoing, and emerging European legal issues. As in the previous editions, the presentation is notable for its attention to how the law relates to economic and political realities and how the various policy areas interact with each other and with the institutional framework. The many practitioners and scholars who have relied on the predecessors of this definitive work for years will welcome this extensively revised and updated edition. Those coming to the field for the first time will instantly recognize that they are in the presence of a masterwork that can always be turned to with profit and that helps in understanding the rationale underlying any EU law provision or principle.
This edited volume covers the challenges currently faced by consumer law in Europe and the United States, ranging from fundamental theoretical questions, such as what goals consumer law should pursue, to practical questions raised by disclosure requirements, the General Data Protection Regulation and technology advancements. With governments around the world enacting powerful new regulations concerning consumers, consumer law has become an important topic in the economic analysis of law. Intended to protect consumers, these regulations typically seek to do so by giving them tools to make better decisions, or by limiting the consequences of their bad decisions. Legal scholars are divided, however, regarding the efficacy and effects of these regulations; some call for certain policies to be abolished, while others support a regulatory expansion.
Ensuring the protection of human rights in Europe has become a highly complex exercise. Where courts are faced with a human rights claim, they not only have to examine the validity of that claim, but they also need to have a clear understanding of the human rights catalogue that is to be applied (i.e. human rights as guaranteed by the national constitution, human rights as protected under EU law, based or not on the Charter, and human rights as identified in the European Convention of Human Rights). This book zooms in on various aspects of the interaction between courts in the complex European system of human rights protection. While other books take either a European or a national approach, this book studies both the co-existence between the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice, and the impact of this dual mechanism of European human rights protection on the protection offered within specific EU Member States. This makes the book valuable for academics and practitioners who specialize in fundamental rights, EU law, or constitutional law. (Series: Law and Cosmopolitan Values - Vol. 1)
The rapid development of information technology has exacerbated the need for robust personal data protection, the right to which is safeguarded by both European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CoE) instruments. Safeguarding this important right entails new and significant challenges as technological advances expand the frontiers of areas such as surveillance, communication interception and data storage. This handbook is designed to familiarise legal practitioners not specialised in data protection with this emerging area of the law. It provides an overview of the EU’s and the CoE’s applicable legal frameworks. It also explains key case law, summarising major rulings of both the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. In addition, it presents hypothetical scenarios that serve as practical illustrations of the diverse issues encountered in this ever-evolving field.
In Rethinking EU Consumer Law, the authors analyse the development of EU consumer law on the basis of a number of clear themes, which are then traced through specific areas. Recurring themes include the artificiality of the EU’s consumer image, the problems created by the drive towards maximum harmonisation, and the unexpected effects EU Consumer Law has had on national law. The book argues that EU Consumer Law has the potential of enhancing the protecting of consumers throughout the EU and could offer a model for consumer law elsewhere in the world, but in order to unlock this potential, there needs to be a rethink with regard to the EU’s approach to consumer law and policy.
Exploring the relationship between fundamental rights and consumer law in the EU, this book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the joint implications of the Lisbon Treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It examines the potential tensions that may emerge between consumer protection objectives and economic, market-oriented goals.
Terrorism has become one of the major threats facing both states and the international community, in particular after the terrorist attacks in the United States, Madrid and London, which revealed a whole new scale and dimension of the phenomenon. An effective response is absolutely necessary; this response, however, cannot undermine democracy, human rights, the rule of law or the supreme values inherent to these principles.There is no universally agreed definition of "terrorism", nor is there an international Jurisdiction before which the perpetrators of terrorist crimes can be brought to account. The European Court of Human Rights is the first international Jurisdiction to deal with such a phenomenon. For many decades and through more than four hundred cases, it has elaborated a clear, integrated and articulated body of case law on responses to terrorism from a human rights and rule of law perspective. Thus, this is a handbook on counter-terrorism with a special focus on due respect for human rights and rule of law.This book compiles the doctrine laid down by the European Court of Human Rights in this field with a view to facilitating the task of adjudicators, legal officers, lawyers, international IGOs, NGOs, policy makers, researchers, victims and all those committed to fighting this scourge. The book presents a careful analysis of this body of case law and the general principles applicable to the fight against terrorism resulting from each particular case. It also includes a compendium of the main cases dealt with by the Strasbourg Court in this field and will prove to be a most useful guiding tool in the sensitive area of counter-terrorism and human rights.
