Sanctions in consumer law

"He who burns his bottom must pay the price. Do sanctions in consumer law keep companies on the straight and narrow?" - That was the title of Charlotte Pavillon's research proposal for which she was awarded a grant from the Gratama Foundation .

Companies that engage in unfair trade practices or use unreasonably onerous contract terms face sanctions. Those sanctions are either administrative law or private law in nature. Which sanction is imposed, depends on who acts against the violation: the ACM (administrative law) or the consumers themselves, as individuals or collectively (private law). The rules that protect against unfair practices and conditions are of European origin, and the sanctions on them are subject to three preconditions. For example, sanctions must be sufficiently effective: they must be user-friendly and end the violation. In addition, sanctions must be dissuasive and prevent new violations. Finally, sanctions must be proportionate: they must not go further than necessary.

Courtesy of the grant, Pavillon and a group of student assistants investigated whether and if so how, when imposing a sanction, the three aforementioned preconditions are factored in. They also examined whether these preconditions are met. For this purpose, interviews (judges and ACM), case law research and research on websites and contracts (after a sanction has been imposed) were used.

The research project concluded with a symposium in The Hague . The results of the research were recorded in several publications, including an article in the European Review of Private Law . During Pavillons inaugural lecture on 5 March 2019, the initial findings were presented. A final version of the oration was published by Boom juridisch in 2020. The research has put the extremely hot topic of civil penalties in consumer law on the map.

Duration of the project

2018 - 2019

Awarded grant

18,220 euros, obtained from the Gratama Foundation

Contact person at our Faculty

Prof. mr. dr. C.M.D.S. (Charlotte) Pavillon

Website with additional information