The Central Economic Work Conference in 2023 stressed that we should promote the transformation of consumption from post epidemic recovery to sustained expansion, stabilize and expand traditional consumption, and foster and expand new consumption. The release of consumption vitality can not be separated from a safe and secure consumption environment. The provincial courts and the Consumer Protection Commission have always attached great importance to the work of consumer rights protection, and have always been committed to creating a good legal environment for consumption, so that consumers can dare to spend, willing to spend, and promoting the basic role of consumption in economic growth.
In 2023, the provincial courts will continue to explore new measures for consumer rights protection, and establish and improve a comprehensive security network to safeguard consumers' legitimate rights and interests. First, establish a diversified mechanism to resolve consumer disputes. The courts of the province actively strengthen communication and cooperation with the local consumer protection committee, actively build a diversified consumer dispute resolution mechanism in combination with the actual situation of the region, and guide consumers to resolve disputes through a convenient and efficient non litigation dispute resolution mechanism; Second, pay attention to the source prevention of consumption disputes. Provide one-stop services such as consultation, mediation, litigation and law popularization for consumers by means of "integrated court"; Some regional courts and market supervision departments jointly formulate measures to guide enterprises to operate in compliance, and prevent disputes from the source. Third, strengthen the trial of consumer dispute cases. The courts throughout the province have constantly strengthened the trial of consumer disputes, and guided market entities such as producers and operators to pay more attention to protecting consumers' legitimate rights and interests in their business activities with typical cases. Some regional courts have established professional trial teams for consumer rights protection, deepened investigation and research, and introduced expert jurors to participate in trials on difficult and complex issues to improve trial quality. In 2023, courts across the province will accept more than 39000 consumer disputes, down 13.3% from the previous year. Among the ten typical cases of consumer rights protection published by the Supreme Court, 2 cases were selected by Jiangsu courts; Among the ten typical cases of consumer rights protection released by China Consumer Association, one case was selected by Jiangsu court.
In 2023, the provincial Consumer Protection Commission organized to accept more than 239000 rights protection complaints, saving about 200 million yuan of economic losses for consumers. The Consumer Protection Commission insisted on putting the non litigation dispute resolution mechanism in front, actively building a direct channel for rights protection, and issued the Provisions on the Incentive Mechanism for Consumer Dispute First Reconciliation. The provision does not include the consumption disputes resolved by the reconciliation mechanism in advance into the accumulated complaint data of enterprises, and does not participate in the publicity. It is more conducive to promoting the healthy development of enterprises while resolving consumption disputes quickly. Judging from the number of complaints last year, the reconciliation incentive mechanism has achieved remarkable results.
The Provincial Court and the Provincial Consumer Protection Commission jointly released ten typical cases of consumer rights protection in 2023. This batch of cases has the following characteristics:
First, focus on new areas of consumption. The sharing economy, as a new field of consumption with sustained and rapid growth in recent years, has been highly valued by the state and society. This field involves all aspects of people's lives, such as the sharing power bank involved in Case I, which, as a landmark product under the wave of sharing economy, is popular with consumers because of its convenience and economy, but also frequently because of price increases, slow charging Problems such as difficulty in return have caused consumer dissatisfaction. In a mass consumption complaint caused by sharing the default subscription service of the rechargeable bank, the Changzhou Xinbei District Consumer Association, after investigation, believed that the company providing the service of the rechargeable bank had improper behaviors such as unclear agreements, hidden consumption traps, and binding default subscription members, which infringed the consumers' right to know, choice, and fair trade. After full communication and coordination with the Consumer Association, The company recognized its own mistake and said that it would immediately terminate the monthly service and return the deposit to consumers. At the same time, it added the use method and termination method on the mobile phone operation interface of the power bank, and prevented the problem from happening again by taking bold font reminders, extending the online customer service time and other measures. This mediation of the Consumer Association not only solved the problem of individual cases, but also standardized the operation of the company to avoid the recurrence of similar problems in the future, and achieved good results.
In recent years, the consumption of pets has grown rapidly. According to statistics, the scale of China's pet industry has reached hundreds of billions of yuan. More and more people are raising pets, and more and more time and money are willing to spend on pets. This trend has brought huge development space for the pet service market. However, the development of the industry is still in the primary stage, with uneven service awareness and service quality, and incidents of infringement of consumers' rights and interests occur from time to time. In the published case II, Chen Mou sued a pet hospital for property damage compensation dispute, the pet hospital operated on the pet without obtaining the animal diagnosis and treatment license, which resulted in the death of the pet. The court found that the pet hospital had gross negligence according to law, and ruled that it should compensate the consumer for property damage and support some claims for mental damage compensation as appropriate, It fully protects the property rights and spiritual interests of consumers, and reminds the pet service industry to strengthen self-discipline and standardize operation.
Second, focus on the new consumption model. With the continuous upgrading and iteration of online consumption, a new consumption scene of buying large consumer goods through participating in online auctions has emerged. However, online auctions have brought convenience to consumption, but also accompanied by many problems such as dark box operations and lack of credibility. In the case of a dispute over an auction contract between Sanwang and an Internet technology company, the auction company instructed its staff to secretly participate in the auction to bid up the price, which led to the loss of the opportunity for consumers to conclude a transaction at a lower price. The court determined that the auction company's behavior constituted fraud according to law, and decided that it should bear punitive liability, warning the online auction industry to operate in good faith and abide by the law.
