INTERNET BUSINESS TRANSACTION WITH AN INTERNATIONAL ELEMENT: CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION Abstract This thesis focuses on the legal aspects of consumer protection within the European Union when concluding a contract with an international element on the Internet. The motivation for the thesis is to address the new legal challenges which the matter creates. In case of contracts negotiated at a distance, there is no possibility of verification of the contracting party or goods or services themselves. Such situation increases the risk of abuse of the position of the stronger party. Furthermore, the unclear definition of borders in cross-border online purchasing complicates the matter of private international law on jurisdiction and applicable law. This thesis aims to describe and analyse the specific rules for consumer protection on the Internet within the European Union in order to inform stakeholders about the current state of the law in this area. In particular, the thesis deals with three issues: what kind of protection is provided to consumers in cross-border online purchase within the European Union; which court has jurisdiction over a dispute arising from consumer contract with an international element entered into on the Internet; and how the applicable law for these contracts is...

"Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de LL.M. en droit des affaires" / Le recours collectif multi-juridictionnel soulève de nombreuses questions relatives à la compétence internationale des tribunaux. En raison de la spécificité de ce véhicule procédural et du droit qui lui est propre, le droit international privé et le droit constitutionnel applicables à la détermination de la compétence internationale des tribunaux pourraient être appelés à s'adapter à ce véhicule. La transformation de ces sphères de droit substantif sous l'influence du droit propre au recours collectif fait l'objet du présent mémoire. Cette étude vise principalement à déterminer la nature, l'étendue et l'opportunité des transformations du droit constitutionnel canadien et du droit international privé québécois au nom de principes propres au droit des recours collectifs. L'étude en vient à la conclusion que l'influence est significative à l'extérieur du Québec, que cette influence peut, selon les circonstances, être souhaitable ou non, et qu'à tout événement ces transformations doivent faire l'objet d'une analyse de la Cour suprême du Canada afin de dissiper les incertitudes qui s'avèrent coûteuses pour les justiciables, tant en demande qu'en défense. / Multi-jurisdictionnal class actions raise several questions of jurisdiction. As a result of the specificity of both class actions and the law of class actions, private international law and constitutional law applicable to jurisdiction may be invited to adapt to the new trend of multijurisdictional class actions. The transformation of these sectors of the law to take into account the reality of class actions is the subject of this thesis. This study primarily seeks to determine the nature, scope and opportunity of the transformation of Canadian constitutional law and Quebec's private international law to account for national class actions. This study reaches the conc1usion that this influence is significant outside the Province of Québec, that it may, according to the circumstances, be justified or not and, most importantly, that the equilibrium between these three sectors of the law should be settled by the Supreme Court of Canada in order to dissipate the uncertainties arising therefrom, uncertainties that continue to be costly for multiple claimants or defendants.

