Italian Law

Abstract

In Italy, unfair commercial practices until the early 1990s could only be challenged by competitors, by means of the general tort clause and through the general provisions on unfair competition, both laid down in the Italian Civil Code. The few available cases suggest that the courts did not expect the consumer to be misled easily, expecting the consumer to be critical and suspicious towards advertisements. Since the implementation of the Misleading Advertising Directive and the establishment of the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (Italian Competition and Market Authority, AGCM) in the early 1990s, Italian law took a turn towards applying a more consumer-friendly benchmark. In the decisions of the AGCM and the judgments of the administrative courts, the average consumer is not seen as particularly informed, observant and circumspect. In addition, vulnerable groups are identified in order to afford them protection against fraudulent trade practices, such as those related to paranormal products. Since the vulnerability of the average consumer is also emphasised, there is no clear demarcation between the average consumer benchmark and the target group and vulnerable group benchmarks.