Contractual justice under English and Shariah law of contract: the case of consumer protection

Abstract

The modern role of the law of contract imposes a duty on the state to regulate the way individuals treat each other in the marketplace as part of fulfilling its social role. This thesis investigates the situation of contractual justice under Shariah and English law. It tests the extent to which contractual justice is protected under Shariah and English laws of contract. It indicates that the English law of contract is focused on the absolute sanctity of contract (in its classical form) and economic efficiency (in its modern form). On the other hand, the Shariah law of contract is governed by the general principle that gain comes only from labour and stresses the importance of the equivalence of counter-values. It reveals that while contractual justice under the English law of contract is procedurally oriented, it is substantively oriented under the Shariah law of contract. Additionally, the thesis also discusses the role of the law of consumer protection in pursuing contractual justice. While the consumer is protected under the English law by legislative control, the Shariah law of contract, which was the product of the seventh and eighth centuries, does not recognise the concept of the consumer. One would accordingly question the legitimacy of the action of protecting consumers in those states (take for example Saudi Arabia) that adopt Shariah as the law of the state. Most of the states, which adopt Shariah either alongside other normative systems or as the entire code, grant some kind of consumer protection measures within the law of contract. The thesis attempts to fill this gap by testing the viability of consumer protection derived from the Shariah law of contract. In doing so, attention is paid to the theoretical and practical aspects of the law. It is revealed that the Shariah law of contract is fit both from a theoretical and a practical perspective to serve the aims of consumer protection. The outcomes of the research should guide and enhance the legitimacy of consumer protection measures in Shariah-ruled countries.