Consumers’ Status and Legal Protection of Their Rights and Interests in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska

Abstract

In this paper the authors analysed and described consumers’ status, level of their legal protection, i.e. to which extent rights can be exercised and obligations met at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its entities. In addition to that, special emphasis will be placed on the level to which consumers are informed about their consumer rights and on the method of exercising and protecting the abovementioned rights as well as on preparedness to advertise purchased products or provided services. Consumer protection law represents a new area of law whose primary goal is the protection of economically weaker party in contractual relationships referring to purchase and sale. In our region consumer protection has not been regulated by a single law for a long time, but that issue was resolved by various regulations, mostly the Obligations Act. Such was the practice until individual laws were adopted regulating this area of law in BiH, i.e. its entities. In addition to offering a wide range of products and services, the contemporary market includes high level of consumer protection too, i.e. creation of institutional structure representing foundation for carrying out efficient consumer protection policy. Training and informing consumers are necessary not only for the protection of their rights but also for them to get acquainted with and meet their obligations regularly because ignorance of rights and obligations referring to one party or another is frequently a reason why they are a subject of deprivation of rights.