Promotional competitions are competitions in which prizes are awarded by lot or chance in order to promote goods or services. Due to the chance element, these competitions are often categorised as lotteries or gambling. Initially, South African legislation did not make provision for the running of promotional competitions, but this situation changed when the Lotteries Act, 1997 came into force. Currently, promotional competitions are regulated by the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (CPA). This thesis examines the regulation of promotional competitions in South Africa. It commences with a background discussion, which touches on the relevant terminology and some sociological aspects. It then considers the consequences of gambling and the need for and nature of regulation, and deals with the marketing and consumer protection contexts. This is followed by a brief overview of the global and South African history of gambling, lotteries and promotional competitions, which includes a discussion of South African case law. Foreign law relating to promotional competitions in New Zealand and Great Britain is explored in order to compare this to the South African position. This is followed by an examination of the current regulation of promotional competitions in South Africa, including a discussion regarding the interplay between the CPA and the Lotteries Act and a detailed analysis of the CPA’s provisions. The self-regulation of promotional competitions is discussed as well. The concluding chapter of this thesis contains recommended solutions for the problems identified in the analysis of the relevant legislation. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Mercantile Law / LLD / Unrestricted

Empreende à análise das decisões judiciais a respeito do contrato de cartão de crédito como meio de prevenir ou tratar o superendividamento do consumidor, por ser o contrato que representa a maior dívida dos consumidores brasileiros. A pesquisa consistiu em uma revisão bibliográfica dos temas superendividamento e cartão de crédito e uma pesquisa empírica documental, das decisões do Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ). O método utilizado foi análise de conteúdo, compreendendo a elaboração de fichas de leitura previamente estabelecidas. As fichas foram catalogadas de acordo com o assunto tratado pelo acórdão. Obteve-se um total de 7 (sete) grupos de análise: ações revisionais, ações indenizatórias, ações relativas a práticas abusivas, ações de prestação de contas, ações de exibição de documentos, ações de cobrança e declaratórias de inexistência de débitos. A partir da análise dos dados, depreendeu-se as seguintes conclusões: 1. O tema superendividamento ainda não faz parte do repertório da Corte, não tendo sido nem mesmo alegado pelas partes em algum processo. 2. A maior dos processos são ações indenizatórias que discutem meramente o valor exorbitante ou irrisório da indenização. 3. As decisões da Corte são, repetidamente, obstadas pelas Súmulas 5 e 7 do STJ. 4. As revisionais tratam apenas da taxa de juros nos contratos de cartão de crédito. / Undertakes the analysis of judgments about the credit card agreement as a means of preventing or treating consumer over-indebtedness, as the contract represents the largest debt of Brazilian consumers. The research consisted of a literature review of over-indebtedness and the contract of credit card and documentary empirical research of the decisions of the Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ). The method used was content analysis, including the development of previously established reading summaries. The sumaries were listed according to the subject matter of the judgment. We obtained a total of seven (7) analysis groups: revisional actions, compensation claims, actions related to abusive practices, accountability actions, document display actions, charging actions and declaratory absence of debts. From the data analysis, the following conclusions can be surmised: 1. The over-indebtedness issue is not yet part of the Court\'s repertoire and was not even alleged by the parties in any case. 2. Most of the cases are compensation claims than merely discuss the exorbitant or negligible amount of compensation. 3. The Court\'s decisions are repeatedly hindered by Precedents 5 and 7 of the STJ. 4. Revisional actions treat only about the interest rate on credit card contracts.

