French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

Consumer law is based on the premise that there may be some imbalance in the relations, particularly in terms of access to information, between the alleged weak party, the consumer, and the professional , which it aims to correct, if necessary by restoring the contractual balance. Civil law, which precedes it and from which it is derived, is based on the principle of the autonomy of the will and aims, on the contrary, to guarantee the binding force of the contract. Despite their seemingly antagonistic goals - protection of the weak party on one side, agreement of the parties on the other - consumer law and civil law are complementary and fuel one another.

Civil law, in particular the law of obligations applied to the sale, is at the very source of consumer law. By protecting the consent of the lay buyer, through the theory of defects of consent and the obligation of information incumbent on the supplier of goods or services, contract law contributes to the protection of the buyer-consumer. In the event of an alleged defect in a product, civil law still contributes to the protection of the buyer, who, depending on the case, can implement the obligation of compliant delivery on the grounds of Article 1604 of the Civil Code, the guarantee of hidden defects defined in Article 1641, or avail himself of the liability for defective products provided for in Articles 1245 et seq. (former Articles 1386-1 et seq.). The Consumer Code has incorporated certain general obligations of civil law, such as the obligation of information (L. 111-1), conformity (L. 217-4, former Article L. 211-4) or safety (L. 421-1 et seq., former Article L. 221-1), but goes further in its protection as some of these provisions are criminally sanctioned to increase the deterrent effect .

 By way of illustration see Case C-310/13 Novo Nordisk Pharma GmbH, Judgment of 20 November 2014, LawLex201400001299JBJ, holding that national legislation which provides, under a special liability regime, for the right of the victim to obtain information on the undesirable effects of a product is not such as to entail the reversal of the burden of proof incumbent on the victim, but tends only to make up for the significant imbalance between the manufacturer and the consumer to the detriment of the latter, regarding access to information relating to the product.

 For example, Article L. 223-1 of the Consumer Code punishes by two year's imprisonment and a fine of EUR 30,000 continuing to provide a service presenting a serious or immediate danger which would have been suspended by the police prefect, in violation of Article L. 221-6.

Civil law and consumer law

 After several preliminary drafts, Ordinance No 2016-131 , which entered into force on 1 October 2016 , adopted the reform of contract law, which aims to modernize, specify, clarify and simplify the Napoleonic Code, in particular to ensure a better influence of French law on international contracts, while “preserving the spirit of the Civil Code, which is at the same time favorable to consensualism conducive to economic exchanges and protective of the weakest” . The new text primarily pursues the objective of legal certainty. For example, it codifies the case law solutions established , such as, for example, fraudulent non-disclosure in the new Article 1137 of the Civil Code or the unilateral fixing of prices  in the new Article 1164, some theories, such as the modern theory of nullity in Articles 1178 et seq. or major principles such as the freedom of contract  in new Article 1102, or the good faith applicable from the negotiation and formation of the contract in the new Article 1104, and not only from performance as was the case under the former Article 1134, paragraph 3. However, in sometimes going beyond a simple consolidation of case law, the new code generates, contrary to the desired result, a certain degree of legal uncertainty. In particular, in Article 1112-1, the ordinance lays down a precontractual information obligation, the extent of which and whose articulation with the information obligation established by case law raise questions. Similarly, it introduces the concept of unfair terms in the Civil Code, which risks entering into conflict with the pre-existing rules under the Commercial Code and the Consumer Code.

  Ordinance No 2016-131 of 10 February 2016 on the reform of contract law, the general regime and proof of obligations, OJ of 11 February 2016.

 Ordinance No 2016-131, Art. 9. As an exception, the new Articles 1123, paragraphs 3 and 4, 1158 and 1183 are applicable from its entry into force.

 Report to the President of the Republic on Ordinance No 2016-131 of 10 February 2016 on the reform of contract law, the general regime and proof of obligations, OJ of 11 February 2016.

 However, always as such liable to reversals.

  Which was previously based on Articles 1134 and 1135, now Articles 1103 and 1194 of the Civil Code.

  Implicitly stated in former Article 6 of the Civil Code.

French Consumer Law

356. Civil law and consumer law

357. Reform of contract law