Commentary on Sections Introduction Sections 211 and 212: Domestic infringements & Community infringements
477.These sections set out the types of detrimental conduct in respect of which an enforcement order under this Part can be made.
478.Because the intention is that this Part should replace the SNORs while continuing to fully implement the requirements of the Injunctions Directive, the starting point for the scope of this new enforcement regime is the infringements to which the Injunctions Directive applies. The Injunctions Directive applies to any act contrary to the directives listed in the annex thereto as transposed into the internal legal order of an EEA State that harms the collective interests of consumers (Article 1.2). It also applies to breaches of national provisions that go beyond the minimum level of the listed directives as permitted by those directives (see below).
479.The listed directives (or parts of them) contain a wide range of consumer protection measures, including those on unfair contract terms, misleading advertising, doorstep and distance selling, electronic commerce, and the sale of consumer goods, as well as directives dealing with particular sectors such as package travel, consumer credit, timeshare and medicines advertising.
480.The Injunctions Directive does not affect the rules as to the applicable law in cross-border cases (see Article 2.2). It would not, for this reason, be sufficient for this Part to apply only to UK law transposing the listed directives because the Injunctions Directive would not then be properly implemented. This Part must be capable of providing for the situation where a UK court decides that the law of another EEA State should apply. This could happen where a trader’s unlawful conduct in the UK harms consumers in another EEA State. In most cases, the laws of the EEA States will be the same for the purpose of these cases, because they will all give effect to the listed directives. In most cases, it is only where an EEA State’s legislation provides greater protection for consumers as allowed for under the ‘minimum clause’ contained in most of the listed directives that there may be a significant difference in the outcome, depending upon which State’s law the court decides to apply.