Electronic Consumer Contracts In The Conflict Of Laws (studies In Private International Law)

"The application of private international law to electronic consumer contracts raises new, complex, and controversial questions. It is new because consumer protection was not a private international law concern until very recently and e-commerce only became an important commercial activity within the last ten years. E-consumer contracts generate original questions which have not been considered under traditional private international law theories. It is complex because it has to deal both with difficulties raised by consumer contracts and the challenges of e-commerce. Reasonable resolutions to consumer contracts may prove inappropriate in e-commerce, while effective approaches to resolving private international law problems in e-commerce may be improper for consumer contracts. It is controversial because it concerns the conflicting interests of consumers and businesses in a fast-moving commercial environment - a fair balance is therefore hard to achieve. Without proper solutions provided by private international law, consumers will not be confident about purchasing online, and businesses will face unreasonable risk and participation costs in e-commerce. Updated and properly designed private international law rules are essential to the further development of e-commerce. This book aims to provide an answer to the urgent requirement for legal certainty, security and justice in e-consumer contracts. It is primarily concerned with existing approaches to jurisdiction and choice of law issues in e-consumer contracts in the European Community and England, but some typical approaches in other jurisdictions are also examined. Based on the analysis and the comparative study of the existing law, the book seeks to provide a proposal as to what the law should be in order to provide certainty to both parties, to provide reasonable protection to consumers, and to promote the development of e-commerce."--Bloomsbury Publishing. The application of private international law to electronic consumer contracts raises new, complex, and controversial questions. It is new because consumer protection was not a private international law concern until very recently and e-commerce only became an important commercial activity within the last ten years. E-consumer contracts generate original questions which have not been considered under traditional private international law theories. It is complex because it has to deal both with difficulties raised by consumer contracts and the challenges of e-commerce. Reasonable resolutions to consumer contracts may prove inappropriate in e-commerce, while effective approaches to resolving private international law problems in e-commerce may be improper for consumer contracts. It is controversial because it concerns the conflicting interests of consumers and businesses in a fast-moving commercial environment. A fair balance is therefore hard to achieve. Without proper solutions provided by private international law, consumers will not be confident about purchasing online and businesses will face unreasonable risk and participation costs in Ã2e-commerce. Updated and properly designed private international law rules are essential to the further development of e-commerce. This book focuses on existing approaches to jurisdiction and law issues in e-consumer contracts in the European Community and England. Some typical approaches in other jurisdictions are also examined. Based on analysis and the comparative study of existing law, the book provides a proposal as to what the law should be in order to provide certainty to both parties, to provide reasonable protection to consumers, and to promote the development of e-commerce. Electronic Consumer Contracts in the Conflict of Laws is the first volume in the new series Studies in Private International Law by Hart Publishing, Oxford. It will be an invaluable source of information for private international law practitioners and those involved in litigation. "The second edition of this highly recommended work addresses the interaction between conflict of laws, dispute resolution, electronic commerce and consumer contracts. In addition it identifies specific difficulties that conflicts lawyers and consumer lawyers encounter in electronic commerce and proposes original approaches to balance the conflict of interest between consumers' access to justice and business efficiency. The European Union has played a leading role in this area of law and its initiatives are fully explored. It pays particular attention to the most recent development in collective redress and alternative/online dispute resolution. By adopting multiple research methods, including a comparative study of the EU and US approach; historical analysis of protective conflict of laws; doctrinal analysis of legal provisions and economic analysis of law, it provides the most comprehensive examination of frameworks in cross-border consumer contracts."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Electronic consumer contracts in private international law -- The definition and scope of the book -- Jurisdiction in electronic consumer contracts (1) : the rule-based approach in the Brussels I regulation -- Jurisdiction in electronic consumer contracts (2) : the discretion-based approach in English common law -- Jurisdiction in electronic consumer contracts (3) : critical assessment of US innovations -- Electronic consumer contracts with choice of forum clauses -- Online dispute resolution for electronic consumer contracts -- Protective choice of law in e-consumer contracts in the current European choice of law regime -- Choice of law evolution in the Rome I regulation -- Neutral choice of law in e-consumer contracts : the common law approach in the US 2nd Restatement -- Choice of law in areas with harmonised substantive law -- Proposals for conflict of laws in electronic consumer contracts