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LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Den nya konsumentköplagens betydelse för hästförsäljningen

Andén, Tilda LU (2023) LAGF03 20231
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Den gamla konsumentköplagen har kritiserats av hästnäringen eftersom den har ansetts vara mycket hämmande för näringsidkares möjligheter att sälja hästar till privatpersoner. Detta eftersom en häst enligt lagen är en lös sak, och i den tidigare konsumentköplagen särskilde lagstiftaren inte levande djur från övriga varor. Vilket innebar att näringsidkarna fick en oskäligt tung bevisbörda om en konsument upptäckte fel på hästen inom sex månader. Sådana fel presumerades ha funnits redan vid riskövergången om inte näringsidkaren kunde bryta den presumtionen, eller om felet var uppenbart oförenligt med varans eller felets art. Eftersom hästen av naturen är föränderlig ledde bestämmelsen tillsammans med lagens övriga utformning till en stor... (More)
Den gamla konsumentköplagen har kritiserats av hästnäringen eftersom den har ansetts vara mycket hämmande för näringsidkares möjligheter att sälja hästar till privatpersoner. Detta eftersom en häst enligt lagen är en lös sak, och i den tidigare konsumentköplagen särskilde lagstiftaren inte levande djur från övriga varor. Vilket innebar att näringsidkarna fick en oskäligt tung bevisbörda om en konsument upptäckte fel på hästen inom sex månader. Sådana fel presumerades ha funnits redan vid riskövergången om inte näringsidkaren kunde bryta den presumtionen, eller om felet var uppenbart oförenligt med varans eller felets art. Eftersom hästen av naturen är föränderlig ledde bestämmelsen tillsammans med lagens övriga utformning till en stor ovilja att sälja hästar när konsumentköplagen var tillämplig.

I maj 2022 kom en ny konsumentköplag, där lagstiftaren införde en särreglering för försäljning av levande djur. Denna innebar en stor lättnad i näringsidkarens bevisbörda eftersom köpare och säljare numera kan avtala bort presumtionsregeln om djuret kostar över en tiondels prisbasbelopp, det vill säga 5 250 kr år 2023. Detta har lett till en positiv utveckling i näringsidkares vilja att sälja häst till privatpersoner.

Ett av skälen till lagstiftningen var också att regeringen ville se till att ett gott djurskydd säkerhetsställdes, något som har varit ett problem vid tvister som involverar hästar eftersom man som köpare i vissa fall inte ansett sig skyldig att stå för hästens ofta dyra löpande kostnader under tiden tvisten pågår. Eftersom vi i Sverige har ett domstolsväsende som ofta präglas av långa handläggningstider, har risken för misskötsel under tvist varit en stegrande risk.

Uppsatsens syfte har varit att analysera den nya lagstiftningen för att undersöka om den faktiskt uppfyller de syften regeringen hade som mål att uppfylla när de stiftade lagen och om lagen är ändamålsenlig.

