THE TRANSFORMATION OF CONSUMER LAW ENFORCEMENT: AN ITALIAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The paper aims to provide, in a comparative perspective, an analysis of the transformation of enforcement mechanisms for consumer protection under Italian Law. The analysis confirms that consumer protection relies on a variety of public, quasi-public and private enforcement mechanisms being subject to processes of co-existence and integration. We also propose to consider alternative dispute resolution separately from enforcement mechanisms, as an additional tool and not an alternative to enforcement. The purpose of our analysis is to provide an overarching view of the enforcement structure in this field and to stress the need to design an integrated enforcement system for consumer protection