Empreende à análise das decisões judiciais a respeito do contrato de cartão de crédito como meio de prevenir ou tratar o superendividamento do consumidor, por ser o contrato que representa a maior dívida dos consumidores brasileiros. A pesquisa consistiu em uma revisão bibliográfica dos temas superendividamento e cartão de crédito e uma pesquisa empírica documental, das decisões do Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ). O método utilizado foi análise de conteúdo, compreendendo a elaboração de fichas de leitura previamente estabelecidas. As fichas foram catalogadas de acordo com o assunto tratado pelo acórdão. Obteve-se um total de 7 (sete) grupos de análise: ações revisionais, ações indenizatórias, ações relativas a práticas abusivas, ações de prestação de contas, ações de exibição de documentos, ações de cobrança e declaratórias de inexistência de débitos. A partir da análise dos dados, depreendeu-se as seguintes conclusões: 1. O tema superendividamento ainda não faz parte do repertório da Corte, não tendo sido nem mesmo alegado pelas partes em algum processo. 2. A maior dos processos são ações indenizatórias que discutem meramente o valor exorbitante ou irrisório da indenização. 3. As decisões da Corte são, repetidamente, obstadas pelas Súmulas 5 e 7 do STJ. 4. As revisionais tratam apenas da taxa de juros nos contratos de cartão de crédito. / Undertakes the analysis of judgments about the credit card agreement as a means of preventing or treating consumer over-indebtedness, as the contract represents the largest debt of Brazilian consumers. The research consisted of a literature review of over-indebtedness and the contract of credit card and documentary empirical research of the decisions of the Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ). The method used was content analysis, including the development of previously established reading summaries. The sumaries were listed according to the subject matter of the judgment. We obtained a total of seven (7) analysis groups: revisional actions, compensation claims, actions related to abusive practices, accountability actions, document display actions, charging actions and declaratory absence of debts. From the data analysis, the following conclusions can be surmised: 1. The over-indebtedness issue is not yet part of the Court\'s repertoire and was not even alleged by the parties in any case. 2. Most of the cases are compensation claims than merely discuss the exorbitant or negligible amount of compensation. 3. The Court\'s decisions are repeatedly hindered by Precedents 5 and 7 of the STJ. 4. Revisional actions treat only about the interest rate on credit card contracts.

The thesis examines the enforcement of consumer rights in South Africa, and is set against the backdrop of the underlying principles and theories on the enforcement of consumer protection law. It then analyses the various forms of consumer protection law enforcement mechanisms that were in place prior to the implementation of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, and sets out why there was a need for the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act. The thesis then critically discusses the consumer protection law enforcement mechanisms introduced and/or catered for by the Consumer Protection Act. The in-depth comparative analysis against the consumer protection law enforcement dispensations in both India and the United Kingdom culminates in a critical analysis of the successes and shortcomings of consumer protection law enforcement regime in present-day South Africa; as well as recommendations (in the form of legislative amendments and practical solutions) on how the South African consumer protection enforcement framework can be improved in order to facilitate the realisation of consumer rights. / Mercantile Law / LL. D.

