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The emergence of modern technology and online selling in the early 1990s led to a significant shift in business practices, as sellers and buyers no longer needed to follow the traditional contracting process. Indeed, the facilitation of online contracts, sales and purchases over the Internet, such as business-to-consumer contracts (B2C), is one of the most significant technological developments of the Internet age. Despite the benefits of online shopping and its increasing popularity among consumers in recent years, online retailing is not without its problems, and the negative consequences can be severe.
Consumers are affected by several factors when they purchase a product or service online. In short, compared to offline shopping, greater risk and less trust are expected in an online environment. This has led some global organisations to address the need for supranational consumer protection and alleviate risks to online consumers worldwide. However, such initiatives may not have the desired impact on developing countries, as long as these guidelines are not adopted in their national legislation.
The first objective of this study is to investigate the laws regulating online consumer protection in the KSA and to assess whether they have achieved their purposes. A secondary objective is to determine whether or not there is the need for further reform in the legislation of online consumer protection, and if such reform is indicated, how it might be achieved in a way that reflects the needs of a state in the modern world, yet remains consistent with Islamic law. To that aim, the thesis will consider adopting Sharia law's features and take the English consumer protection model as an inspiration to suit the Saudi legal environment to regulate online transactions. Therefore, the best practices and legal principles that come to light from this analysis will then be outlined to fulfil this research's main aim, identifying opportunities for the improvement of consumer protection in Saudi Arabia. |
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