Avec le développement exponentiel de l'Internet et son corollaire l'expansion du commerce en ligne, le sort de la protection du cyberconsommateur devient un sujet préoccupant en ce 21ième siècle. En effet, dans ce monde virtuel où l'on emploie des méthodes et technologies nouvelles et plus encore des clauses abusives dans les contrats unilatéraux, s'installe indubitablement un sentiment de méfiance entre le cyberconsommateur et le cybercommerçant. Pour rétablir cette confiance et favoriser le commerce par Internet, des lois nationales, internationales et des normes communautaires ont été adoptées aux fins de l'encadrement rigoureux du processus contractuel. Toutefois, en raison de la présence fréquente d'éléments d'extranéité dans les contrats de consommation en ligne, la question fondamentale qui vient tout naturellement à l'esprit de tous ceux qui entreprennent des études aujourd'hui, en la matière, est celle de savoir si les règles classiques de droit international privé sont dépassées par le développement trop rapide de ce type de commerce ou si au contraire elles y sont adaptées. On pourrait en outre se demander si l'encadrement juridique offert au cyberconsommateur est à même de lui procurer le même niveau de protection dont il bénéficie dans le commerce traditionnel. La présente étude tente d'apporter certains éléments de réponse en analysant dans un premier temps, le droit substantiel interne de protection du consommateur dans les systèmes juridiques européen, français, canadien et québécois en vu de scruter des zones de conflits susceptibles d'exister dans le cycle de vie de ce contrat. Dans la seconde partie, elle démontre que les méthodes classiques de résolution des conflits de juridiction et des conflits de lois en droit international privé, bien que nécessitant des adaptations, sont effectivement applicables au contexte de l'internet et ce, dans l'objectif privilégié de la protection du cyberconsommateur. Le bilan de l'analyse et de l'appréciation des critères de ces règles de conflits nous conduiront à l'examen des nouvelles mesures qui s'imposent. / With the exponential development of the Internet and the consequent expansion of online commerce, the fate of cyberconsumer protection has become a topic of increasing concern in the 21st century. In fact, in a virtual world where new methods and technologies are used-as are abusive clauses in unilaterally drafted contracts-a feeling of mistrust between cyberconsumer and cybermerchant is certainly setting in. National and international laws and community norms have been adopted in order to rigorously control the contractual process and to thereby re-establish consumer confidence and further Internet commerce. However, due to the frequent presence of foreign elements in on-line commercial contracts, the fundamental question which naturally arises for those who are studying the subject is whether the classic rules of private international law have become outdated by the incredibly rapid development of this type of commerce, or whether such laws are in fact adapted. One can also question whether the legal framework offered to the cyberconsumer is able to procure the same level of protection that a consumer would benefit from in cases of traditional commerce. This study aims to present certain elements of a response, first, by analyzing substantive internal law in the realm of consumer protection in the European, French, Canadian and Quebec legal systems, in order to examine areas of conflict that are likely to exist during the lifespan of this sort of contract. In the second part, this study demonstrates that the classic methods of resolving conflicts of jurisdiction and conflicts of law in private international law, while requiring certain adaptations, can nevertheless be effectively applied to the context of the Internet with the objective of protecting cyberconsumers. The results of this analysis and evaluation of the private international rules of conflict then lead to an assessment of the new measures that are required.

Le commerce électronique B to C se popularise de plus en plus et le nombre de ses adeptes ne cesse de croître d'année en année. Ses avantages, pour les consommateurs, en termes de rapidité, de commodité et de proximité ne sont plus à prouver. Néanmoins, la particularité du medium utilisé pour effectuer des transactions en ligne et les spécificités de l'environnement électronique, notamment l'immatérialité, l'interactivité et l'internationalité influent considérablement sur la confiance des cyberconsommateurs en même temps qu'elles accroissent leur vulnérabilité, d'où la nécessité d'un cadre juridique adapté afin que l'essor du commerce électronique B to C ne néglige pas la protection des cyberconsommateurs. Conscients de cet impératif, les législateurs communautaire, français et tunisien, ont mis en place un certain nombre de mesures de nature à rassurer ces derniers et leur permettre de s'engager dans des transactions de commerce en ligne en toute confiance. Ces mesures sont de deux ordres : les unes sont destinées à assurer au cyberconsommateur une protection intrinsèque au processus de la transaction en ligne ; cette protection se manifeste en amont de la transaction, lors de la phase précontractuelle, mais également pendant la période contractuelle, c'est-à-dire au moment de la finalisation de la transaction en ligne et de son exécution. Les autres ont pour objectif de garantir au consommateur une protection extrinsèque au processus de la transaction du commerce électronique. Deux aspects sont, à cet égard, pris en compte : la protection des données à caractère personnel traitées dans le cadre d'une transaction en ligne et les aspects du droit international privé de la protection du cyberconsommateur. / B to C e-commerce is increasingly gaining popularity. The number of its followers has seen a drastic surge throughout the few recent years. Its advantages in terms of speed, convenience and proximity are not any more questionable by consumers. Nevertheless, the characteristic of this medium used to carry out online transactions as well as the specificities of the electronic environment - in particular the immateriality, the interactivity and internationality - influence considerably cyber-consumers confidence. Simultaneously, they increase their vulnerability. Thus, the need for an appropriate legal framework to regulate the rise of B to C e-commerce and protect cyber-consumers. Taking into account these requirement, community, French and Tunisian legislators set up a number of measures to reassure the latter and allow them to engage confidently in online commerce transactions. These measures have two targets: some of them were intended to grant cyber-consumers an intrinsic protection in the process of the online transaction. This protection is set to be an upstream transaction protection at the pre-contractual phase as well as during the contractual period; i.e. at the level of on line transaction finalization and execution. The others aim to guarantee the consumer an extrinsic protection throughout the process of e-commerce transaction. In this respect, two aspects are taken into account, namely: personal data processed during transactions and the aspects of private international law of cyber-consumer protection.

