| Abstract [eng] |
In light of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC (the UCPD), the Lithuanian Law on Prohibition of Unfair Business-to-Consumer Commercial Practices was adopted on 21 December 2007 and came into effect on the 1 February 2008 (the LPUBCCP). The UCPD, aiming at a maximum harmonisation of laws of the Member States concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices, introduced the threefold structure test – three prohibitions – to assess unfair commercial practices as well as some exceptions according to which the UCPD is without prejudice to particular fields of law (e.g. Community and national rules on contract law, intellectual property rights, etc) and not applicable to specific goods (e.g. immovable property, financial services, etc). Recital 7 of the UCPD also states that the UCPD does not address legal requirements related to taste and decency which vary widely among Member States. Thus, Member States should be able to continue to ban commercial practices in their territory, in conformity with Community law, for reasons of taste and decency even where such practices do not limit consumers’ freedom of choice. The provision of Recital 7, called in this article the NATIONAL Moral’s exception, is analysed together with advertising evaluation from the morality perspective based on jurisprudence of some EU Member States to reveal that such an evaluation can widely differ. Therefore, the demarcation from the evaluation of commercial practices (advertising) with regard to moral issues is a positive feature of the UCPD. On the other hand, the article discloses that the NATIONAL Moral’s exception is too broad, and for fulfilling the UCPD’s aims, restrictions must be established later on, possibly through the ECJ’s jurisprudence. |
