En bromskloss för hästhandeln? - Konsekvenserna av att tillämpa en konsumentköprättslig lag som inte är anpassad för hästar

Sammanfattning: When a consumer buys a toaster in a chain of stores the Consumer Sales Act is applied. The Consumer Sales Act is a law that aims to protect the weaker party and make the parties’ business relationship more equal. The strong consumer protection regulations are expressed through, for example, the three-year period under which the seller can be held liable, the generous damages, and the reversed burden of proof when a lack of conformity becomes apparent within six months of delivery of the goods. Legally, horses are considered chattels and are equated with toasters and other dead things. The problem of treating horses and other living animals the same way as material things have been noticed from many quarters. It is alleged by several organizations that traders avoid selling horses to consumers because of the mandatory rules of the Consumer Sales Act. Due to an EU directive that sets certain minimum rules for consumer protection, it has previously not been possible to regulate horse purchases in a special law outside the scope of the Consumer Sales Act. However, the EU has adopted a new directive which will be incorporated in Swedish law, and according to this directive the legislature has the opportunity to exclude the purchase of living animals from the scope of the Consumer Sales Act. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether the regulations of the Consumer Sales Act give rise to particular problems regarding purchases of horses and whether there is a need to change the legislation. The thesis identifies several problems in the application of the Consumer Sales Act, which results in an unreasonably heavy burden being placed on the trader. Due to the difficulties in determining when a lack of conformity occurred in a horse, there is a need to change the law, for example through a special law adjusted for purchasing living animals.