Cover Image

Towards harmonisation of the ASEAN contract law: the legal treatment of unfair consumer contract terms among selected ASEAN member states

The rise of standard form contracts and the use of unfair terms to deprive consumers from their rights have indeed inspired the law in many countries to react against the increasing decline of the individual’s capacity to make free and rational choice. The legal development in this area illustrates...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Azimon Abdul Aziz,, Suzanna Mohamed Isa,, Sakina Shaik Ahmad Yusoff,, Ong, Tze Chin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: FEP 2011
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5441/1/vol2ch6.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5441/
http://www.ukm.my/ajag/issues.html
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my-ukm.journal.5441
record_format eprints
spelling my-ukm.journal.54412016-12-14T06:38:27Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5441/ Towards harmonisation of the ASEAN contract law: the legal treatment of unfair consumer contract terms among selected ASEAN member states Azimon Abdul Aziz, Suzanna Mohamed Isa, Sakina Shaik Ahmad Yusoff, Ong, Tze Chin The rise of standard form contracts and the use of unfair terms to deprive consumers from their rights have indeed inspired the law in many countries to react against the increasing decline of the individual’s capacity to make free and rational choice. The legal development in this area illustrates the role of contract law, that is, to develop criteria and procedures through which contractual fairness can be assured. The development of contract laws throughout the Southeast Asian region is impacted by the tremendous historical and social diversity among the various countries, as demonstrated by the Malaysian, Singaporean and Bruneian contract laws, which reflect English common law due to historical development. However, countries such as Indonesia have been profoundly affected by long periods of civil law influence. The experience of the common law countries of the ASEAN member states in controlling the use of unfair terms in consumer contracts demonstrate a different regime of protection as opposed to the civil law countries. Harmonisation of ASEAN contract laws is essential for the regional cooperation of ASEAN countries in order to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development of the region. Bringing harmony between various contract laws of ASEAN countries would enhance economic prosperity as the laws of contract serve the economical and cultural values of society, in particular, consumer protection. Adopting the content analysis method, this paper aims at exploring the legal treatment of unfair terms in consumer contracts among the selected ASEAN member states. The paper will discuss and analyse the legislative provisions on unfair terms in Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, focusing both on the legislative provisions as well as the judicial treatment of these terms. An analysis in the legal treatment in these three countries will then be undertaken in respect of harmonizing ASEAN contract law. The legal regime of all three countries reflects that the statutory control of exemption clauses in Singapore, Brunei and Philippines has taken many forms, however, since there are common features in the legislation, harmonizing it in respect of consumer protection can be achieved by reasonable compromises among the member states. FEP 2011 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5441/1/vol2ch6.pdf Azimon Abdul Aziz, and Suzanna Mohamed Isa, and Sakina Shaik Ahmad Yusoff, and Ong, Tze Chin (2011) Towards harmonisation of the ASEAN contract law: the legal treatment of unfair consumer contract terms among selected ASEAN member states. Asian Journal of Accounting and Governance, 2 . pp. 61-65. ISSN 2180-3838 http://www.ukm.my/ajag/issues.html
institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
building Perpustakaan Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/
language English
description The rise of standard form contracts and the use of unfair terms to deprive consumers from their rights have indeed inspired the law in many countries to react against the increasing decline of the individual’s capacity to make free and rational choice. The legal development in this area illustrates the role of contract law, that is, to develop criteria and procedures through which contractual fairness can be assured. The development of contract laws throughout the Southeast Asian region is impacted by the tremendous historical and social diversity among the various countries, as demonstrated by the Malaysian, Singaporean and Bruneian contract laws, which reflect English common law due to historical development. However, countries such as Indonesia have been profoundly affected by long periods of civil law influence. The experience of the common law countries of the ASEAN member states in controlling the use of unfair terms in consumer contracts demonstrate a different regime of protection as opposed to the civil law countries. Harmonisation of ASEAN contract laws is essential for the regional cooperation of ASEAN countries in order to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development of the region. Bringing harmony between various contract laws of ASEAN countries would enhance economic prosperity as the laws of contract serve the economical and cultural values of society, in particular, consumer protection. Adopting the content analysis method, this paper aims at exploring the legal treatment of unfair terms in consumer contracts among the selected ASEAN member states. The paper will discuss and analyse the legislative provisions on unfair terms in Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, focusing both on the legislative provisions as well as the judicial treatment of these terms. An analysis in the legal treatment in these three countries will then be undertaken in respect of harmonizing ASEAN contract law. The legal regime of all three countries reflects that the statutory control of exemption clauses in Singapore, Brunei and Philippines has taken many forms, however, since there are common features in the legislation, harmonizing it in respect of consumer protection can be achieved by reasonable compromises among the member states.
format Article
author Azimon Abdul Aziz,
Suzanna Mohamed Isa,
Sakina Shaik Ahmad Yusoff,
Ong, Tze Chin
spellingShingle Azimon Abdul Aziz,
Suzanna Mohamed Isa,
Sakina Shaik Ahmad Yusoff,
Ong, Tze Chin
Towards harmonisation of the ASEAN contract law: the legal treatment of unfair consumer contract terms among selected ASEAN member states
author_facet Azimon Abdul Aziz,
Suzanna Mohamed Isa,
Sakina Shaik Ahmad Yusoff,
Ong, Tze Chin
author_sort Azimon Abdul Aziz,
title Towards harmonisation of the ASEAN contract law: the legal treatment of unfair consumer contract terms among selected ASEAN member states
title_short Towards harmonisation of the ASEAN contract law: the legal treatment of unfair consumer contract terms among selected ASEAN member states
title_full Towards harmonisation of the ASEAN contract law: the legal treatment of unfair consumer contract terms among selected ASEAN member states
title_fullStr Towards harmonisation of the ASEAN contract law: the legal treatment of unfair consumer contract terms among selected ASEAN member states
title_full_unstemmed Towards harmonisation of the ASEAN contract law: the legal treatment of unfair consumer contract terms among selected ASEAN member states
title_sort towards harmonisation of the asean contract law: the legal treatment of unfair consumer contract terms among selected asean member states
publisher FEP
publishDate 2011
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5441/1/vol2ch6.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/5441/
http://www.ukm.my/ajag/issues.html
_version_ 1643736414373806080
score 13.211869

Similar Items