The aim of the thesis is to define the cathegory of peremptory rules in private international law and to describe their specific use in the commercial domain compared to business to consumer contractual relations. The reason for my research was my concern for the conflict between the formal possibility to conclude a contract and the actual enforceability of the contractual claims before a court or before alternative dispute resolution bodies in the domain of private international law. A major part of the thesis uses an analytical approach and a grammatical, teleological and logical interpretation of the mentioned legal instruments. The final part is grounded on the legal comparation of several laws across different countries and thus demonstrating how different approaches to peremtory rules may influence the actual interpetation of various legal relations and the contractual liberty in general. The thesis is composed of four chapters and a conclusion. To begin with, the first chapter focuses on the peremptory rules in international commercial relations as a whole. It aims to define the core notion of the peremptory rules. It also reals with a personal and material scope of the thesis - the particularities of commercial relations. Furthermore, the second chapter examines the application of the...

La protection du consommateur en droit international privé européen passe par les règles protectrices de conflit de lois et de conflit de juridictions spécialement conçues pour les contrats transfrontières de consommation. Ces règles contribuent au rééquilibrage du rapport contractuel de consommation transfrontière et font peser sur le professionnel la charge des coûts de l’internationalisation du contrat de consommation. Sous réserve de certaines améliorations qui pourraient être apportées, la méthode choisie par le droit international privé européen est globalement satisfaisante. En revanche, son champ d’application est trop restrictif. Avec le critère d’ « activité dirigée », le modèle européen est actuellement fondé sur la distinction entre les consommateurs passifs et actifs. Le bénéfice des règles protectrices est réservé aux premiers. Cette distinction ne doit pas conduire à l’absence de protection pour les seconds. Dans cette thèse, il est proposé d’introduire des règles protectrices au bénéfice des consommateurs actuellement exclus du régime protecteur. Cette protection ne doit pas passer par l’extension du champ d’application des règles protectrices existantes aux consommateurs actifs mais par l’établissement d’un second régime protecteur parallèle pour ces consommateurs, inspiré par l’idée de mieux encadrer l’autonomie de la volonté et d’atteindre un bon compromis entre la protection du consommateur et le respect des intérêts du professionnel. / Consumer protection in European private international law is carried out through protective choice-of-law and jurisdiction rules which are specially designed for cross-border consumer contracts. These rules help balancing the bargaining power and make the professional bear the internationalization cost of consumer contract. With some improvements which should be brought to the existing rules, the method used in European private international law in matters relating to consumer contracts is generally satisfactory. On the other hand, its scope is too narrow. With the criterion of "directed activity", the European model is based on the distinction between passive and active consumers. Only passive consumers are covered by the protective rules. This distinction must not lead to the lack of protection for active consumers. In this thesis, it suggests that European private international law provide protective rules for consumers currently not covered. However, the protection must not be carried out by extending the scope of existing protective rules to active consumers but by establishing a second set of protective rules inspired by a better regulation of freedom of contract and a good compromise between professional’s interests and consumer protection.

1 ABSTRACT European international law - selected issues The subject of this thesis is an analysis of a new procedural measure of European law - European order for payment (hereinafter as "EOP") and exploration of its application in practice from the perspective of the Czech plaintiff and Czech court. I have chosen this topic because of my own experience concerning cross-border debt recovery through the EOP. In this context, I decided to find out how this legal measure works in practice with regard to its purpose of providing a simplified, accelerated and cost effective procedure for the recovery of uncontested pecuniary civil and commercial claims in cross-border cases. In the final part of the thesis, I made the conclusion that the Council Regulation 1896/2006 of 12 December 2006, in creating a European order for payment procedure, (hereinafter as "REOP") meets its objectives and its implementation is a valuable asset to the creditors against non paying debtors. The thesis is divided into 3 parts. The first part is as an introduction to European private international law containing five chapters. The first and second chapters explain the concepts of private international law and European private international law. The third chapter deals with their mutual relationship. The fourth chapter describes the...

