To mark World Consumer Rights Day on March 15, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) and the China Consumers Association released 10 typical cases of public interest litigation on consumer rights protection, aiming to guide procuratorial organs and consumer associations (committees) at all levels to effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
In 2024, procuratorial organs nationwide handled a total of 26,000 public interest litigation cases related to the protection of consumer rights, including those concerning food and drug safety. Among the newly released cases, two were initiated by consumer rights protection organizations with the support of procuratorial organs, two were civil public interest litigation cases initiated by procuratorial organs, and six were administrative public interest litigation cases.
The typical cases involve prominent issues of public concern such as food and drug safety, personal information protection, telecommunications and online fraud, and use of single-purpose prepaid cards.
In handling these cases, procuratorial organs nationwide strengthened coordination and collaboration with consumer associations and other relevant departments, jointly safeguarding consumer rights through legal means.
By comprehensively utilizing mechanisms such as administrative public interest litigation, civil public interest litigation, and supporting lawsuit, procuratorial organs have diversified their approaches to protecting consumer rights. These cases provided references for procuratorial organs nationwide in handling cases related to the protection of consumer rights and diversifying the approaches in this regard.
