1、消費者仲裁問題研究->中文摘要消費者糾紛普遍存在于人類生活之中，由于涉及千家萬戶的切身利益，一直為廣大消費者密切關注。同時，一個正常的社會又不能在解決糾紛的過程中耗費過多的代價，如何以較低的社會成本解決糾紛是世界各國普遍關心的問題。在解決消費者糾紛的探索中，美國先是采用小額法院制度，后來廣泛使用包括仲裁在內的替代性糾紛解決機制，極大地緩解了法院的積案壓力。我國的市場經濟體制剛剛建立，各種糾紛層出不窮，消費者糾紛更是不斷。考察美國的消費者糾紛解決之道，可為我國探究消費者糾紛解決途徑提供有益的借鑒。本文共分四大部分。文章的第一部分介紹了美國消費者仲裁中的一些基本問題。第一，概述了消費者仲裁這

2、一術語的含義。消費者仲裁是指爭議一方是消費者的有法律拘束力的仲裁。與一般的商事仲裁相比，消費者仲裁有其自身的特殊性。具體表現為，仲裁事項具有廣泛性、多樣性和復雜性，專業性，低廉性，帶有強行色彩的意思自治。第二，筆者簡單介紹了美國消費者仲裁的歷史。起初，美國法院對仲裁的運行和裁定通常不持支持態度。為了改變美國法院敵視仲裁的態度，1925年聯邦仲裁法最終在國會獲得通過。但是，在聯邦仲裁法生效后，聯邦和州接受聯邦仲裁法的程度并不強。這種情形在進入20世紀80年代后才有所改變。1995年allied-bruce terminix panies, inc., and terminix internati

3、onal pany v. g. michael dobson案則正式確認了消費者糾紛的可仲裁性以及消費者事前仲裁協議的可執行性。但是，聯邦最高法院漸漸注意到一味地支持仲裁，免除州法關于保護消費者權益的規定的適用可能會造成不公正的結果。在green tree financial corp. v. randolph 案中，法院接近宣告高額的仲裁費用將使仲裁協議對消費者無效。第三，筆者分析了美國消費者仲裁發展的原因。美國的消費者仲裁制度的發展是與美國的訴訟制度、社會主體的需求、歷史傳統等密切相關的，在各種條件合力的作用下，才造就了今天的美國消費者仲裁制度。第四，筆者介紹了本選題的寫作動因。及時有效地

4、解決消費者糾紛有利于社會的穩定，美國的消費者仲裁實踐為我們提供了卓有成效的解決消費者糾紛的辦法，在我國法院開始面臨積案的今天，研究和分析美國的消費者仲裁實踐，可以為我國消費者仲裁制度的構建提供直接借鑒。文章的第二部分分析了美國消費者仲裁的法律基礎。第一，筆者首先分析了消費者糾紛的可仲裁性問題。在allied-bruce terminix panies, inc., and terminix international pany v. g. michael dobson 案中，美國聯邦最高法院裁定，如果合同涉及州際貿易，州法反對仲裁的條文無效，確認了聯邦仲裁法在管轄州際貿易方面至高無上的地位。第

5、二，消費者糾紛的可仲裁性問題解決之后，還有一個問題有待解決，即消費者仲裁的范圍如何？聯邦仲裁法第2條規定仲裁協議應包含在海事契約中或可證明的與商事相關的契約中。對于“海事”一詞的含義，實踐之中爭議不大。主要的爭議存在于對“與商事相關”（involving merce）一詞的理解上。在allied-bruce 案中，聯邦最高法院在考察聯邦仲裁法使用的語言、背景、結構之后推斷“相關”（involving）一詞在聯邦仲裁法中是廣義的，與“影響”（affecting）在功能上是相同的。 對于“可證明的契約”（evidencing a transaction），allied-bruce案中，法院認為將“

6、可證明的契約” 解釋為“事實上的貿易”（merce in fact）更符合立法者的愿意。第三，筆者分析了消費者仲裁協議的形式及法律效力。仲裁協議的形式在理論上可分為事前仲裁協議和事后仲裁協議。在美國消費者仲裁實踐中，仲裁協議多是采用格式合同或格式條款的方式進行規定的。仲裁協議的效力主要表現在四個方面：其一，約束仲裁協議當事人。其二，賦予特定仲裁庭以管轄權。其三，排除法院的管轄權。其四，構成仲裁裁決執行力的法律前提。文章的第三部分介紹了美國消費者仲裁的一般程序。消費者仲裁是仲裁的一種，在仲裁程序進行的步驟上與一般仲裁程序是相同的，也包括仲裁的開始階段、開庭審理的準備階段、開庭審理階段、裁決的承認