Ce sujet concerne la protection du consommateur dans le cadre du commerce électronique. L'objectif de la thèse est de faire une analyse des règles édictées en vue d'adapter les contrats électroniques aux exigences strictes posées par le droit de la consommation. Des règles spéciales sont en effet nécessaires afin de régir un monde virtuel, dématérialisé, où la marchandise est numérique. Ces règles doivent souvent être mêlées aux normes du droit international privé et au droit général de la consommation. Il est important de s'interroger sur la coordination entre les règles classiques de conflits de lois et celles des juridictions au e-commerce? Le droit international privé est-il prêt à faire face au monde immatériel, lui qui s'appuie sur la localisation des actes et faits juridiques ? La problématique réside dans le fait que: les contrats passés en ligne sont avant tout des contrats soumis au droit commun. Mais, en même temps, il serait réducteur de voir le contrat électronique comme un simple contrat. Celui-ci comporte en effet plusieurs aspects qui justifient l'élaboration d'un cadre adapté. Partant de ce constat, il semble que les règles de droit commun sont insuffisantes et que des normes spéciales doivent être mises en place. Ainsi, il importe d'étudier les mesures prises par les législateurs européen, français et égyptien, précisément, dans le but de résoudre les difficultés identifiées au fur et à mesure du renouvellement et du développement des techniques. En effet, on constate, l'émergence d'un droit propre au commerce électronique qui traite de ses différents aspects et notamment de la protection des parties vulnérables tel que les cyber-consommateurs. On assiste aujourd'hui à une période d'effervescence législative: une dizaine de directives sur le commerce électronique, les contrats à distance, les services financiers… ont été adoptés dans le cadre communautaire et à peu près le même nombre de lois a été promulguées au niveau interne pour assurer leurs transpositions et plus largement les stratégies d'améliorations des systèmes juridiques, de mises à jour des législations économiques, de renforcement des protections mises en œuvre par les gouvernements qui aspirent ou adhèrent aux mutations de l'économie internationale et enfin l'adaptabilité des droits internationaux à la résolution des litiges en matière de commerce électronique. Comme traitée dans la Deuxième Partie de cette thèse, pour permettre des transactions fiables, de grande qualité en ligne concernant les pays arabes et les pays en voie de développement, il faut des systèmes de télécommunications modernes offrant des services à large bande et des services mobiles à des prix abordables pour les entreprises et les particuliers. Il faut qu'il existe aussi un milieu favorable avec une concurrence forte entre les fournisseurs de télécommunications. En effet, il faut une véritable volonté ! Ces éléments sont primordiaux pour continuer au développement du commerce électronique tout en appliquant les règles relatives à la protection du consommateur. Et aussi, elles sont indispensables pour produire des applications utiles, de grande qualité. Dans ce domaine aussi, les pouvoirs publics peuvent jouer un rôle vital en veillant à ce que les écoles secondaires et professionnelles enseignent comme connaissances spécialisées nécessaires pour aider à l'avènement d'une véritable économie numérique durable, capable de s'adapter aux besoins des utilisateurs. / This subject concerns the protection of the consumer in the context of electronic commerce. The objective of the thesis is to make an analysis of the rules laid down to adapt electronic contracts to the strict requirements of consumer law. Indeed, special rules are required to govern a world virtual, cloud, where the commodity is digital. These rules must often be mixed standards of private international law and the general law of consumption. It is important to investigate coordination between the classical rules of conflict of laws and the courts to e-commerce? Private international law is ready to face the world intangible, which relies on the location of the acts and made legal? The problem lies in the fact that: the contracts online are primarily subject to common law contracts. But, at the same time, it would be simplistic to see the electronic contract as a contract. In fact, it has several aspects that justify the development of a suitable framework. From this observation, it seems that the rules of common law are insufficient and that special standards must be put in place. Thus, it is important to consider the measures taken by European, french and Egyptian lawmakers specifically, to address the difficulties identified as the renewal and the development of techniques. Indeed, there is the emergence of a law specific to electronic commerce which deals with its different aspects and, in particular, the protection of the vulnerable parties such as cyber-consumers. We are today witnessing a period of legislative ferment: a dozen of directives on electronic commerce, distance contracts, financial services... have been adopted in the community context and roughly the same number of laws promulgated at the domestic level to ensure their transpositions and broader strategies of legal systems enhancements, updates of the economic lawsbuilding the protections implemented by Governments that want or adhere to changes in the international economy and finally the adaptability of the international rights to the resolution of disputes in e-commerce. As discussed in the second part of this thesis, to enable reliable transactions, high-quality online regarding Arab countries and developing countries, must be modern telecommunications systems providing broadband and mobile services at affordable prices for businesses and individuals. It is necessary that there is also a supportive environment with strong competition among telecommunications providers. Indeed, it takes a real desire! These elements are crucial to continue the development of e-commerce while applying the rules relating to the protection of the consumer. And also, they are essential to produce useful applications, of high quality. In this area too, Governments can play a vital role in ensuring that secondary and professional schools teach as necessary expertise to assist in the emergence of a real digital economy sustainable, adaptable to the needs of users.

Traditionnellement présentés comme des univers étanches et que tout semble opposer, les marchés financiers sont de plus en plus structurés comme des marchés de consommation. Au regard de l’analyse pragmatique de la réalité économique et sociale de ces deux secteurs, il apparaît donc juste et opportun d’offrir aux investisseurs particuliers une protection essentiellement comparable à celles des consommateurs. C’est d’ailleurs dans cette direction que s’oriente nettement le droit financier ces dernières années. L’émergence d’un principe d’assimilation des investisseurs aux consommateurs permet de rendre compte juridiquement de ce phénomène de « consumérisation » du droit financier et d’aller plus loin en ce sens. Techniquement, ce principe invite à la reconnaissance d’une notion juridique hybride d’investisseur consommateur.Pratiquement, les investisseurs-consommateurs pourraient revendiquer directement l’application de nombreuses dispositions du Code de la consommation. À un niveau plus théorique, ce principe invite à repenser en profondeur la manière traditionnelle de concevoir le paradigme du droit financier et les principales notions des deux disciplines mobilisées. Enfin, parce que la technique juridique d’assimilation s’est révélée être un « impensé » de la science du droit, une réflexion en retour sur ce procédé a été engagée. Il en ressort, qu’en droit, l’assimilation présente une suffisante spécificité justifiant une double reconnaissance : d’une part, en tant qu’instrument normatif, en un principe général d’assimilation et, d’autre part, en un concept de la science du droit à fonctions théoriques multiples. / Financial markets, traditionally presented as separate watertight universes, are now structured increasingly as consumer markets. With regard to the pragmatic analysis of the economic and social reality of these two sectors, it appears justified to offer to private investors a form of protection that is essentially comparable to protection offered to consumers. Moreover, financial law has been clearly oriented in this direction other the last years. The emergence of a principle of assimilation of investors with consumers makes it possible to recognize this phenomenon of ‘consumerisation’ of financial law and to go further with this idea. Technically, this principle encourages the recognition of a hybrid legal notion of investor-consumer. On a practical level, investors-consumers could demand directly the application of numerous provisions of the Consumer Code. On a more theoretical level, this principle encourages a thorough rethinking of the tradition way in which the paradigm of financial law and the principal notions of the two mobilized disciplines are perceived. Finally, because the legal technique of assimilation has proved to be an ‘unthinkable’ of legal science, a back reflection has begun. From this it has emerged that, in law, assimilation presents sufficient specificity to justify a double recognition : on the one hand, as a normative instrument of general principle of assimilation and, on the other hand, as a concept of legal science with multiple theoretical functions.

