“消费者”概念的反思与重构——以惩罚性赔偿条款的解释适用为中心

The Reflection and Reconstruction of the Concept of "Consumer"——Centralized on the Interpretation of the Punitive Damages Clause

现行《消费者权益保护法》未能明晰“消费者”概念的内涵与外延,其争议核心在于知假买假者能否被保护的问题。基于此,应以惩罚性赔偿的法理基础以及《消法》的设立目的等为依据,对惩罚性赔偿条款的司法适用提供一套行之有效的解释规则,即首先应当明晰“生活消费”的概念内涵;其次对于“经营者欺诈”,仅要求经营者有欺诈行为即为己足。最后,若经营者欲对惩罚性赔偿的请求进行抗辩,需证明提出索赔的购买人为“恶意购买人”。

The current "Consumer Rights Protection Law" fails to clarify the connotation and extension of the concept of "consumer". The core of the dispute lies in whether the counterfeiters can be protected under the current legal clauses. Based on these disputes, we should provide a set of the effective interpretation rules for the judicial application of the Punitive Damages Clause based on the nomological foundation of the punitive damages and the purpose of the establishment of the Consumer Law. It means, the conceptual connotation of the living consumption should be clarified at the foremost. Secondly, for “operator fraud”, the fraudulent behavior is the only prerequisite. Finally, if the operator wants to defend against a request for punitive damages, it is necessary to prove that the buyer is a “malicious purchaser”.