7、與執行階段。仲裁的開始階段主要包括選定仲裁機構或仲裁庭、申請的遞交、答辯、仲裁的加入、合并和分割等幾個主要事項。開庭審理的準備事項主要包括證據開示、審前的動議、審理前會議。總體而言，消費者仲裁案件的審理可分為書面審理和開庭審理兩種方式。消費者仲裁案件的開庭審理同一般仲裁程序一樣，大致也包含先期程序，當事人初步陳述，當事人就案情舉證質證，開庭結束程序等幾個階段。在對消費者案件進行審理之后，仲裁庭應當及時作出裁決，但不必嚴格依照法律規定。此外，仲裁庭作出裁決一般也無須附具理由。文章的第四部分探討了在我國建立消費者仲裁制度的問題。第一，分析了我國采取消費者仲裁的必要性。我國現行的爭議解決方法并不能有

8、效地解決消費者糾紛。利用訴訟解決消費者糾紛似乎力不從心，請求消費者協會調解、協商和解、行政申訴等糾紛解決方式也不能及時地解決消費者糾紛。我國目前的仲裁制度也不適合解決消費者糾紛，實踐中仲裁的使用效果也不理想。第二，筆者探討了我國采取消費者仲裁的可行性。通過考察我國的社會背景和仲裁實踐情況，筆者認為在我國推行消費者仲裁制度是可行的。其一，我國傳統社會是以農業為主的社會，人們之間的社會關系基本限于家庭、家族生活范疇之內，擁有接受法院外解決糾紛的傳統。其二，根據中華人民共和國仲裁法第2條和第3條的規定，并不能排除消費者糾紛的可仲裁性。中華人民共和國消費者權益保護法第34條規定了解決消費者糾紛五種途徑

9、，其一就是仲裁。這兩部法律為消費者仲裁實踐提供了法律基礎。而且，有的地方性法規已經對消費者仲裁做出了規定，消費者仲裁已經開始實踐。第三，筆者分析了我國采取消費者仲裁存在的問題。消費者仲裁作為仲裁的一種，普通仲裁實踐中存在的障礙在消費者仲裁中同樣存在。影響仲裁工作開展有四大障礙：社會障礙、司法障礙、制度障礙、自身障礙。消費者仲裁作為一種特別的仲裁，主要處理消費者與企業之間的糾紛，影響消費者仲裁的原因同影響普通仲裁的事由相比也有所不同。第四，筆者探討了美國消費者仲裁實踐對我國的幾點啟示。（1）倡導糾紛解決多元化的理念，消除訴訟崇拜。（2）消費者仲裁機構的改革。消費者糾紛作為一種民事糾紛可歸屬于仲裁

10、機構的受案范圍。但鑒于消費者糾紛的特殊性，可由仲裁機構或政府部門制定專門的消費糾紛仲裁辦法來規范消費者仲裁程序的進行。（3）訂立仲裁協議的方式。鼓勵事后達成仲裁協議進行仲裁，同時適度承認事前仲裁協議。此外，可以借鑒bbb的做法，由消費者仲裁機構先與企業達成協議，企業事先同意將某些事項提交該機構裁決，消費者可自由選擇仲裁或訴訟。（4）消費者仲裁程序的完善。消費者糾紛具有多->發性、多樣性、小額性的特征，要求消費者仲裁程序必須體現低廉、快捷、專業性的特點，同時注意防止消費者的合法權益受到侵害。關鍵詞：消費者糾紛 聯邦仲裁法 仲裁abstract consumer disputes are a

11、n lives, involving in benefits of thousands of families and are concentrated by large-scale consumers. meanal society. ho fixed by countries in the all claims courts ployed firstly in the united states, and then adr(alternative disputes resolution) ployed extensively, resulting in alleviating the pr

12、essure of courts in cases accumulated. market economy starts to process recently in china and therefore all sorts of issues appear constantly and consumer disputes do so. studying approaches of consumer disputes resolution in the united states can benefit us in researching hoer disputes in china. th

13、is thesis is made up of four parts. the first part introduces some basic issues of consumer arbitration in the united states. first, this part defines consumer arbitration. consumer arbitration is one kind of arbitration in er. paring ercial arbitration, consumer arbitration has its characteristics.

14、 arbitral issues are spread involving human lives expansively in consumer arbitration. moreover, the process of consumer arbitration is more rapid than that of the general arbitration. furthermore, the characteristic of choosing professional arbitrators in consumer arbitration is more prominent. fin

15、ally, pulsory autonomy of er arbitration. a consumer is based on take-it-or-leave-it er seems to be obliged to accept the contract. second, the author generally introduces the history of consumer arbitration of the usa. at first, courts in the united states usually doubted the procedures and decisio

16、ns of arbitration. in order to alter the attitude of courts hostility to arbitration, the federal arbitration act stances had changed in 1980s. the federal supreme court gave several decisions that overruled the decision of oses h. cone memorial hospital v. mercury construction and subsequent cases.

