Legal Protection for the Consumer in E-Commerce According to Saudi Law (A Descriptive, Analytical, and Comparative Study with the Laws of the United States of America)

Adnan Almalki

doi:10.4236/blr.2021.124058

Abstract

The current research indicates that the legal aspect in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia needs continuous development in line with global developments, specifically in the issue of consumer protection. The Saudi legislation is based on the provisions of Islamic Sharia, which may need more detail and codification in the form of law articles that are suitable for dealing between individuals. One of the important things that the contracts must include is that there is equality of rights between the contracting parties and the provision of consumer protection. There are many prohibited practices according to the provisions of Sharia, but they need clear and strong laws that protect the consumer because he is the weakest party in the contract. This research used the descriptive method to explain the Saudi regulations, analyze them and compare with the United States of America regulations regarding consumer protection in e-commerce. The research aims to develop Saudi regulations and regulations for consumer protection in e-commerce. This research concluded that there is a need to develop Saudi consumer protection laws in e-commerce and increase consumer awareness of the law through several methods in education, advertisements, government contributions, and support the role of community associations that protect the consumer. The research also indicates that there are practices and methods of fraud in e-commerce that need control and penalties which prevent consumer harm. There is also a need to reformulate some regulations in the Saudi e-commerce law, and there is a need for a comprehensive law that protects personal data in all online transactions.

Highlights

In e-commerce, there is a contract between the consumer and the merchant, and often the consumer does not know the location of the merchant, and the consumer cannot see the product or verify the product specifications, so there is a need to provide legal protection to the consumer under the new regulations
The research aims to organize and develop effective legal protection for the Saudi consumer in electronic commerce, and this protection must be available at all stages of the contract, and it is concerned with increasing the awareness of the Saudi consumer of his rights in commercial dealings so that he is not exposed to fraud or theft of his private data, and other crimes and violations that harm e-commerce in Saudi Arabia (Driggs, 2019)
The Saudi government has issued several regulations, such as the Companies Law and the Electronic Commerce Law, all of which regulates the commercial environment in Saudi Arabia, under the provisions of Sharia law, and is appropriate for international treaties

Summary

Introduction

In e-commerce, there is a contract between the consumer and the merchant, and often the consumer does not know the location of the merchant, and the consumer cannot see the product or verify the product specifications, so there is a need to provide legal protection to the consumer under the new regulations. The search for the legal protection of consumers in e-commerce contracts is a very important issue. There are a lot of previous studies and research which write about consumer protection in commerce generally, they do not delve deeply into the field of electronic commerce and do not explain the legal ways which protect a consumer from fraud. The research aims to organize and develop effective legal protection for the Saudi consumer in electronic commerce, and this protection must be available at all stages of the contract, and it is concerned with increasing the awareness of the Saudi consumer of his rights in commercial dealings so that he is not exposed to fraud or theft of his private data, and other crimes and violations that harm e-commerce in Saudi Arabia (Driggs, 2019)

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Conclusion