מורשת המשפט בישראל
Ethics in the Marketplace - A Jewish Perspective
The Jewish Legal Heritage Society
In view of developments in commerce and technology, consumer protection is needed in our time more than ever.
Products today are no longer simple items with known dimensions and familiar characteristics. The consumer, when coming to make his purchase, is greeted by complexity in both the product he wishes to purchase and the transaction by which he purchases it. He is not fully aware of the characteristics of the product, and he is incapable of understanding the full details of the various purchase plans he may be offered. The consumer signs his name to a standard printed contract (filled with small print), and he has little choice but to accept the contract as is. Moreover, at times, the consumer requires protection from increases in the price of essential goods caused by the activity of cartels. Clearly, measures must be taken to protect the consumer from practices such as these.
On the other hand, measures taken to protect the consumer may conflict with the principle of free trade. What is the extent of this freedom? When is it desirable for the legislator to intervene and restrict it, and what are the methods for imposing some measure of control upon commercial transactions?
In Jewish law, consumer protection is rooted in prohibitions against overreaching and misrepresentation, regulation of weights and measures, and enactments for the prevention of unfair price increases and profiteering.
Part One of this work discusses the basic trends of Jewish law in the area of consumer protection.
Part Two discusses the Market Enactment, which protects innocent purchasers of stolen goods, delving into the various aspects of the enactment as reflected in the literature of Jewish Law over the ages.
This book is a partial translation of the Hebrew book "Hamischar BaMishpat HaIvri" (Commerce in Jewish Law), and contains 143 pp.