Uniform rules of Russia and Belarus: on the issue of implementing consumer rights and strengthening their protection

Relevance. Consumer protection has been the mainstream of market relations development for decades. And despite the fact that scientific interest in the issue can hardly be called satisfactory, over the past few years, legislators and law enforcement officers have been quite successful in implementing the basic principles of consumer protection. The Russian consumer protection system is very effective in dealing with violations in the consumer market. The Russian legislator is responding to the large-scale development and emergence of new types of entrepreneurial activity, including in the digital space. The convergence of the national legislation of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus is an objective process. Under such circumstances, the adoption of the Uniform Rules in the field of consumer protection is relevant and timely. Purpose is to establish the content of the Uniform Rules in the field of consumer protection, approved by the Decree of the Supreme State Council of the Union State. Objectives are to determine the qualitative differences in the content of the Uniform Rules and the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of Consumer Rights"; to identify contradictions and shortcomings in the content of the Uniform Rules; to reveal the features of the mechanism for protecting consumer rights under the Uniform Rules. Methodology. The article is based on the methods of analysis, description, generalization, formal-legal and systemic methods. Results. In the course of the conducted research, it was found that the approach to consumer protection laid down in the Uniform Rules is based on the unification of Russian and Belarusian legislation on consumer protection. At the same time, in a number of key cases that determine both the exercise of consumer rights and their protection, the content of the Uniform Rules appears ill-considered and contradictory, which will cause significant difficulties in its application in the context of a real conflict. Conclusion. The application of Uniform Rules may significantly affect the mechanism of civil protection of consumer rights in Russia. At the same time, their adoption has created legal uncertainty for the counterparties of consumers.