Empowering the Russian Consumer in a Market Economy

One purpose of this article is to examine how the legislative product of a declining socialist state will benefit Russian consumers during the unusual circumstances characterizing the period of market transformation. A second purpose is to familiarize Western consumerists with the decidedly pro-consumer features of the Russian law. Part I analyzes the consumer law's provisions that elevate the legal status of consumers when they purchase goods and services. Part II examines the legislation from a different perspective - as a set of legal norms affecting the operation of consumer markets generally.

Part III discusses the enforcement mechanisms established in the statute and suggests that the promise of the law's substantive provisions may be undermined unless a more "consumer friendly" enforcement scheme is introduced.