Slutsatsen är att undantagen i den nya konsumentköplagen är ett steg i rätt riktning och att den har påverkat marknaden för försäljning av hästar på ett positivt sätt, för både köpare och säljare. Men en separat lagstiftning som är anpassad efter hästar i förlängningen är den bästa lösningen, eftersom lagen huvudsakligen är anpassad för varor som inte lever. (Less)
Abstract
The old consumer sales act has been criticized by the horse industry for restricting traders in their possibilities of selling horses to consumers. The reason for this has been that horses in the eyes of the law are considered chattels, which means that the same rules applied to both horses and refrigerators. In the old law there was an assumption that any faults that occurred within the first six months was assumed to have been there before the passage of risk and therefore the seller’s responsibility. The rule served as a type of guarantee, which is not a bad idea when it comes to other goods, but this regulation together with the general design of the law led to traders being very unwilling to do business with consumers.
In May 2022 a... (More)
The old consumer sales act has been criticized by the horse industry for restricting traders in their possibilities of selling horses to consumers. The reason for this has been that horses in the eyes of the law are considered chattels, which means that the same rules applied to both horses and refrigerators. In the old law there was an assumption that any faults that occurred within the first six months was assumed to have been there before the passage of risk and therefore the seller’s responsibility. The rule served as a type of guarantee, which is not a bad idea when it comes to other goods, but this regulation together with the general design of the law led to traders being very unwilling to do business with consumers.
In May 2022 a new consumer sales act entered into force, where the legislator introduced special rules when it came to the sales of animals. The new rules amounted to the possibility to agree not to include the assumption mentioned above and for horses with a price that exceeds one tenth of a price base amount, (5 250 SEK 2023) the assumption is automatically limited to six months. The new rules have extended the assumption to two years, hence the limitation. There’s also a new rule which states the consumers duty to examine the horse before buying it, and faults that should have been detected in an examination cannot be complained about to the seller afterwards.
The new legislations have influenced the traders’ attitude towards doing business with consumers in a positive way.
One of the reasons the legislators had for changing the law was an animal welfare perspective. By adapting the law for buying and selling animals, the risk of litigations decreases. During litigations there have been issues where the buyer does not want to keep on paying for the expensive livery of a horse, causing suffering for the horse in question. Since the courts of Sweden usually have long processing times, the whole process from disagreeing on whether the horse has a fault or not to having a verdict can easily take up to a year or more. By decreasing the chances of litigations as a whole, the horse welfare automatically increases.
The purpose of this essay has been to analyze the new legislation to investigate whether it solves the problems the legislator aimed to solve. The conclusion is that the exceptions are a step in the right direction, and it has had a positive effect on the horse trade business, whilst also ensuring a good animal welfare. However, it would be desirable to regulate the selling of animals in a separate legislation since the consumer sales act as a whole is adapted to deal with goods that are not alive. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Andén, Tilda LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20231
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Avtalsrätt, Konsumentköplag, konsumenträtt, hästförsäljning, hästjuridik
language
Swedish
id
9115649
date added to LUP
2023-06-29 13:52:02
date last changed
2023-06-29 13:52:02
@misc{9115649,
  abstract     = {{The old consumer sales act has been criticized by the horse industry for restricting traders in their possibilities of selling horses to consumers. The reason for this has been that horses in the eyes of the law are considered chattels, which means that the same rules applied to both horses and refrigerators. In the old law there was an assumption that any faults that occurred within the first six months was assumed to have been there before the passage of risk and therefore the seller’s responsibility. The rule served as a type of guarantee, which is not a bad idea when it comes to other goods, but this regulation together with the general design of the law led to traders being very unwilling to do business with consumers.
In May 2022 a new consumer sales act entered into force, where the legislator introduced special rules when it came to the sales of animals. The new rules amounted to the possibility to agree not to include the assumption mentioned above and for horses with a price that exceeds one tenth of a price base amount, (5 250 SEK 2023) the assumption is automatically limited to six months. The new rules have extended the assumption to two years, hence the limitation. There’s also a new rule which states the consumers duty to examine the horse before buying it, and faults that should have been detected in an examination cannot be complained about to the seller afterwards. 
The new legislations have influenced the traders’ attitude towards doing business with consumers in a positive way.
One of the reasons the legislators had for changing the law was an animal welfare perspective. By adapting the law for buying and selling animals, the risk of litigations decreases. During litigations there have been issues where the buyer does not want to keep on paying for the expensive livery of a horse, causing suffering for the horse in question. Since the courts of Sweden usually have long processing times, the whole process from disagreeing on whether the horse has a fault or not to having a verdict can easily take up to a year or more. By decreasing the chances of litigations as a whole, the horse welfare automatically increases.
The purpose of this essay has been to analyze the new legislation to investigate whether it solves the problems the legislator aimed to solve. The conclusion is that the exceptions are a step in the right direction, and it has had a positive effect on the horse trade business, whilst also ensuring a good animal welfare. However, it would be desirable to regulate the selling of animals in a separate legislation since the consumer sales act as a whole is adapted to deal with goods that are not alive.}},
  author       = {{Andén, Tilda}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Den nya konsumentköplagens betydelse för hästförsäljningen}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}