約款規制法·消費者法의 民法에의 統合問題에 대한 管見

Comments on Integration of Consumer Protection Laws into Civil Code: Implications from the French Experiences

The integration of consumer protection laws, including the Standardized Contract Terms Regulating Act, into the Civil Code belongs to one of the hottest potatoes in the current discourses for preparations of the new draft of the revised Korean Civil Code, in the forms of such questions as: "Is it necessary, and how much?" This article will scrutinize the integration problem from the comparative perspective, with the special focus on the implications from the French experiences. Tracing all the discussions from Saleilles' adhesion contract theory(1901) through enactment of the Consumption Code(1993) to the newly publicized Contract Code draft by the French Ministry of Justice(2008), the author could infer some lessons as follow: Firstly, consumer protection law is a kind of newcomer in comparison with law of contract, but that has played and will play so important a role in the practical and theoretical developments of this, that we should improve the current situation of almost completely disconnected relationship between them. Secondly, though law of contract and consumer protection law shares much each other, it should be admitted that they differ in purposes or ideas, as well as legislative techniques. Thirdly, there are urgent preparations to be taken right now: to establish minimal clauses on principles of consumer law within the civil code, and to build up the legal system of consumer (private) law, including the out-of-dated Standardized Contract Terms Regulating Act, for now as well as for the future.