O prawach konsumenta w okresie przemian

Abstrakt

Drawing on the international documents, both universal and regional, the paper discusses the issues of the consumer rights in Poland with a particular emphasis on the needs which exist in this sphere during the present system of transformation from totalitarianism and centrally planned economy to democracy and free-market economy. The author reports on the beginnings of consumer movements in the world and outlines the path which the idea of broadly understood consumer rights have gone in the afterwar Poland, both in the sphere of law and in social awareness.

According to the author till the end of the 1960s this idea was not recognized in Poland, due to the character of the then social and economic system. The protection of the consumer was then regarded as useless, or even politically suspected, since it called for an assumption that socialist actions of the State as to satisfying social needs were inefficient. In the ’70s and ’80s the conception of a constant development of socialist economy definitely failed, politics was partly liberalized, including economic policy, that is why it was made possible to graft the idea of consumer rights onto the Polish soil, in spite of the real economic situation (economy of shortage) which put on these rights a bit different character (e.g. the great role was laid on the administrative and legal protection). Successive changes fell on the 80s in which period the system of socialist economy was smashed and the process of system transformation began.

The author pinpoints that the actual instruments to protect the consumer are inadequate as regards the new situation and new threats. She postulates a series of actions, both legislative administrative and educative to settle the matter. It is especially important, according to the author, to lay down the contractual system for the reactions with the consumer towards his protection against dishonest contract resolutions, to establish institutional and procedural regulations which would enable fast and cheap settlement of consumer claims which are likely to result from any abuses of their rights, these regulations concern the quality of goods and services, fighting dishonest competition and advertisement, and, finally, taking up proconsumer reeducation of society.