Who are Protected by the Consumers’ Rights and Interests Protection Act? A Critique on the Current Statutory Definition of “Consumer”

Abstract

“Consumer” is originally an economic rather than legal concept. Legislatives are struggling in legally defining “consumer”. China’s Consumers’ Rights and Interests Protection Act does not clearly define “consumer”, which results in enormous problems in judicial practice and law enforcement, since its enactment 20 years ago. The recent 2nd Amendment introduced some break through mechanisms, but the fundamental issue of legally defining “consumer” was completely untouched. Based on a comparison of the legal definitions of “consumer” adopted in some developed and developing countries or regions, and on the critical analysis of the status quo of defining “consumer” in China, this paper proposes on how “consumer” should be legally defined. A draft definition is also proposed and submitted accordingly.

“消费者”原本是一个经济学而非法律上的概念，如何在法律上定义困扰着各国立法机构。我国《消费者权益保护法》没有直接定义“消费者”。缺乏清晰明确的“消费者”定义，导致过去20年来消费者保护执法司法实践存在严重的不确定性。最近对《消法》的第二次修订，虽然引入了不少突破性的制度安排，但完全未触及“消费者”定义这个根本性问题。本文考察诸多发达和发展中国家（地区）的“消费者”法律定义，通过比较，对我国“消费者”的定义状况进行批判性的分析，指出其不足之处，并提出完善我国“消费者”定义的若干立法建议，包括定义的立法条文建议稿，以供将来对《消法》作进一步修订参考。