On Legal Interpretation of Basic Consumer Rights

The liability of an entrepreneur towards a consumer is the specific kind of contractual responsibility. The typical feature of this regime is weakness of two principles that are basic for market economy: freedom of contracts and pacta sunt servanda principle. This liability is regulated by specific acts of law. Its object is to intensify the legal protection of the consumer.

Nowadays in the Polish law, the form of legal provisions concerning pro- tection of the consumer, is influenced by European Union law, especially con- sumerist directives. The Act on specific terms and conditions of consumer sale, on 27th July 2002, has huge practical significance. The basic premise of this lia- bility is the fact of ’nonconformity of goods with the contract’. Therefore there is no need to prove any damage and other premises inseparably connected with damage liability. Moreover, it must be noticed that normally specific acts of law concerning protection of the consumer, do not entirely realize the compensatory function which is typical of general principles of contractual responsibility.