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Schüller, Bastian --- "Social Peace via Pragmatic Civil Rights – the Scandinavian Model of Consumer Law" [2011] ELECD 684; in Micklitz, Hans-W. (ed), "The Many Concepts of Social Justice in European Private Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: The Many Concepts of Social Justice in European Private Law

Editor(s): Micklitz, Hans-W.

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849802604

Section: Chapter 17

Section Title: Social Peace via Pragmatic Civil Rights – the Scandinavian Model of Consumer Law

Author(s): Schüller, Bastian

Number of pages: 19

Extract:

17. Social peace via pragmatic civil
rights ­ the Scandinavian model of
consumer law
Bastian Schüller
The consumer laws in Scandinavia1 are `famous' for their level of protection;
some see them as a manifestation of social justice in contract law.2 However,
most legal scholars in Scandinavia will repel that thesis.3 In fact it is a matter
of perspective; it depends on the understanding of social justice. If we connect
`social justice' with meanings like `distribution of welfare', `correcting
inequalities' and `paternalistic behaviour of the state', most legal scholars and
citizens of the Scandinavian states will have a hard time to confirm it; never-
theless they will admit that some of these meanings are incorporated into
consumer law, at least the paternalistic motive, but they will strive to clarify
that `social justice' is not adequate to characterize their consumer laws. On the
other hand, if we connect something like `a level playing field', `fair results'
and `social peace' to `social justice', most Scandinavians will nod in agree-
ment. In the end, there is no great difference between those two characteriza-
tions of Scandinavian consumer law: the first understanding of `social justice'
focuses more on the means, the second more on the ends. To make it clear,
distribution of welfare is meant to level the social battleground; correcting
inequalities is only a way to reach fair results; and a paternalistic behaviour of
the state is aimed at securing the social peace in society.
The best way to characterize Scandinavian consumer ...