Are Consumer Rights Human Rights?

Abstract

Consumer protection has gained great importance since World War II. Similarly, the concept of human rights has become increasingly prevalent. Substantive and procedural tests of human rights support the contention that the tendency toward broadening the definition of human rights allows us to include consumer rights within that definition. In a consumer-oriented society, protection of the individual consumer is perceived as part of maintaining human dignity-especially against big business organizations, monopolies, cartels, and multinational corporations. Well-accepted doctrines of human rights, therefore, such as the emphasis on an individual's prosperity, honour, and dignity, can serve as the basis for recognizing consumer rights as human rights. An examination of several basic international and national documents reveals that it is due time to acknowledge consumer rights as human rights.