In short, consumers should have the right to know any information that is directly related to correct judgment, selection, use, etc. in the process of purchasing and using goods or services.
Specifically, the content of consumers’ right to know is roughly divided into the following three aspects:
(1) Basic information about the goods or services, including product name, trademark, place of origin , producer name, production date, etc.
For some goods, where they are produced is important. For example, if you want to buy authentic Chinese medicinal materials, you have to pay attention to the place of origin. The same goes for other products. In addition, attention should also be paid to the name of the manufacturer, especially for famous brand products, the manufacturer is often fixed. In addition, if the manufacturer's name is not indicated on the product, it will be difficult to claim compensation from the manufacturer if quality problems occur.
(2) Indication of relevant technical conditions, including product use, performance, specifications, grades, ingredients, validity period, instructions for use, inspection certificates, etc.
Buying goods is for use, and it is very important to understand the purpose and performance of the goods. In particular, some products may cause harm to consumers' personal health and safety if used improperly, such as certain electrical products, gas burners, etc. There are many ways to understand the use and performance of the product, such as face-to-face demonstrations by the seller, requesting instructions, circuit diagrams, and even some products that you can operate and try yourself. For some special products, such as medicines, its use and performance cannot be fully understood only from the instructions. You must also follow the doctor's instructions or follow the doctor's instructions to understand the product.
(3) Related sales status, including after-sales service, price, etc.
The price of goods or services is the key to the transaction of goods or services. It is directly related to the vital interests of producers, operators and consumers. Consumers should have an accurate understanding of the prices, especially the prices provided. The price of the service. At present, the management of my country's service industry is not strict, and prices and charges are relatively confusing, which seriously harms consumers. This requires consumers to negotiate with operators on price issues before receiving services to avoid being ripped off and damaged. The after-sales service of goods is also closely related to the interests of consumers. Understanding after-sales service mainly depends on whether the manufacturer and operator have a quality guarantee period, how to provide maintenance services, whether and how much they charge, etc. At present, with the improvement of the living standards and quality of life of consumers, there is an increasing demand for new products in household appliances and household machinery. Good after-sales service has increasingly become an important consideration for consumers when making purchases.
2. The form of consumers’ right to know
The right to know that appears in legal norms can only become a real right subject if it is actually enjoyed and exercised by people in a certain form. material interests and spiritual interests. In daily life, Chinese citizens enjoy and exercise their right to know mainly in three basic forms.
One of the basic forms is that citizens freely choose and obtain various information in paid or unpaid ways within the scope not prohibited by law, such as through interpersonal communication, correspondence and audio-visual reading media in daily life. The program acquires information, opinions and knowledge autonomously. This is the primary (but by no means secondary) most common form of realizing the right to know, and it belongs to the practical category of the right to freedom. At present, domestic laws have not specifically stated this kind of freedom of information. However, within the scope of the adjustment of legal relations such as the right to personal freedom, the right to freedom of communication, the right to freedom of mental activities, etc., the protection of citizens' freedom to obtain information can be derived from different angles. of law. This kind of legally permitted informed freedom has its own legal boundaries and moral constraints in its exercise. For example, rights holders cannot use freedom of information as an excuse to illegally obtain state secrets or business secrets that are clearly protected by law, nor should they obtain other people's privacy by illegal or unethical means, otherwise they will be punished by law for the abuse of rights. and public condemnation. Of course, state agencies or relevant parties cannot use confidentiality as an excuse to arbitrarily expand confidentiality authority, withhold and monopolize information resources that should be enjoyed by the public, and illegally deprive or obstruct citizens' freedom to obtain information.
Generally speaking, when the right to know is legally enjoyed and exercised by citizens in the form of the right to freedom, the state and other obligors are in a passive state and protect the enjoyment and exercise of the right to know by restraining their own actions. Citizens cannot be forced to contact Information that is prohibited from being accessed by law cannot be prohibited from knowing information that is permitted by law, otherwise it will constitute an infringement on the freedom to know.
