CONSUMER PROTECTION IN ELECTRONIC CONTRACTS: THE CASE OF INDONESIA

This paper aims to provide insights into the consumer protection in e-commerce in Indonesian context. In 2015, ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which includes Indonesia as a member, was established for a regional economic integration by reducing the transactions costs of trade, improving trade and business facilities, as well as enhancing the competitiveness of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises sector. AEC is expected to promote electronic transactions. Even though Indonesia has the Law Number 8 Year 1999 on Consumer Protection, this law does not regulate specifically on electronic transactions. In response to this limitation, Indonesia has issued the Law Number 11 Year 2008 on Information and Electronic Transactions and Government Regulation Number 82 Year 2012 on the Implementation of Systems and Electronic Transactions. This is followed by enactment of Law Number 7 Years 2014 on Trade, which regulates general domestic trade, foreign trade, border trade and commerce through the electronic system. The law aims to stem the flood of products imported into Indonesia so that the use of domestic products can be increased. This paper concludes that legislations which regulate consumer protection in electronic transactions are still inadequate thus Indonesia is not fully ready to deal with the consumer protection in e-commerce. Keywords: Electronic contracts, consumer protection, Indonesia, ASEAN Economic Community.Cite as: Agustin, E. & Kurniawan, F. (2017). Consumer protection in electronic contracts: The case of Indonesia. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 2(1), 159-169.  http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol2iss1pp159-16

Consumer Dispute Resolution in B2C E-commerce in Sri Lanka: A Comparative Legal Analysis

E-commerce has emerged as a significant turning factor of the global economy since the last quarter of the 20th century. As a result of the convenient and efficient nature of the e-commerce traditional consumer transactions have rapidly been changed into online transactions. However, it is evident that online consumers have to expose serious violations of their consumer rights other than the offline consumers during a Business to Consumer (B2C) transaction. One of the major problems arises in the post-purchasing stage of a B2C transaction is dispute resolution between consumer and the trader. If goods are not delivered or delivered in an unsatisfactory condition, consumers may have difficulties to communicating with the trader. This situation becomes more complicated when the consumer and the trader are in two jurisdictions particularly in cross-border disputes. As the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection declares fair, effective and transparent dispute resolution mechanism is much necessary to uphold the consumer‘s right to redress. Therefore, at present, most of the countries, including European Union, South Africa and United Kingdom have focused on more flexible, out of court solutions such as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). However, in the Sri Lankan context, the existing consumer dispute resolution mechanism under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act is completely proceeding in an offline context. Therefore, this research intends to analyze whether the existing consumer dispute resolution mechanism in Sri Lanka is adequate to address the disputes arise in B2C e-commerce transactions. Comparative legal analysis method has been utilized in order to identify the drawbacks in Sri Lankan law and suggest recommendations. Accordingly, the findings of the research revealed that the existing consumer dispute mechanism under the Consumer Affairs Authority Act in Sri Lanka needs to be amended in order to accommodate easy to use, out of court mechanism to resolve domestic and cross border e-commerce disputes in a timely manner. This mechanism can be utilized as an ADR or ODR system, which allows consumers to file their complaints electronically and reach a decision within a reasonable time period. Keywords: Consumer Dispute Resolution, E-commerce, B2C Transactions, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Online Dispute Resolution

Consumer protection on online transactions in Kurdistan: Lessons from Malaysian law

Recently, the increase in the usage of e-commerce has been one of the most significant developments of business sector. It has transformed many marketplaces to start new opportunities have never been imagined before. Kurdistan is considered as one of the very few regions in the world that are still so far from the real use of inevitable services of e-commerce. Primarily, Kurdistan suffers various features that run as barriers to an effective use of e-commerce, such as inadequate laws to protect consumers electronically, lack of awareness and understanding the benefits of electronic commerce, lack of information and communication technologies (ICT) knowledge and skills, unstable physical network infrastructure, security and other problems related to costs for the adoption of a new technology. This study aims to identify potential issues and problems facing e-commerce in Kurdistan. For this purpose, the study has conducted a comparison between both Malaysian and Kurdish contexts in terms of consumer protection law on online transactions. This study also indicates the intention of Kurdish government to apply Malaysian context into its national laws in terms of e-transactions. As a part of data collection, this study has conducted two versions of formal and informal interviews involved three sets of questions asked each group of selected panelists from governmental and nongovernmental organizations in Kurdistan. The given discussions by this study focused on the technological and law issues that could drive e-commerce in this region. Suggestions were given for better improvement of Kurdish internet laws to provide safe electronic environment and to bring Kurdistan amongst other developing countries to become an active member in the digital economy

The Iraqi consumer protection in international electronic contracts: issues on jurisdictions and applicable law

The Iraqi Civil Law (ICL) No. 40 of 1951 generally deals with all issues concerning conventional contracts in Iraq. The ICL, however, does not cover important aspects of international electronic contracts particularly concerning jurisdictional issues and applicable law. This study examined the rights provided by the international law to consumers who deal with international electronic contracts on issues concerning jurisdiction and applicable law and compared the laws in Iraq to those in the European Union (EU). The objectives include to find solutions to the current problems in Iraq and to propose recommendations for improvement in this area of law. This study adopted the doctrinal approach in assessing the law which was corroborated by interviews with key figures specialized in the field of private international law in Iraq. Analytical, historical, comparative and thematic methods were employed in analyzing the data for this study. The study found that the current Iraqi legal framework does not provide appropriate protection to consumers who involve in international electronic contracts. This study recommends the Iraqi government to adopt a comprehensive legal framework as taken by the EU to address the issues of consumer protection in international electronic contracts as to guarantee better protection for consumers in this field. As such, amendment to the existing law is necessary including modifications to the ICL, Iraqi Electronic Signature and Transactions Act, and Iraqi Consumer Protection Law, so that Iraqi consumers will be equipped with appropriate legal protection when they carry out international transactions electronically

Consumer protection in e-commerce: Some notes on the Iraqi Electronic Signature and Transactions Act

Inany electronic contract (e-contract) transactions, confidence is considered as a paramount importance for the parties involved. The legal protection for the consumer all stages of e-contract are crucial particularly to avoid any unfair conditions that may be imposed by the dominant party towards the consumer who usually considered as a weaker party in the contract. Given the nature of e contract,the risk posed to consumer is greater than the risk in the traditional trade because the scope of e-commerce is more comprehensive and broader.The aim of this paper is to examine the extent of confidence provided by the Iraqi law to protect consumer in e-contract transactions under its Electronic Transactions Act.The methodology used in this paper is a pure library research focusing mainly on primary and secondary sources. As comparison, there are claims of the adequate protection for the consumer in the electronic contracts in the European Union included in the European directives such as the requirement of informing the consumer in his language, the right to withdraw from the contract and the right to obtain the information. Hence, this paper attempts to demonstrate that the Iraqi’s Electronic Transactions Act lacks these basic rights,and needs further improvements to offer better protection to the consumers

El consentimiento en los contratos en línea B2C y su protección bajo la ley colombiana

Los contratos electrónicos Empresa-Consumidor o B2C (Business to Consumer) no han presentado un desarrollo legal o jurisprudencial en el contexto colombiano, reflejándose en una indebida protección al consumidor. En este contexto, este artículo hace referencia a las modalidades de expresión del consentimiento en los contratos electrónicos B2C, a la luz del estatuto del consumidor colombiano, adelantando un acercamiento al sistema jurídico norteamericano. Como resultado, se definieron términos como la oferta y la aceptación electrónica, basados en las definiciones clásicas, así como las clases de consentimiento. Luego se describieron y definieron los contratos B2C precisando cómo se manifiesta la voluntad en dichos contratos. Finalmente, se comprendió el alcance del estatuto del consumidor en cuanto al consentimiento, estudiándose conceptos doctrinarios y jurisprudenciales del sistema norteamericano. En general, se concluye que la experiencia legal norteamericana nos brinda unas bases para el tratamiento legal de los mencionados contratos y la manera como debe protegerse al consumidor en aquellos detalles que no podemos advertir en la legislación colombiana

Providing Sharia-Compliant Consumer Protection in Online Contracts: A Case Study of Saudi Arabia

The emergence of modern technology and online selling in the early 1990s led to a significant shift in business practices, as sellers and buyers no longer needed to follow the traditional contracting process. Indeed, the facilitation of online contracts, sales and purchases over the Internet, such as business-to-consumer contracts (B2C), is one of the most significant technological developments of the Internet age. Despite the benefits of online shopping and its increasing popularity among consumers in recent years, online retailing is not without its problems, and the negative consequences can be severe. Consumers are affected by several factors when they purchase a product or service online. In short, compared to offline shopping, greater risk and less trust are expected in an online environment. This has led some global organisations to address the need for supranational consumer protection and alleviate risks to online consumers worldwide. However, such initiatives may not have the desired impact on developing countries, as long as these guidelines are not adopted in their national legislation. The first objective of this study is to investigate the laws regulating online consumer protection in the KSA and to assess whether they have achieved their purposes. A secondary objective is to determine whether or not there is the need for further reform in the legislation of online consumer protection, and if such reform is indicated, how it might be achieved in a way that reflects the needs of a state in the modern world, yet remains consistent with Islamic law. To that aim, the thesis will consider adopting Sharia law's features and take the English consumer protection model as an inspiration to suit the Saudi legal environment to regulate online transactions. Therefore, the best practices and legal principles that come to light from this analysis will then be outlined to fulfil this research's main aim, identifying opportunities for the improvement of consumer protection in Saudi Arabia

