Access to justice for Turkish consumers in the digital age: The need for enhancing consumer dispute resolution through online dispute resolution

Abstract

In the digital age, with development of information communication and technology (ICT), consumer spending dominates the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The continuously increasing consumer spending raises the probability of consumer disputes. The traditional litigation used for resolving consumer disputes is often inconvenient, impractical, time-consuming, complex and expensive. In Turkey, there has been a continuous attempt to harmonise the Turkish consumer law with the European Union (EU) legislation to meet the requirement of our digitalised society, however there is still a need for enhanced consumer redress. The present Thesis discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the Turkish Consumer Redress System and questions the judicial approach to the implementation of consumer access to justice. This Thesis evaluates the resolution of consumer disputes and analyses the EU consumer Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) regime seeking for lessons to be learnt by Turkey. The study of ODR and its application in consumer disputes aims to lead to recommendations for designing a new legal framework and establishing an efficient ODR platform for the resolution of consumer disputes in Turkey.