The class action is an important instrument for the enforcement of consumers' rights, particularly in personal actions for low sums known as Negative Expected Value (NEV) suits. Collective redress actions transform NEV suits into Positive Expected Value suits using economies of scale by the aggregation of smaller actions into a single legal action which is economically worthwhile pursuing. Collective redress promotes adherence to the law, deters illegal actions and furthers public interests. Collective redress also helps in the management of multiple cases in court. The introduction of a new class action model in Israel has proven to be very workable in the sense that it has improved access to justice, albeit that this system currently suffers from over-use, referred to in this work as the "flood problem". The purpose of this research is to introduce a class action model which brings with it the advantages of the Israeli model, as well as improvements upon it so as to promote consumer confidence in low figure transactions by individuals with large, powerful companies. The new model suggested in this work relies on the opt-out mechanism, monitored by regulatory bodies through public regulation or by private regulators. The reliance on the supremacy of public enforcement and follow-on actions over private stand-alone actions should make the system of collective redress more efficient than the current Israeli model, reducing the risk of a flood of actions whilst at the same time improving access to justice for large groups of claimants. Thus far, no unified European class action mechanism has been developed, and only some member states have developed their own systems. The model discussed in this work may be implemented as a unified set of rules in Europe, with some additional adjustments, such as those covering cross-border trade, to promote confidence in trade within the European Union.

O presente trabalho tem como problema de pesquisa a hipervulnerabilidade da criança à publicidade. Através de uma análise histórica da sociedade de consumo atual, pretende-se demonstrar como a publicidade atingiu seu patamar de importância atual e como o Direito respondeu a essa evolução. Será feita uma análise de direito comparado, demonstrando como a publicidade (especialmente a infantil) é regulada em outros países e na União Europeia. A partir daí, e justificando a regulação que hoje é dada à publicidade e a importância da discussão a respeito da publicidade infantil, será apresentada a influência que ela exerce sobre as crianças. A seguir, a par dessas informações e com base nos princípios informadores especialmente do Direito do Consumidor e do Direito da Criança, em claro diálogo de fontes, será respondido o problema, identificando se a criança é ou não mais vulnerável à publicidade que os outros consumidores. / This work has has its research problem the children’s hipervulnerability to advertising. Throgh an historic analysis from the current consumption society, the work aims to demonstrate how advertising has reached its current level of importance and how Law has responded to this evolution. It will be made an analysis of comparative law, demonstrating how advertising (specially child aimed) is regulated in other countries and in European Union. From then on, and in order to justify the regulation that is nowadays given to advertising and the importance of the discussion about advertising to children, it will be presented the influence that it has over children. With these informations in hands and based on the principles, especially the ones from Consumer Law and Rights of children, in a clear dialogue of sources, the problem will be answered, identifying wether children are or not more vulnerable to advertising than other consumers.

