Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺灣海洋大學 === 海洋法律研究所 === 99 === The enforcement of the Consumer Protection Act is an important legal construct that increases the quality of consumption and the lives of the Taiwanese, and renders consumer protection in Taiwan consistent with that of the world. The Consumer Protection Act involves various aspects; its legislative purpose is to protect the safety of consumers and further increase the quality of products and services provided by enterprises.
In Taiwan, the Consumer Protection Act was promulgated on January 11, 1994 and has been enforced for 18 years. In terms of amendments made to the Consumer Protection Act, only one major amendment was written 7 years ago and has been promulgated since January 22, 2003. The latest update is the addition of Article 22-1 in 2005; however, the added provision is only in regard to the range of total expenses in transactions for enterprises and the calculation of annual rates, without an adjustment to systems, as was expected by general consumers.
This study introduced the basic concepts of consumer rights, and further discussed the legal developments of the Consumer Protection Act in Taiwan. In addition, this study also investigated treatments for consumer disputes in the current legal system of Taiwan, and pointed out the existing problems within the three systems, namely the complaint system, mediation system, and consumer litigation system. Furthermore, consumer dispute arbitration systems abroad were also summarized in this study. It was found that, from the perspective of the practice of legal systems abroad, the arbitration system is beneficial for the full protection of consumers in its ability to avoid incomplete protection for consumers within the system regarding the treatment of consumer disputes in Taiwan.
It is hoped that, after the deficiencies of the systems concerning the treatment of consumer disputes in Taiwan were pointed out in this study, legal amendments can be made in the future to rectify such systems and further develop consumer-oriented legal systems in order to provide consumers with complete, sound, and fair systems.
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