The second basic form is that citizens enjoy information services provided by state agencies and other public organizations in accordance with the law through various channels, such as weather forecasts issued daily by meteorological departments, and weather reports broadcast daily by radio and television stations. Current affairs news, etc. Here, the law does not directly give citizens the right to request the state or relevant social organizations to provide information services, but it specifically stipulates the responsibilities and obligations of the state and relevant social organizations to inform the public or convey information to the public. Citizens' rights and interests in accessing information are met through the state and other social organizations' obligations to perform information services with due diligence. What is directly protected by the legal relationship associated with this phenomenon of rights and interests is often the public's interest in knowing rather than the individual citizen's right to know. Therefore, individual citizens cannot bring lawsuits on the grounds that the obligor failed to perform his duties. For example, even if the weather station misses a warning about strong winds and cooling down, or the TV station delays broadcasting an important current news, individual citizens cannot seek relief through litigation, but can only rely on the superior department of the derelict to correct and solve the problem within the organization according to regulations. . However, under certain conditions, the public or individual’s interest in knowing that is clearly protected by law can gradually be transformed into citizens’ right to know. The so-called certain conditions mainly refer to:
1. Such public or personal interests in knowledge have been infringed upon increasingly frequently and seriously, so that they have become fictitious legal interests that are difficult for most people to fully and effectively enjoy. . Only by transforming this legal interest into rights that can be directly claimed by beneficiaries can it truly benefit the people and receive more effective legal protection and social supervision.
2. The enjoyment of such public or personal interests is increasingly important to social progress and development. Objectively, it requires legal rights to be protected, and corresponding legislative methods, law enforcement means and judicial standards can be found. . In the history of the development of civil rights, there are precedents for this evolution from legal interests to legal rights. The establishment of civil rights such as environmental rights, privacy rights, and personality rights all fall into this category.
The third basic form is that citizens directly require the obligor to provide services for the information they obtain, or petition the administrative and judicial departments to eliminate infringement damage, remedy the lack of interests, and reasonably arbitrate and resolve disputes between the parties. and disputes. The former is like citizens going to the archives to check archives in accordance with the provisions of the Archives Law, and the operators are required to provide the price, specifications, main ingredients, inspection certificates and other relevant information of the goods in accordance with the provisions of the Consumer Rights Protection Law. The latter is like shares. If a limited company fails to fulfill its obligation to disclose and publish relevant documents and information in accordance with the provisions of the "Interim Regulations on the Administration of Stock Issuance and Transactions" and causes economic losses to citizens, citizens can request the infringer to bear civil liability for compensation in accordance with the law. When citizens make the above-mentioned rights claims, as long as they have a clear and specific legal basis, meet the requirements for claiming rights and follow the corresponding legal procedures, they can generally have equal access to the relevant ability to know the rights. In addition, certain citizens protected by special protective relationships also enjoy special rights and abilities to know and obtain certain specific information. For example, deputies to the National People's Congress can exercise the right to ask questions during the session of the Congress, and the agency being questioned must be responsible for responding. This right to know, supported by the right to request, is the most authoritative legal means for citizens to obtain information. Its legal protection and implementation effectiveness directly reflect the legal level of a country's citizens' right to know. At present, there are still only a few legal norms in our country's laws that express citizens' right to request for information. They are mainly scattered in individual legal documents of administrative law, economic law, procedural law and other legal departments. With the development of my country's information legislation, regulations regarding citizens' right to request information will continue to increase and improve.
Related reading: The meaning, definition and content of consumers’ right to know
1. The meaning of consumers’ right to know According to my country’s “Consumer Rights Protection Law”, consumers’ right to know Rights mainly include the following meanings: (1) Consumers have the right to require operators to indicate the true status of goods or services in the manner prescribed by laws and regulations (2) Consumers have the right to ask questions when purchasing or using goods or receiving services. Related to understanding the goods or services [more] The patient’s right to know should be protected by law. The aspects included in the doctor’s obligation to inform. The status of the consumer’s right to know in the consumer rights protection system. Looking at my country’s Consumer Rights Protection Law, we can find , consumers’ right to know and other rights enjoyed by consumers in accordance with the law, such as the right to safety, the right to make independent choices, the right to fair trade, the right to claim compensation in accordance with the law, the right to associate, the right to obtain relevant knowledge, the right to personal dignity and respect for national customs and habits, Consumer supervision rights[more]