Civil liability of the Manufacturers and Suppliers of Defective Vehicle during the Guarantee Period

دانشنامه حقوق اقتصادی

Article 5, Volume 24, Issue 12, May 2017, Pages 113-138   

Document Type: Scientific research

DOI: 10.22067/le.v24i12.64007

Authors

hasan mokarami^{* 1}; ebrahim taghizaadeh²

¹payamnoor uneversity of tehran

²payamnoor

Abstract

Introduction
In our era, motor vehicles, especially land vehicles such as cars are among agents with greatest possibility of harm and danger. Accidents caused by land vehicles have become one of the top problems of the present era. In the complicated market of production and supply, on many occasions, costumers are not aware of the materials of the goods, the quality of production and the manner in which they are used. On the other hand, the vehicle may be defective, and the consumer may be harmed by using this product. Lack of consumer awareness and their trust in the supplied products lay the grounds for the misuse of some manufacturers. Enjoying appropriate and safe goods and services with good quality and free from defects is a basic right of consumers. One of the best tools that may fulfill this goal is guarantee. Product guarantee is one of the most important methods of consumer right protection because despite all the efforts made by the manufacturers in producing healthy and high-quality products, it is possible that some gaps are neglected by the manufacturer in the course of manufacture and production process, or as a result of inaccuracy or defect, and thus the product may not have the required quality. To prove their good faith, manufacturers guarantee their products within reasonable timeframe, thus assuring the consumer that the products they buy have good quality and are safe, and in case of any problem, they can be fixed for free. The scope and extent of this guarantee will also cover third party damages caused by defective manufacturing. The nature of the guarantee is initially entirely contractual and based on the manufacturer's commitment to the buyers. The importance of guarantee in the relationship between producer and consumer has led governments to meddle in these relationships in recent years and to turn a completely personal and contractual binding into a legal obligation. For this reason, in order to protect consumers who are in a weaker position than the manufacturer, the legislator established certain consumer protection laws in 2007, most of which are concerned with guarantee period. The guarantee period, its effects and the necessity of providing it by car makers are roughly organized in the Automobile Consumer Protection Act. The mentioned law, while determining the minimum time and function for guarantee, obliges car makers to ensure the health and safety of their manufactured goods. Under this law, the supplier is obliged to eliminate any defect (caused by the design, assembly, manufacture or carriage) of the car within the duration of the guarantee period for free, since justice is required to support consumers against large industrial and manufacturing giants and to ensure the health of the society in advance.

Theoretical Framework
As far as the author of the article is concerned, no independent and direct research has yet addressed the issue of guarantee in car production, yet previous works have touched upon it briefly specially in books such as “production defects” written by Dr. Katouzian and “civil liability of products: written by Dr. Jafari Tabar and an article written by Dr. Badini known as “a critique of law on sponsoring car consumers’ rights passed in 2007”. On the other hand, the judicial procedure available to the public in this area is also very limited. In the laws of the western countries, there is a general rule of liability for producers of goods against consumers. Among the EU-member countries, the European Union has laid down criteria for protecting consumers rights, one of which is the protection of consumers' rights in the form of guarantees or product conformity warranty. EU member states have amended their rules and added clauses to their civil law to comply with the mentioned laws.

Research method
This was a descriptive and analytical comparative study using library resource. It also used case-by-case judgments from the primary courts, the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Findings and Discussion
The goal of laws is to bring balance and equality to the relationship between individuals, thus laws tend to protect the rights of car users. Lawmakers have passed a consumer protection law because of the importance cars. In this law, due attention is paid to the right of enjoying healthy products without defects and dangers, and in order to achieve this goal, the legislators have provided safeguards such as the guarantee period under certain conditions. Specifically speaking, guarantee is a subordinate obligation of the suppliers of goods, especially cars, to ensure quality and function of the good and standard within a specified timeline. The guarantee may have contractual or legal nature. When the suppliers commits to a guarantee, it has a contractual nature, but if, in spite of the uncertainty in seller's obligations, the law requires the suppliers to fulfill certain commitments, it has a legal nature. Guaranteeing, the subject of this research, with due regard to the circumstances, creates a sole responsibility for the persons involved in the supply chain or supplier. As a matter of fact, the commitment and responsibility of suppliers is not absolute, but they are subject to conditions and constraints. Supplier's liability is subject to emergence of defects or problems during the guarantee period. In this type of responsibility, it is enough for the consumer to prove that the flaw has led to an accident. The purpose of this responsibility is to impose the guarantee on the basis of the outcome not its quality. In other words, this guarantee should protect the costumers to rule out the possibility of elimination of any respectable right.