17、 in 1995, allied-bruce terminix panies, inc., and terminix international pany v. g. michael dobson explicitly admitted consumer disputes could be arbitral and pre-dispute consumer arbitration agreements could be executed. the decision of allied-bruce promoted the development of the consumer arbitrat

18、ion. in recent years, the federal supreme court gradually recognized that the strong support of arbitration and the exemption of s->tates laight result in unfair outes, and it came close to invalidating onerous arbitration fee agreements for consumers in green tree financial corp. v. randolph. th

19、ird, this part gives some reasons explaining the development of consumer arbitration in the united states. the development of consumer arbitration got touch and claims of the subjects in society and traditional customs. the system of consumer arbitration took its shape under the condition of integra

20、ting all sorts of factors. the development of adr promoted the blooming of consumer arbitration. the pressure of courts faced er arbitration. further, the effect of precedents in the united states and the historical tradition cant be neglected. fourth, the author introduces the reason of ely shall p

21、romote the stability of the society. the practice of consumer arbitration in the usa provides us ethod ay benefit us.the second part analyses the legal basis of consumer arbitration. arbitrability of consumer disputes is a prima problem. after the federal arbitration act ost of the federal arbitrati

22、on acts history. hoents based on individual analysis but not invalidate consumer arbitration agreements based on the nonarbitrability of consumer disputes. this problem inix panies, inc., and terminix international pany v. g. michael dobson, the supreme court of the usa held that state laerce. besid

23、es, there is another problem to be settled, that is, er arbitration? section 2 of the federal arbitration act provides that a aritime transaction or a contract evidencing a transaction involving consumer to settle by arbitration a controversy thereafter arising out of such contract or transaction sh

24、all be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at laaritimetransactions in practice. the major controversies are focused on the erce”. in allied-bruce, the supreme court concluded that the ining the statues language, backgrounds, and structure of the federal arbitration

25、act. moreover, the judges argued that the interpretation of “evidencing a transaction” be more faithful to the statute than the interpretation of “merce in fact”. the court argue->d that the interpretation of the “contemplation of the parties”, s of the statutes basic purpose, might seem anomalou

26、s. moreover, this part analyses the form and the legal effect of consumer arbitration agreements. the form of arbitration agreements may be divided into toent and post-dispute arbitration agreement. many arbitration agreements are stipulated in standard contracts in the practice of american consumer

27、 arbitration. the legal effect of the arbitration agreement is mainly displayed in four aspects. arbitration agreements can bind parties, provide special arbitration tribunal marizes the general procedure of consumer arbitration. the arbitration rule defines the arbitration procedure as several step

28、s, namely, beginning, preparation, hearing, aent of the aerge of cases, and the division of cases. evidence discovery, motions, preliminary hearing consist of the preparation of arbitration. after a response is filed, parties shall cooperate in the exchange of documents and information. not only do

29、the federal arbitration act and many state laay issue a subpoena ordering a non-party ents or property or ordering a e arbitration rules do so. besides, parties may hand in applications on some subjects as a motion, for example, the lack of qualified conditions, the entry to arbitration or the merge

30、 of cases, or the division of cases, and the change of locale inary hearing usually decides the process of the case, including the classification of claims or disputes, the sequence of participatory hearing and other matters before hearing. as a er arbitration may be divided into document hearing an

31、d participatory hearing. in a participatory hearing the expedited procedures it its proof and plete its case. the arbitrator shall determine the order of hearing, and may require further submission of document after hearing. the participatory hearing step contains several sub-step, namely, prelimina

32、ry hearing, brief statement, proof providing and cross examination, hearing ending, etc. the arbitration tribunal shall timely reach an aer arbitration in china. first, it points the necessity of the establishment of consumer arbitration in china due to several factors. ma->rket economy in china

33、has not been built up for a long time. there are lots of issues existing in market control and conflicts beters and businesses appear continuously. the trend of the increase of consumer disputes is accelerating. hoent of disputes through litigation seems not to resolve all problems arising. other me

34、thods of dealing ple, mediation, private negotiation, appeal, do not settle issues timely, yet. the present arbitration system in china does not resolve consumer disputes effectively and arbitration is not used constantly. second, this part analyses the possibility of employing consumer arbitration

35、in china. after observing social backgrounds and the arbitration practice in china, the author considers that consumer arbitration may be carried out in china. on one hand, the agriculture is in chief of chinas traditional society. the social relations of peaple ited to lives of family and clan. peo