Automobile is an important mass consumption item for ordinary people. In recent years, with the increase of car ownership, the scale of second-hand car market is growing. Because there are relatively many problems in the second-hand trading market, such as cheating buyers by shoddy goods and lack of after-sales service, it is difficult to form a safe consumption environment. How to standardize the honest operation of business entities has become a problem that needs to be solved for the sustainable development of the second-hand market. In case 4, Mr. Li sued a second-hand automobile service department and other sales contract disputes, the operator used handwritten contract terms to exclude the application of punitive liability for fraud. The court ruled that the provision was invalid according to law, imposed punitive compensation on the operator who committed fraud, and firmly denied the operator's practice of evading legal liability through contract terms. At the same time, the court practiced active justice, issued judicial suggestions to the local market supervision department, informed the relevant cases, and suggested that further measures should be taken to regulate the sales of second-hand cars in the market, to prevent the recurrence of such disputes, which was positively responded by the proposed unit.
In recent years, the scale of prepaid consumption has been expanding day by day, which has played a positive role in stimulating consumption and promoting economic development, but has also brought risks and hidden dangers of damage to consumers' rights and interests. Due to the long cycle of prepaid consumption, during the performance of the contract, the operators often refuse to perform their obligations or even evade their debts in disguised form by changing their names, legal representatives, shareholders, etc. In the case of a dispute over service contracts such as Xu v. a fitness company, The court found that the gym operator's request for old members to pay additional fees after the change of shareholders constituted a breach of contract, and warned the operator to establish the spirit of contract and operate in good faith.
In the case of a purchase and sale contract dispute between Song and a technology company, the e-commerce platform store promised to "pay ten for the fake" and stipulated "pay ten for the fake" as compensation for the cash coupons that can only be used on the platform by using the format terms to limit its own liability. However, the court held that the provision was invalid if it failed to perform the obligation of prompt and explanation, Consumers are entitled to ten times of cash compensation, which effectively protects consumers' reasonable expectations. At the same time, in view of the fact that the e-commerce platform is plagued by operators selling fake goods on the platform, the court issued judicial suggestions to the e-commerce platform from three aspects: pre review, in-process supervision, and post sanctions. The platform quickly organized the risk control department to carry out special research, modify the rules for e-commerce entering the platform, strengthen the means of technical review, and improve the review and supervision mechanism of platform merchants and the sanctions rules for selling fake goods, It effectively reduces the generation of consumption disputes, and reflects the active judicial concept of prevention first.
The third is to show a new pattern of dispute resolution. Adhering to and developing the "Maple Bridge Experience" in the new era requires that source prevention first and the non litigation mechanism advanced. The 2023 National Mediation Work Conference and the provincial mediation work conference stressed the need to adhere to the concept of mediation priority and give full play to the role of various mediation forces. In addition to the case of successful mediation by the Consumer Protection Committee described above, in the case of a second-hand car consumption dispute handled by the Consumer Protection Committee of Qitaicang City, the Consumer Protection Committee, together with the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce of the second-hand car industry, invited the experts of second-hand car identification to form a joint effort to resolve the problem, which ultimately solved the doubts of the investors about the quality of the vehicles and promoted the two parties to reach a settlement.
In addition, in a consumption dispute caused by a new energy vehicle fault in Case 8, Lianyungang Municipal Consumer Protection Commission, together with the automobile rights protection expert group, the column group of "March 15 Exposure Platform" and media reporters, carried out on-site investigation, gave full play to the role of professional advice and media supervision, and finally urged operators to agree to return vehicles to consumers at the original price. These two typical cases, All of them fully demonstrated the effectiveness of the diversified solution work of joining forces with all sectors of society to participate in non litigation dispute resolution.
Fourth, show the new achievements of public interest litigation. In recent years, consumer civil public interest litigation has focused on food safety issues and achieved remarkable results. At the same time, with the development of new consumption, the impact of industry chaos in some new fields on consumers' rights and interests has become increasingly apparent. For example, with the rapid rise of the medical beauty industry, unlicensed business, false publicity, illegal medical practice and other illegal problems are gradually emerging, which seriously threaten the life and health of consumers. In a criminal case of intellectual property rights caused by counterfeit medical and aesthetic devices in Case 9, the Nanjing Railway Procuratorate suggested that the Provincial Consumer Protection Commission should file a public interest lawsuit. The Provincial Consumer Protection Commission attached great importance to it, quickly filed a consumer civil public interest lawsuit after the relevant criminal case was concluded, and extended the role of the public interest lawsuit system into new areas, achieving good social results.
Fifth, focus on new aspects of rights and interests protection. With the progress of the times, consumers' awareness of rights has been growing. They not only pay attention to their own economic interests, but also pay more attention to personal dignity and other personal rights and interests. The judicial trial should actively respond to this. In the case of Mr. Shiye v. Mr. Sun and others, the barber uploaded his hair cutting video to the social platform without the consent of the consumer. The consumer thought that the act of uploading the video infringed his portrait right, so he sued the court. The court supported the consumer's appeal according to law, and decided that the barber apologized and compensated for the loss, It highlights the legislative purpose of the civil code to comprehensively strengthen the protection of personality rights.
After 30 years of trials and hardships, the original intention is not to change. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the implementation of the Consumer Protection Law. Over the past three decades, the Consumer Protection Law has played a huge role in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and promoting healthy economic development, providing important legal support for consumer protection. In the future, Jiangsu Court will continue to strengthen cooperation with the Consumer Protection Commission and other relevant units, jointly build a good legal environment for consumption, contribute judicial power to stimulate consumption vitality, release consumption potential, and make more consumers feel comfortable and at ease!