Consumer Protection through Conflict-of-Laws Rules under Qatari and Bahraini Laws: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Qatari and Bahraini laws acknowledge the principle of party autonomy; the parties to international commercial contracts may choose the law or rules of law applicable to their contract, explicitly or tacitly. In consumer contracts, in which the professional has stronger economic, social and legal position than the consumer, the professional may abuse party autonomy to the detriment of the consumer. This paper identifies how the Bahraini specific conflict-of-laws rule on consumer contracts (enacted in 2015) protects the consumer. Since Qatar does not enact a peculiar conflict-of-laws rule on consumer contracts, the paper will explain to which extent the conflicts rules concerning contracts in general may protect the consumer. The paper discusses the solutions available under these two laws and compares each of them with the other to conclude the best approach to protect the consumer in conflict of laws. The paper concludes with some recommendations to both legislators and judiciary in Bahrain and Qatar.