Results
Commodity guarantee is one of the legal mechanisms, according to which the supplier completes its defective commitment to provide goods to the customer according to the contract. The guarantee may be granted by law or by contract, which will respectively have a legal or contractual nature. The practical result of this division is that there is the possibility of limiting the contractual guarantee and agreement against the guarantee, but in the legal guarantee, no agreement contrary to guarantee can be made. The safeguards and provisions of guarantee are established in the Consumer Protection Act in 2009. The Law on the Protection of the Rights of Consumers of Automobile adopted in 2007 is the primary act and the Law on Protection of Consumers approved in 2009 is a later law. If the Automobile Consumers Act of 2007 on car user rights does not entail a decree, then one may refer to the Consumer Protection Act of 2009, which is a more extensive law regarding consumer rights in general, and if both laws are silent, the general rules of civil rights may come to use. The mechanism of the guarantee is organized in the Law on the Protection of Car Users approved in 2007, especially in Articles 3 and 4. As one can see, the Consumer Protection Act is a step forward because car suppliers are responsible for compensating consumers and third parties for damages, including financial and physical losses, the cost of treatment due to defective vehicles, the cost of car transporting to the repair workshop and supplying similar replacement vehicles during the repair period. The law of protecting car users during the guarantee period is a kind of sole liability. Therefore, in this type of liability, there is no need for the consumer to prove the supplier's fault and to engage in complicated issues. In addition, the supplier is required to fix any defects caused in the vehicle resulting from the normal use of the vehicle during the guarantee period.
This law tries to provide even more consumer protection, and it has been rather successful in this regard, but there are some shortcomings as well, which are mentioned in the following:
- Law on the Protection of the Rights of Consumers of Motor Vehicles, including Articles 3 and 4 approved in 2007 only addresses the supplier's liability during the period of the guarantee. The same interpretation is seen in judicial processes. Therefore, to rule out any uncertainty, the legislator had to determine the liability or non-liability of the automaker outside the guarantee period.
- The 2007 law of right protection only refers to the supplier's liability during the guarantee period, but the law does not determine whether the consumer can ask for compensation from anyone involved in the car manufacturing and distribution chain, including the manufacturer of the defective part, the sales agent, Sales representative and car manufacturer. In this regard, the Law on the Protection of Consumers of Automobiles could establish a liability for all agent involved in the production and supply of the product, since given the crucial role of deterrence in civil liability, if all the agents of the supply chain are held liable within the guarantee period, It will be more evident in fulfillment of consumer rights and product quality.
- Given the fact that cars are precious commodities with a large share in family expenses, one-year guarantee is too short (paragraph 1 of article 2 of the protection law) for the consumers. Thus given the short duration of the guarantee, such a protection is minute and trivial. Hence, the legislators could have set a longer guarantee period to have an appropriate protection of consumer rights.
- Due to the technicality and specialty of defective vehicles, the Consumer Protection Act did not provide a clear definition of defective vehicles. It was necessary to provide a clear definition of vehicle defect or to provide general criteria so that the consumer could easily refer to.
- Given the fact that the culture of recall by the automobile company to address the vehicle's defects and the commitment of car users to refer to the producers is very important, it was necessary to stipulate on the recall procedures, and the manufacturer's duty to recall and the consumer’s response to the recall would be determined, which is why the law is incomplete and due legislation is inevitable in this regard.

Keywords

assurance; supplier of vehicle; vehicle manufacturer; consumer; warranty; liability; fault

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