On 15 March 2022, the official website of China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released the typical cases on the protection of consumer rights and interests.
Typical cases are not binding but can affect judges’ opinions. Moreover, the SPC also seeks to guide the public expectations by issuing typical cases. Please see our articles for more information on the case system in China.
The 10 newly-released typical cases include medical aesthetics services, photography contracts involving college loans, the loss of wedding photos and videos, the refund for prepaid services, housing consumption, the reminder and interpretation of standard clauses in online consumption, consequences of online shopping assistants’ behaviors, transfer of second-hand goods, seller commitments, consumer information protection, etc.
For example, in the case of consumer Wu against an operating company of a travel app in a network service dispute, Wu argued that the payment stated in the contract was due after checking into the hotel, but the company argued that it had indicated the payment method in the contract was changed into required prepayment. The court held that the exceptions in the standard clauses should be sufficiently prominent, otherwise the consumer can claim such clause is not construed as part of the contract.
Cover Photo by Xin Bai on Unsplash
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