36、ple ed to settle disputes outside the court. on the other hand, the arbitration laer disputes should not be arbitrated. section 34 of the laers right and interests of the peoples republic of china stipulates five approaches to settle disputes and one of them is arbitration. these ter arbitration e l

37、ocal regulations have been made on consumer arbitration and consumer arbitration has been put into practice in some province. third, this part studies the issues that may arise out of employing consumer arbitration in china. objectively, the arbitration la of consumer arbitration have not been carri

38、ed out for a long time and there are a lot of issues to be settled. another important reason lies in all kinds of external and internal barriers encountered by consumer arbitration. as one sort of arbitration, barriers existing in the practice of arbitration stand in the practice of consumer arbitra

39、tion. there are four great barriers, namely, social barriers, judicial barriers, institutional barriers, inherent barriers in the ent of the general arbitration. finally, this part advances some enlightments from the practice of consumer arbitration in the united states. (1) propagate the ideas of s

40、ettling disputes in diversity and eliminate the litigation of idols. making the ideas of settling disputes in diversity root in the thought of people through studying and propagating adr timely may alleviate the pressure of courts from piles of cases. (2) reform consumer arbitration institutions. as

41、 one kind of civil disputes, consumer disputes can be rendered to arbitration institution. according to the speciality of consumer arbitration, consumer arbitration procedures may be governed by special rules that are enacted by department of the government or arbitration institution. (3)-> stipu

42、late the form of concluding arbitration agreements after disputes arising. at the meantime, it pre-dispute arbitration agreements appropriately. besides, prove the procedures of consume arbitration consumer disputes has characteristics such as daily occurrence, varied, small claims, etc, er arbitrat

43、ion procedures embodying characteristics of loeaner from being invaded. in order to get this goal, e things, for example, assuring the speciality of arbitrators consisting of arbitration tribunal, limiting the time of every step of the arbitration procedures, insisting document hearing generally but

44、 a participatory hearing shall be rendered e of a participatory hearing usually does not exceed one day. the arbitration tribunal may decide to have a preliminary hearing that clears the points of disagreement, and consults the process of the hearing before trailing a plicate case. key agnusson-moss

45、 . alderman, pre-dispute mandatory arbitration in consumer contracts: a call for reform, houston laer v. interstate/johnson lane corp., 500 u.s. 20, 24(1991). see jean r. sternlight, panacea or corporate tool?: debunking the supreme courts preference for binding arbitration, washington university la

46、w quarterly, fall, 1996, p.647.->r> see andatory consumer arbitration agreements: not the ans, hamline journal of public lap; policy, spring, 2003, pp.308-309. 根據美國憲法中的“最高法律效力條款”，聯邦法律為全國的最高法律，包括各州法官在內的法官，必須賦予聯邦法律以有限效力。即便聯邦法律與某州的公共政策不相一致，該州法院也應適用聯邦法律。 see prima paint corp. v. flood conklin manu

47、facturing co., 388 u.s. 395, 405 (1967). see 460 u.s. 1,24-25(1983). see sarah e. larson, examination of the broad scope of the federal arbitration act and binding mandatory consumer arbitration agreements: not the ans, hamline journal of public lap; policy, spring, 2003, p.308. 美利堅合眾國憲法第1條第8款第3項規定：

48、國會有權管理同外國的、各州之間的和同各印第安部落的貿易。根據美國的司法實踐，影響州際貿易的事項都屬于國會的貿易管理權限之內，只有完全屬于一個州內部而不涉及其他州的貿易才被排除在貿易條款之外。參見美杰羅姆巴倫、托馬斯迪恩斯著，劉瑞祥等譯：美國憲法概論，中國社會科學出版社1995年3月版，第43頁。 see allied-bruce terminix panies, inc., and terminix international pany v. g. michael dobson , 513u.s. 265-282(1995). see katherine van andatory consum

49、er and employment arbitration to that of the rest of the iami la karl andatory arbitration in consumer contracts: a call for reform, houston lap; raymond j. friel, consumer arbitration in the european union and the united states, north carolina journal of international lap; mercial regulation, andat

50、ory consumer and employment arbitration to that of the rest of the iami lab? paring the u.s. approach to mandatory consumer and employment arbitration to that of the rest of the iami law re->viep; raymond j. friel, consumer arbitration in the european union and the united states, north carolina j

51、ournal of international lap; mercial regulation, otors, inc, 161a.2d 69,94(n.j.1960). see joseph t. mclaughlin, arbitrability: current trends in the united states, albany lainix panies, inc., and terminix international pany v. g. michael dobson, 513 u.s. 265,281 (1995). see prima paint corp. v. flood conklin manufacturing co., 388 u.s. 395 (1967). see 465 u.s. 1,15-16(1984). see allied-b