The objective of this Master's thesis is to analyze the rules of law governing contractual obligations in private international law. First, the relevant sources of law and their concrete application are examined through descriptive and analytical method. The thesis is then focusing on two specific phenomena that have significantly influenced the development of the field in the last few decades. The first one is a gradual process of unification taking place at the legislation level. The second one is called "new lex mercatoria" and represents a non-sate source of rules governing contractual obligations with a cross-border element. Both of the phenomena are analyzed from both theoretical and practical point of view. The thesis is divided in five chapters and the analysis progresses from a general to a more specific level. The first chapter focuses on the legal definitions indispensable for a more detailed analysis provided in the following chapters. In order to better contextualize the rules governing contractual relationships in the international private law, the second chapter is dedicated to its historical evolution. Moreover, the chapter introduces and compares methods regulating contractual relationships in the international private law, while acknowledging the specific circumstances of their creation....

This thesis deals with the union between the most modern communication channel yet - the Internet, and private international law. This relationship is not accidental, because the Internet provides a means through which subjects are able to communicate with each other across the world. In its simplest definition, the Internet can be defined as a worldwide system of interconnected computer networks. However, from a legal perspective - the Internet is not a legal subject in its own right, it does not have any legal obligations and therefore does not exist. The Internet is however, undoubtable a part of our every day lives. The initial focus of Internet legislation was only on the technical aspects. However as the number of Internet users has grown, the need for more specialized legislation also has. Often this specialization is assembled through the interpretation of existing laws. This thesis provides a detailed mapping of such private international laws and Internet law - which should be regarded as a separate legal specialization. It is found that the Czech Constitution and other constitutional laws provide a base for private international law at the country level; The Act on Private International Law and Rules of Procedure also provides legislation, which may be regarded as specialized. At the...

Le couple au sens du droit musulman est conçu par le lien matrimonial, ce qui exclut toutes autres formes d’unions. Les profondes mutations en la matière de certains pays musulmans font que l'institution familiale est traversée par des courants contradictoires faisant d’elle un champ de lutte propice entre l'ancienne et la nouvelle, entre la tradition et la moderne.Les réformes apparues, il y a une dizaine d’années, dans certains pays musulmans témoignent la volonté des législateurs musulmans de répondre au souci de l’égalité homme-femme, en particulier le rééquilibrage des droits entre les époux. Ainsi, de nombreuses institutions ont connu des mutations soit par leur prohibition, soit par leurs restrictions les rendant difficilement applicables.Ce travail a le mérite de dresser le bilan de l’accueil de ces institutions réformées dans l’ordre juridique français et, ainsi démontrer les tergiversations jurisprudentielles en la matière.L’européanisation du droit international privé et l’influence libérale de la famille en droit français ont accru la diversité des règles et des méthodes applicables aux couples.En analysant la méthodologie du droit international privé français, un certain relativisme découle dans l’application de ses modalités ce qui envoie à s’interroger sur les limites du respect des valeurs fondamentales du for. Un relativisme qui se débat entre poursuivre le but du droit international privé d’harmoniser deux systèmes et respecter les valeurs essentielles du pays d’accueil.Néanmoins, apprécier les réformes du droit étranger dans leur globalité et leur profondeur permettra de renforcer la coordination entre les différents systèmes en jeu. / The couple under Muslim law is designed by the marriage bond, which excludes all other forms of union. However. The profound changes are making Family crossed by contradictory speeches that makes it a field of struggle between the old family and the new one, between tradition and modernity.The recent reforms that have appeared in many Muslim countries, over a decade for the majority, show the concern of the Muslim legislator for the question of equity between men and women, especially the husband and wife. Thus, many institutions have experienced mutations either by their prohibition or by their reluctance involving their difficulties of application.The position of the French judge is marked by the concern to exclude the application of foreign rules only to situations that have close ties with French territory. This "proximist" conception of public order is going against a relativistic approach to divergences between legal systems., and above all the emergence of a new rule of conflicts with the phenomenon of “Europeanisation” in French domestic law.