Özet:

Consumer rights are a relatively new branch of law which started developing in Croatia about fifteen years ago with the adoption of the first Consumer Protection Act of 2003. This was a consequence of the fulfillment of the obligation of the Croatian state undertaken by the Stabilization and Association Agreement concluded between the Republic of Croatia and the European Communities and its member states in 2001. Harmonization with the European Acquis in this area has resulted in as many as three Consumer Protection Acts as leges generales for consumer protection along with a number of specific regulations protecting consumer rights. Today, five years after the Croatian accession to the EU, Croatian consumer protection law is still highly fragmented. In addition to the Consumer Protection Act, consumers are protected by the Civil Obligations Act, Consumer Credit Act, Payment System Act, Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, Electronic Signature Act, General Product Safety Act, Act on the Right of Access to Information, and numerous other regulations. All this calls into question the effectiveness of the application of consumer rights based on numerous sources of EU law in the Republic of Croatia as a member state. The paper points out the special importance of the application of provisions of the Consumer Protection Act related to unfair business practices, especially since they are provisions of horizontal application which prohibit unfair business practices of traders in business-to-consumer relations regulated either by the Consumer Protection Act, Civil Obligations Act or any other regulation. Five years after the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the EU, Croatian case law and other applications of law are faced with numerous difficulties related to unfair business practices of traders in all areas, from banking and financing to utilities and, especially, providers of electronic services. Legal fragmentation, together with difficulties related to correct application of provisions on unfair business practices, call into question the application of consumer rights in Croatia. The authors discuss this burning issue of Croatian consumer rights in an attempt to find answers to some of numerous questions in order to strengthen the effectiveness of application of consumer rights in the Republic of Croatia.

Anahtar Kelimeler: