Nepoštena poslovna praksa u hrvatskome pravnom sustavu: uređenje i provedba (Unfair Commercial Practices in the Croatian Legal System: Regulation and Enforcement)

Croatian Abstract: Pravo zastite potrosaca relativno je mlada grana prava, koja se u hrvatskome pravnom poretku pocela razvijati prije petnaest godina prihvacanjem prvog Zakona o zastiti potrosaca u 2003. godini. Bila je to posljedica ispunjavanja dužnosti hrvatske države preuzete Sporazumom o stabilizaciji i pridruživanju sklopljenim 2001. godine između Republike Hrvatske i Europskih zajednica te država clanica. Proces harmonizacije odnosno usklađivanja s europskim acquisom u tom podrucju rezultirao je prihvacanjem cak triju Zakona o zastiti potrosaca kao lex generalis za zastitu potrosaca, ali i paletom posebnijih propisa kojima se stite prava potrosaca. Danas, pet godina nakon pristupanja Uniji hrvatsko je pravo zastite potrosaca okarakterizirano iznimnom normativnom fragmentiranoscu. Potrosac se izuzev Zakonom o zastiti potrosaca stiti i Zakonom o obveznim odnosima, Zakonom o potrosackom kreditiranju, Zakonom o platnom prometu, Zakonom o alternativnom rjesavanju sporova, Zakonom o elektronickom potpisu, kao i Zakonom o opcoj sigurnosti proizvoda, ali i Zakonom o pravu na pristup informacijama te brojnim drugim propisima. Sve to iznimno dovodi u pitanje ucinkovitost provedbe prava zastite potrosaca proizisle iz brojnih izvora prava EU-a na domacoj razini RH kao države clanice. Od posebne važnosti za ucinkovitost zastite prava potrosaca istice se upravo provedba odredaba Zakona o zastiti potrosaca o nepostenoj poslovnoj praksi. To vise sto je rijec o odredbama horizontalne primjene, koje brane nepostenu poslovnu praksu trgovca u odnosu na sve odnose B2C (engl. business-to-consumer), bilo da su uređeni Zakonom o zastiti potrosaca, Zakonom o obveznim odnosima ili bilo kojim drugim propisom. Pet godina od pristupanja RH Uniji vise nego ikad hrvatska sudska praksa i drugi primjenjivaci prava nailaze na brojne poteskoce u vezi s nepostenom poslovnom praksom trgovaca u svim podrucjima, od usluga bankarskog i financijskog sektora do pružanja komunalnih usluga ili posebice operatera elektronickih komunikacija. Pravna fragmentiranost zajedno s poteskocama koje se ticu ispravne primjene odredaba o nepostenoj poslovnoj praksi znatno narusava provedbu prava zastite potrosaca na domacoj razini. Autori se u radu posvecuju toj gorucoj temi hrvatskog prava zastite potrosaca i pokusavaju dati odgovore na neka od brojnih pitanja s ciljem jacanja ucinkovitosti provedbe prava zastite potrosaca u Republici Hrvatskoj. English Abstract: The law of consumer protection is a relatively jung branch of law that in the Croatian legal system started to develop fifteen years ago by adoption of the first Croatian Consumer Protection Act in 2003. This was an immediate consequence of the fulfilment of duties of the Croatian state under the Stabilization and Association Agreement signed in 2001 between the Republic of Croatia and the European Communities and their Member States. The process of harmonization i.e. approximation to the European acquis in this area of law, resulted with the adoption of three different Consumer Protection Acts as lex generalis for consumer protection, including a variety of special legal acts protecting consumer rights. Today, five years after joining the Union, Croatian consumer protection law is characterised with significant legal fragmentation. Besides by provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, the consumer is protected by the Obligations Act, Consumer Credit Act, Payment System Act, Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, Electronic Signature Act, as well as General Product Safety Act, Act on the Right to Access to Information and many other acts. Such an regulation brings into the question effectiveness of the enforcement of the consumer protection law transposed into the Croatian legal system from the various sources of EU law. The enforcement of Consumer Protection Act provisions on unfair commercial practices plays a particular importance for the effective protection of consumer rights. These provisions of horizontal nature prohibit unfair commercial practices of traders in all B2C (business-to-consumer) relations, either regulated by the Consumer Protection Act, Obligations Act or any other legal act. Five years after becoming an EU Member State, the Croatian jurisprudence and other applicants of law are facing severe difficulties related to unfair commercial practices in all areas: from the banking and financial sector to provision of public services or services of electronic communication operators. The presented legal fragmentation combined with issues of proper application of provisions on unfair commercial practices are significantly undermining the enforcement of the consumer rights at domestic level. The authors of this paper are thus devoting their attention to this burning issue of the Croatian consumer protection law and presenting answers to some of key questions. Their goal is to contribute to the strengthening of the effectiveness of the enforcement of the consumer protection law in the Republic of Croatia.