Consumer Protection Law Essay
Read the following carefully before attempting this assessment
“Legislation gives consumers extensive rights, so lack of rights is not the problem. The real problem is this – the difficulties consumers face enforcing those rights because of a lack of information and awareness, a lack of effective redress, and problems with access to justice.”
Evaluate this statement and identify how changes to the law in the following 4 below, seek to address the three issues of lack of information and awareness, lack of effective redress and problems with access to justice.
Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013
b. the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014
c. the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and
d. the ADR Regulations 2015
1. Presentation
(a) The word limit is 2000 words. Footnotes used only for referencing and bibliographies are not counted.
(b) Course work must be word-processed form, double-spaced, and
paginated.
(c) Standard OSCOLA referencing guidelines must be followed
(d) This is an essay based question, you should analyse and evaluate the law that the question asks you to consider.
2. Assessment criteria
This assessment seeks to assess the following module outcomes:
(a) Knowledge and understanding:
• Law relating to consumer protection in England & Wales[A2]
• Function and limits of the law in achieving the goal of consumer protection [A5]
(b) Intellectual skills:
• Analyse and evaluate the law and law reform proposals in their social, political, economic and moral contexts [B3]
• Reason critically and argue effectively about legal issues, recognising alterative points of view and offering reasoned opinions supported by authority or evidence [B4]
• Analyse and solve legal problems by selecting and applying primary sources of law and other legal materials to complex factual situations; [B1]
• Analyse and evaluate conflicting interpretations of statutes and cases, applying the rules of statutory interpretation and the doctrine of precedent; [B2]
•Analyse and evaluate the law and law reform proposals in their social, political, economic and moral contexts; [B3]
•Reason critically and argue effectively about legal issues, recognising alterative points of view and offering reasoned opinions supported by authority or evidence. [B4]
(c) Practical skills:
• Communicate ideas effectively and appropriately [C1]
• Read and understand complex legal materials [C2]
• Produce word-[processed documents [C5]
• Use ICT to store, retrieve and communicate information [C6]
• Undertake research using electronic media [C7]
• Use the VLE including where required for the submission and/or completion of assessment [C8]
(d) Transferable skills:
• Comply with standards of scholarly practice [D7]
Credit will be awarded for this assessment based on the following criteria:
• Ability to identify and interpret relevant issues
• Ability to describe and explain the law accurately
• Ability to compare texts and isolate differences and their significance
• Clarity and structure of argument
• Reasoned conclusion
• Use of source materials
• Presentation
3. Guidance
(a) Candidates must have particular regard to the following issues:
• Provision of information – relevant contracts, circumstances, content, consequences of non-provision under the CCRs 2013
• Available remedies for individual consumer for misleading and aggressive practices (at common law and) under amended CPRs; form of remedies; limits on remedies.
• Enhanced consumer remedies under Pt 8 Enterprise Act 2002 as amended by s.79 & Sch. 7 CRA 2015
• Remedies for non-conformity with the contract under CRA 2015
(b) Candidates must have particular regard to the following useful sources:
Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014
Consumer Rights Act 2015
The Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015 as amended by The Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Amendment) Regulations 2015 and The Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2015
Enterprise Act 2002
Lecture notes
(c) Candidates should be aware of these common errors and avoid them:
• Quoting Acts and Regulations at length without any commentary by way of analysis or explanation
• Poor construction of argument
• Expressing an opinion unsupported by an explanation of the reasons and fully referenced sources which justify it
4. Submission instructions
The assessment must be the candidate’s own work. All quotations must be credited /and referenced. Paraphrasing is still regarded as plagiarism if a candidate fails to acknowledge the source for the ideas expressed
Core materials:
G. Woodroffe; C. Willett; C.Twigg-Flesner; Woodroffe & Lowe’s Consumer Law and Practice (Sweet & Maxwell, 10th Edition, 2016)
Optional reading:
M Furmston and J Chuah (eds), Commercial and Consumer Law (Pearson, 2nd Edition, 2013)
I Ramsay, Consumer Law and Policy: Text and Materials on Regulating Consumer Markets (Hart Publishing, 3rd Edition, 2012)
S Weatherill EU Consumer Law and Policy (Edward Elgar Publishing Inc, 2nd Edition, 2014)
GJ Borrie The development of consumer law and policy-bold spirits and timorous souls (Stevens, 1984) G Howells and S Weatherill Consumer Protection Law (Ashgate, 2nd Edition, 2005)
P Cartwright Consumer Protection and the Criminal Law: Law, Theory, and Policy in the UK (CUP, 2001) H Collins Regulating Contracts (OUP, 2003)
Websites and Online materials:
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-energy-and-industrial-strategy
European Commission DG Health & Consumer Protection
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/index_en.htm
Ministry of Justice
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
Advice Guide
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/
Citizens Advice
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
Competition and Markets Authority
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/competition-and-markets-authority
National Trading Standards
http://www.nationaltradingstandards.uk/
Advertising Standards Authority
https://www.asa.org.uk/about-asa-and-cap/about-regulation/about-the-asa-and- cap.html?gclid=COiP1IHcjdQCFcluGwodvkcEQQ
Which
http://www.which.co.uk/
UK European Consumer Centre
http://www.ukecc.net/
