VLADAVINA PRAVA I ZAŠTITA POTROŠAČA U DOBA INSTITUCIONALNIH PROMENA

Abstract

Contemporary society is in a new technological epoch, which, on a micro level, is characterized by the development of innovative products and services, new models of their distribution, as well as the transformation of the way services are provided. At the macro level, this era is defined by digitization and artificial intelligence, processes that are comprehensively reshaping social, economic and legal relations. Their influence extends through almost all spheres of social life, creating new patterns of communication, trade and decision-making. Although digitization and the application of artificial intelligence bring significant benefits to consumers - greater market availability, service efficiency and personalization of the offer - they also generate new risks. Misuse of data, non-transparent algorithmic systems, asymmetry of information and market dominance of large digital platforms can lead to endangerment of consumer rights and violation of legal security. It is precisely in this context that the importance of the principle of the rule of law as a fundamental principle of the rule of law comes to the fore. The rule of law implies that all subjects - including holders of technological and economic power - are subject to the law, that the rules are clear, predictable and equally applied, and that there are effective legal protection mechanisms. The rule of law, as the institutional framework of the rule of law, has the obligation to normatively respond to the challenges of digital transformation through continuous and systematic legislative activity. Regulating the field of artificial intelligence and the digital market is therefore not only a question of improving consumer protection, but also a question of preserving the very foundations of the legal order. In the absence of adequate regulation and effective application of law, there is a risk of creating a normative vacuum in which economic power and technological control would dominate, instead of law, justice and institutional guarantees. This would undermine the essence of the rule of law and weaken the rule of law as a basic principle of a democratic society. Based on the aforementioned challenges, the subject of this paper is the connection of the principles of the rule of law and the system of consumer protection in the conditions of artificial intelligence and digitalization. The aim of the work is to point out the importance of normative and institutional strengthening of consumer protection mechanisms, as an integral part of preserving the rule of law, and to contribute to achieving a higher level of their legal security and protection.