Freedom of Contract or Denial of Justice: Consumer Arbitration in the EU and Australia

Presented by Professor Richard Garnett, Melbourne Law School, and Dr Denise Wiedemann, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg, Germany

United States companies commonly include arbitration clauses in their standard form contracts with consumers. Recently, also European companies such as Uber and Spotify have introduced arbitration clauses in their dealings with customers and some European authors argue that the law should recognise and enforce these clauses. The seminar outlines the European Union’s guidelines on consumer arbitration and questions the desirability of replacing courts by private tribunals in disputes between businesses and consumers. Comparative reference will also be made to how Australian law treats arbitration clauses in consumer contracts.

Richard Garnett is Professor of Private International Law at the University of Melbourne and consultant (international dispute resolution) at Corrs Chambers Westgarth.

Dr Denise Wiedemann is a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg, Germany. Denise’s research interests are in the areas of conflict of laws, international dispute resolution and comparative private law.