Course 2026-2027 a.y.

Part I – Consumer Contracts, Law and Economics and Behavioral Regulations

1)      Introduction to the course. Notion and structure of consumer contracts.

2)      Neurolaw, behavioral sciences and consumer protection.

3)      Manipulation of decision-making processes: the misprioritized information theory.

4)      Nudging, default rules and information cost.

5)      No reading problem and “click-fatigue”.

6)      Mandatory consumer protection.

7)      Personalized consumer protection.

Part II – Consumer Protection in the European Union

8)      Consumer protection in the EU legal framework.

9)      Unfair commercial practices.

10)   EU Consumer rights.

11)   Unfair contract terms.

12)   Contracts for the sale of goods and contracts for the supply of digital contents and services.

13)   Digital fairness: the fitness check of EU consumer law.

14)   Digital Assistants for consumer contracts: ELI Model Rules.

Part III - Consumer Protection under the ALI Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts

15)   ALI Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts.

16)   Formation, adoption and modification of standard contract terms.

17)   Parol Evidence Rule.

18)   Prohibited terms.

19)   Deception and Unconscionability.

20)   Consumers’ (un)reasonable expectations.

At the end of the course students will be able to:

•          Be familiar with the fundamental principles of Consumer law from an international and European perspective.

•          Illustrate key concepts from behavioral economics and cognitive sciences that are relevant to consumer protection.

•          Explain the role of cognitive biases in consumer decision-making, as well as the contribution of neuroscience to the identification and management of consumer vulnerability.

•          Be familiar with the EU consumer legal framework and the main legislative tools that regulate business-to-consumer transactions.

•          Explain recent EU legislative developments affecting digital and technology-driven markets.

•          Know the main features and purposes of the ALI Restatement of the Law of Consumer Contracts.

At the end of the course students will be able to:

•          Apply behavioral and cognitive insights to the analysis of consumer law issues.

•          Critically assess consumer vulnerability in light of neurolaw.

•          Apply the EU consumer protection legal framework.

•          Identify unfair contract terms and manipulative choice architectures.

•          Evaluate the legal implications of digital and online business-to-consumer contracting practices.

•          Critically appraise the effectiveness of regulatory responses to consumer market failures.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Practical Exercises
• Individual works / Assignments
• Collaborative Works / Assignments
• Interaction/Gamification

Guest speakers will speak about their own field of expertise in class or give separate lectures.

Exercises will involve research of printed and/or electronic legal resources.

Case studies will be illustrated and discussed in class.

Group assignments will consist in drawing up a memorandum supported by a PPT presentation.

Interactive class will consist in discussing memoranda and peer evaluating them.

AI tools are permitted solely for the preparation of group assignments and the corresponding presentations.

The use of AI tools is strictly prohibited in all graded examinations, whether partial or comprehensive.

Attending students are required to take two partial exams: partial and end-of-semester. Each of them consists of multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions. The program of each partial exams will be announced in class. The evaluation weighting is the following: -40% partial exam; -50% final exam; 10% attendance and participation in individual and group assignments.

In order to qualify as Attending, students are required to have attended at least 75% of the classes prior to each exam.

Students failing to pass either of the two partial exams are required to take a general exam, consisting of multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions. The program of the general exam will be announced in class. The evaluation weighting is the following: -90% general exam; -10% attendance and participation in individual and group assignments.

Non-attending students are required to take a general exam at the end of the course. It will consist of multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions.

The general exam is aimed at assessing students’ knowledge and understanding of the main legal concepts, rules and principles concerning consumer protection and contracts, as well as their ability to apply them to relevant legal issues and cases.

The program of the general exam for non-attending students is indicated in the section on teaching materials for non-attending students (see below).

Attending students are responsible for the teaching materials discussed in class and available on the Bboard platform.

Non-attending students are responsible for the following readings:

-          A. Tor, The Law and Economics of Behavioral Regulation, 18 Rev. L. & Econ., 2022, pp. 223-281

-          O. Bar-Gill, O. Ben-Shaha, Rethinking Nudge: An Information-costs Theory of Default Rules, in University of Chicago Law Review, vol. 88, issue 3, p. 531 ff.

-          I. Ayres and A. Schwartz, The No-reading Problem in Consumer Contract Law, in Stanford Law Review, vol. 66, 2014, pp. 545-607

-          F. Esposito, Addictive Design as an Unfair Commercial Practice: The case of Hyper-engaging Dark patterns, in European Journal of Risk Regulation, vol. 15, 4/2024, pp. 999-1016

-          A.S. Vandenberghe, The Law on Unfair Terms in Standard Form Contracts in Europe, in n K. Matis, A. Tor (eds) Consumer Law and Economics, Springer, 2021, pp. 119-132

-          H. Schebesta, K. Purnhagen, Limits to Behavioural Consumer Law and Policy: The Case of EU Alcohol Labelling, in K. Matis, A. Tor (eds) Consumer Law and Economics, Springer, 2021, pp. 283-298

-          M.J. Sørensen, The Unfairness Test: From Sleeping Beauty to Little Mermaid, in European Review of Private Law 3-2024, pp. 387-422

-          Mark E. Budnitz, The Restatement Of The Law Of Consumer Contracts: The American Law Institute’s Impossible Dream, Georgia State University College of Law, Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2021-12, pp. 1-60

-          David A. Hoffman, Consumers’ Unreasonable Textual Expectations, in Harvard Business Law Review, vol. 15, 2025, pp. 43-58

-          C. Busch, M.J. Sørensen, T. Rodriguez de las Heras Ballell, C. Twigg-Flesner, Towards the Next Generation of Consumer Law: the ELI Guiding Principles and Model Rules on Digital Assistants for Consumer Contracts, in EuCML, vol. 14, 3/2025, pp. 89-132

-          F. Esposito, A-L. Sibony, In Search of the Theory of Harm in EU Consumer Law: Lessons from the Consumer Fitness Check, in K. Mathis, A. Tor (ed), Consumer Law and Economics, 2020, 251 ss.