日本消費者保護政策法的新發展

日本的『消費者保護基本法』於1968年在經濟高度發展，而損害到消費者利益的情況下，爲明確消費者政策的基本方向、確保國民消費生活的穩定與水準的提高，透過立法而制定的。惟後由於消費者利益損害的案例增加，社會經濟環境也發生了變化，被視爲消費者政策的憲法之『消費者保護基本法』，從制定開始歷經40年來，其基本內容未曾修正，成了沒有規定『消費者權利』等不符合時代潮流的法律，消費者團體及律師協會等亦曾多次要求修改。在此一背景下，日本「國民生活審議會議消費者政策會」開始對『21世紀型消費者政策的應有狀態』，透過國會的立法審議通過公佈實施，其名稱更正爲『消費者基本法』，並將它作爲確立21世紀消費者政策的基本方針。本研究依序探討日本『消費者保護基本法』修改的主要內容，希望有助於國人對新的消費意識法律能更進一步瞭解。

關鍵字

消費者保護基本法；國民消費生活；消費者權利；消費者基本法；消費意識

並列摘要

Japan passed and implemented its 「Consumer Protection Basic Act」 in 1968, at a time when high economic growth development was infringing upon consumer interests, to clarify the basic principles toward consumer policies, and to ensure that national consumption habits remain at a stable and high level. Unfortunately, due to rising cases of consumer interest violation, plus changes in social and economic patterns, has made the 40 year old law, which was never updated or amended appear inappropriate. It has become a outdated regulation that does not incorporate 「consumer rights」issues, and has been under request for changes by various consumer groups and lawyer associations. Under these circumstances, the Consumer Policy Committee under the Japanese Quality-of-Life Policy Bureau decided to move forward in structuring 「Consumer Policies and Behavior of the 21(superscript st) Century」, and enforcing it as law via congress law-makers. Changing its name to 「Consumer Basic Act」, it serves as the basic benchmark for 21(superscript st) century consumer policies. This research examines the main content changes within the Japanese 「Consumer Protection Basic Act」, hoping that it will be helpful in further understanding the new trend in consumer conception law.