| CODE | CCT5552 | ||||||
| TITLE | Consumer Protection, the Consumer, and the Law | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit shall examine the status of the consumer in law and practice. The whole study-unit should in 28 hours (4 ETCS) help students to examine and to understand the rationale behind consumer law and policy; 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. Today, the consumer is protected in various ways by the law. On the one hand, one finds private or civil law remedies. On the other, we find public law, especially and administrative and criminal, remedies. Landmarks in the evolution of consumer law and policy in Malta will be highlighted and examined within the local political and social backdrop and in the context of the evolution of consumer policy and initiatives taken at European Union level. The sessions will be undertaken in the form of two-hourly semi structured lectures / seminars and require and assumes ongoing student preparation and participation. The sessions shall focus on both general issues as well as with particular problems of consumer interest as described below. Participants should thereby benefit from an opportunity of gaining a higher understanding of the types of problems encountered by consumers and how the law has evolved over the centuries to try to protect consumers. Students shall be expected to play an active role during the sessions and to become accustomed to identify consumer issues and analyze events from a consumer protection perspective. The study-unit will be also concerned on an ongoing basis with how the various media report news items of consumer interest and shall seek to analyze such developments as they arise. Students shall therefore be expected to identify and critically assess relevant news and features appearing on the media in Malta and abroad. Titles and content of lectures / seminars: 1. General introduction to the consumer protection and legislation - the notion of a consumer and why consumers merit protection; consumer protection as part of the law regulating trade 2. The Ethical Basis of Consumer law - the vulnerable consumer; protection from fraud, deceit and other forms of exploitation 3. Consumer protection techniques - the cooling-off period, invalidity of contracts and other private law measures and government intervention 4. Defective goods and legal guarantees - from Roman law to today: the buyer beware principle 5. Product liability and product safety - laws protecting buyers of medicines, food and other products; the Ford Pinto and Thalidomide cases 6. Regulatory Authorities and their role in consumer protection 7. Consumer protection arrangements in the Financial Services sector 8. Standard Contracts and unfair contractual clauses - the bargaining power of traders and consumers 9. Whistle blowing in the field of consumer protection – the case of Roche v Adams and other insiders 10. Estate Agency – a likely case for regulation 11. Journalists and the media – their role in consumer protection, advertising issues, broadcasting 12. The travelling consumer – package tours, timeshare, passenger rights etc Reading List: Required Text: The Consumer, Society and the Law, G. Borrie and a Diamond, Pelican, 3rd Ed., 1973. EC Consumer Law and Policy, S. Weatherill, Elgar Publishing, 2005. Various articles, papers and other reading materials will be made available to participants during the course of the study-unit. Students may be asked to research and to prepare class presentations on particular pre-identified topics. Two or possibly three sessions shall see the participation of external expert who will be able to offer students their perspectives and experiences in their respective areas of commercial or regulatory expertise of relevance and interest to consumers. Attendance is obligatory and students are encouraged and expected to participate actively during lectures and seminars and to provoke relevant and stimulating discussion. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Seminar | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | David Fabri |
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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 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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