Croatian Consumer Protection Law: From Legal Approximation to Legal Fragmentation (Part I)

John F. Kennedy once said: “Consumers, by definition, include us all.” Indeed, no matter where we look in the Croatian legal system, we come across a new consumer. Sometimes this is a consumer protected by lex generalis for consumer protection, the Consumer Protection Act. Another time it is a consumer protected by the Obligations Act or, more specifically, the Consumer Credit Act and even more specifically by the Mortgage Consumer Credit Act. If he pays for something he has bought, he is also a consumer protected by the Payment System Act, and if he has decided to travel around by means of a package travel arrangement, he is a consumer enjoying protection under the Act on Provision of Services in Tourism. The first part of this paper is devoted to legal development of the Croatian consumer protection law and presentation of consumer rights as guaranteed by the main source of consumer protection in Croatia, namely, by the Consumer Protection Act.