General Principles of Consumer Protection in E-Commerce Trade: A Comparative Study between Islamic Law and EU Laws

This thesis presents the concept of Sharia law and contrasts it with EU laws in the area of e-consumer protection. These two laws have been chosen as they are exercised in more than one country and do not develop their own juridical procedures other than the Common law. The overriding objective of this thesis is to examine the extent to which European Union laws are different from legislations that are influenced by certain principles of Sharia. In order to achieve the aforementioned objective, this thesis approached a number of main issues, namely: the effectiveness of EU legislation in protecting and safeguarding e-consumer rights, the efficiency of Sharia law in protecting and safeguarding e-consumer rights, and highlighting the essential differences between EU legislation and Sharia law in protecting and safeguarding e-consumer rights. The significance of this research lies in the fact that it rationalizes the changes and developments that have so far taken place in the two jurisdictions which dominate significant portions of the world and yet arise from completely different origins. The thesis identified certain procedures in the Sharia that secure the interest of consumers. In this regard, the concept of “Khiyar-al-Tadlis” is well-established in Sharia law and cannot be found in EU laws and, as a consequence, is highly recommended for e-consumer protection. Moreover, the choice-of-law conflict creates deficits in legal applications and the availability of security procedures for e-consumers. EU laws are significantly lacking when it comes to protection of online consumers across borders. This thesis focuses, specifically, on the recovery measures that both the EU and the Sharia law provide for e-consumers if they suffer any loss as a result of an online transaction and enable them to gain justified compensation. The study aims to provide policymakers with effective measures for preserving the rights of e-consumers and therefore promote electronic trade across different countries. Finally, this thesis will address the current inefficient aspects of e-consumer protection in both Sharia and EU laws and will attempt to propose a solution under which the rights of all concerned parties can be balanced

Specific Challenges of Consumer Protection in Distance Selling Contracts: A Comparison of the Laws of England and Iraq on the Duty to Provide Pre-Contractual Information and the Right of Cancellation

This study has covered the duty to provide pre-contractual information and the right of cancellation, the two important key areas of consumer protection in distance selling contracts. These two protection models are invented to rebalance the distance contract in favour of the consumer albeit differently. The duty to provide information rebalances the contract in terms of information, and the right of cancellation provides the distance consumer with an opportunity to rethink the decision about the contract. The study has looked at pertinent laws of distance selling contracts in England and Iraq. In doing so, the study has followed comparative and analytical methodology, whereby strengths and weaknesses, similarities and dissimilarities between the selected laws under a chosen theme are addressed. The aim is to explore problems and loopholes, which may need future amendments, including legal gaps, ambiguity, and incomplete treatment. During the study, specific challenges related to the theme of study are critically analysed. Apparently, the quantity and type of information required, the time and manner of sending information, and the remedy available at the breach are challenges of the information requirements. Challenges of the right of cancellation are the conditions and effects of using the right. The study has concluded that many aspects of protection under both laws need further improvements. The need for changes is more obvious with Iraqi Law than English Law, where distance selling protection has not been recognised yet

The Impact of the contextual factors on the success of e-government in Lebanon: Context-System Gap

Purpose: The relationship between context and e-governance has been gaining a significant momentum in academic circles due its social and technical complexities. There are many challenges posed by the disparity between the context and the system when it comes to e-governance in developing countries. This research aims to reveal more successful adoption of e-governance initiatives and exposes factors that hinder its implementation. We develop a conceptual framework showing the reciprocity between the context and the system or what is termed “Context-System Gap”. Therefore, this research will study the appropriateness of the context and its influence on the system and the influence of the system on the context. The purpose of this research is to explore the factors that enable successful e-government adoption in Lebanon, where e-governance is still at its initial stage. Most empirical research and theories on the implementation of e-governance in developing countries remain at the macro-level and miss out on the complexities of the context of deployment and the role of the gap between the citizens and the government. The purpose of this thesis is to provide an empirical model differentiating between the electronic context and the electronic system and shed a light over a new gap, government-citizen gap, in the adoption of e-government. Design/methodology/approach: Following previous research on e-government services adoption, this study uses several technology use and acceptance models and literature to examine the elements behind the adoption and use of e-government services in Lebanon from citizen and government perspectives. The research strategy is a quantitative method approach employing questionnaire. Quantitative data will be collected from e-government users (citizens) and statistical tests will be conducted in order to examine the relation between variables. Practical implications: The findings are useful for policy-makers and decision-makers to develop a better understanding of citizens' needs. The proposed model can be used as a guideline for the implementation of e-government services in developing countries. Originality/value: This study is the only one to examine the dimensions influencing citizens’ adoption of e-government technologies in developing countries using a unified model merging context and system elements