CYIL 2012

PARALLEL NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LAWS ȃ CZECH LAW AND THE PROPOSED… transaction. 29 Thus, the unconscionability doctrine as applied is a rejection of the Czech and civil law principle of “equality of the parties to commercial transactions.” However, in B2C transactions it is consistent with the civil law and EU principle of protecting the weaker party. The plethora of EU Directives in the area of consumer protection has caused issues in how the Directives are best incorporated into national laws. Some countries have simply amended their existing civil codes, while others have adopted stand-alone statutes. From a EU perspective these various ways of implementing EU Directives, as well as the way the Directives have been interpreted with some countries having stricter consumer protection laws than other countries, has been a cause for concern. This variation has caused a great deal of complexity and unevenness in EU consumer protection law. This has made trading within the EU more uncertain for businesses who need to educate themselves on the various consumer protection laws in each of the 27 EU countries where they are contemplating doing business as required by Rome I. 30 Some of the complexity has been caused by the piecemeal approach of EU consumer law that has caused conflicting interpretations and results. This has especially been a problem for countries like the Czech Republic, where there is “no general theory of consumer contracts in Czech jurisprudence.” 31 The result is a bits and pieces approach to consumer law, with some laws found in various places in the Czech Civil Code and others outside of the Civil Code. There is no holistic framework where one can easily understand what is required in the area of consumer protection. 2.2.2 Czech Consumer Protection Act and CESL The Czech Consumer Protection Act (CPA) 32 states that: “This Act applies to sale of products and provision of services in cases where performance is affected in the territory of the Czech Republic.” 33 At a more general level the CPA attempts to adjust the imbalance between businesses and consumers. This imbalance comes in two interrelated dimensions bargaining power and informational asymmetries. In the area of informational asymmetry, the CPA prohibits the deceiving of consumers “by providing untruthful, unsubstantiated, incomplete, inaccurate, unclear, ambiguous or exaggerated information, or by concealing information about the real properties of products or services or the quality of purchasing conditions.” 34 This provision not only prohibits the providing of false information but also places a duty of disclosure 29 See Larry DiMatteo & Bruce Rich, “A Consent Theory of Unconscionability: An Empirical Analysis of Law in Action”, Florida State Law Review 33 (2006), 1067. 30 Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I), OJ 4. 7. 2008, L 177/6 (hereinafter, Rome I). 31 Elischer, Frinta & Pauknerová, Private Law at 91-92. 32 Act No. 634/1992 Coll., as of December 16, 1992 Consumer Protection Act, as amended through 2006.

33 See Section 1(3). 34 See Section 8 (1).

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