Submitted by Ana Valéria de Jesus Moura (anavaleria_131@hotmail.com) on 2014-07-25T17:46:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JOSEANE SUZART LOPES DA SILVA.pdf: 5854136 bytes, checksum: 53ad884741cc73ecccec51b2ce932224 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Valéria de Jesus Moura (anavaleria_131@hotmail.com) on 2014-07-25T17:47:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 JOSEANE SUZART LOPES DA SILVA.pdf: 5854136 bytes, checksum: 53ad884741cc73ecccec51b2ce932224 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-25T17:47:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JOSEANE SUZART LOPES DA SILVA.pdf: 5854136 bytes, checksum: 53ad884741cc73ecccec51b2ce932224 (MD5) / Trata a presente tese do problema referente à ausência de efetividade do direito do consumidor à informação e à educação sobre a garantia legal dos produtos e serviços diante dos vícios que podem acometê-los. Arregimentou-se, como hipótese central, se os princípios previstos na Lei n. 8.078/90 – Código de Proteção e Defesa do Consumidor- seriam suficientes para exigir do fornecedor que informe ao consumidor sobre a existência da proteção legal ao conceder a garantia contratual, porquanto, não existe norma que determine expressamente esse dever e, no campo concreto, aquele vem se omitindo; ou se as normas legais existentes seriam suficientes para solucionar a questão, desde que submetidas à hermenêutica crítica das disposições constitucionais que erigiram o direito consumidor ao patamar de fundamental. Objetivou-se, assim, examinar, de forma crítica, o deficitário direito do consumidor à informação e à educação acerca da proteção legal deferida e as providências concretas que podem contribuir para a sua implementação. Utilizaram-se, para tanto, os métodos hipotético-dedutivo, dialético, argumentativo, hermenêutico, histórico e monográfico, visto que o tratamento do tema não se concretizou apenas sob a ótica dogmática, transpondo-se para o âmbito zetético e interdisciplinar, envolvendo o Direito das Relações de Consumo e o Direito Constitucional e, ainda, aspectos filosóficos e sociológicos relevantes, além das pesquisas exploratória, bibliográfica, documental e de campo, valendo-se das técnicas da documentação indireta e direta intensivas (entrevistas e formulários). Realizou-se, em quatro capítulos, a análise das origens históricas da relação jurídica de consumo, dos sujeitos participantes, dos produtos e serviços e dos vícios que podem afetá-los, da responsabilidade dos integrantes da cadeia de fornecimento, à luz das disposições legais e constitucionais. O direito à informação e à educação do consumidor foi examinado sob a ótica constitucional e legal no quinto capítulo, destinando-se o sétimo e o oitavo a tratar da necessária hermenêutica constitucional e da promoção da efetividade do direito do consumidor. Concluiu-se, através da pesquisa de campo realizada, que o problema existe no plano concreto e que a solução não se encontra atrelada à modificação das normas jurídicas existentes nem tampouco na utilização dos discursos exegético-positivista ou discursivo-procedimental, mas, sim, na adoção da “Hermenêutica Crítica Constitucional”, não com base na ponderação entre o direito fundamental do consumidor e a livre iniciativa, já que se encontram em planos constitucionais distintos, devendo o primeiro predominar equilibradamente em face da segunda. Assim, os entes que integram o Sistema Nacional de Proteção e Defesa do Consumidor podem, através de medidas extrajudiciais e judiciais, convocar os fornecedores para agirem de modo lídimo, bem como promoverem a educação da população

O presente trabalho tem como problema de pesquisa a hipervulnerabilidade da criança à publicidade. Através de uma análise histórica da sociedade de consumo atual, pretende-se demonstrar como a publicidade atingiu seu patamar de importância atual e como o Direito respondeu a essa evolução. Será feita uma análise de direito comparado, demonstrando como a publicidade (especialmente a infantil) é regulada em outros países e na União Europeia. A partir daí, e justificando a regulação que hoje é dada à publicidade e a importância da discussão a respeito da publicidade infantil, será apresentada a influência que ela exerce sobre as crianças. A seguir, a par dessas informações e com base nos princípios informadores especialmente do Direito do Consumidor e do Direito da Criança, em claro diálogo de fontes, será respondido o problema, identificando se a criança é ou não mais vulnerável à publicidade que os outros consumidores. / This work has has its research problem the children’s hipervulnerability to advertising. Throgh an historic analysis from the current consumption society, the work aims to demonstrate how advertising has reached its current level of importance and how Law has responded to this evolution. It will be made an analysis of comparative law, demonstrating how advertising (specially child aimed) is regulated in other countries and in European Union. From then on, and in order to justify the regulation that is nowadays given to advertising and the importance of the discussion about advertising to children, it will be presented the influence that it has over children. With these informations in hands and based on the principles, especially the ones from Consumer Law and Rights of children, in a clear dialogue of sources, the problem will be answered, identifying wether children are or not more vulnerable to advertising than other consumers.