Objectives of and the Basis for the Consumer Rights

Consumer rights legislation aims at protecting consumers: a consumer is considered to be a weaker party compared to a trader, and the legislation aims at making this set-up more balanced.

The most important Finnish law aiming to protect consumers is the Finnish Consumer Protection Act. The Finnish Consumer Protection Act is applicable when individuals purchase goods or services, or other merchandise or benefits, from a trader for their own personal use. On the contrary, the Finnish Consumer Protection Act is not applied, if the goods or services are purchased from another private person, or when one company trades with another company (the so-called business-to-business or B2B trade).

The provision regarding sale of consumer goods are mostly mandatory in consumers’ favor. This means that contract terms derogating from the provisions of the law to the detriment of the consumer  are considered void. However, it is possible to apply contract terms, which provide better rights for the consumer than those provided by the law.