Los alcaldes y su rol en la protección de los derechos del consumidor.

Abstract

This article makes an approach to the protection of consumers from the role that mayors must fulfill at the municipal level in the Colombian territory. This is a subject that encompasses two dimensions of Law: that of Public Law and that of Private Law. Francis Bacon's ruling, with full validity, illustrates a hierarchical and dependent relationship between these two areas of legal knowledge: "ius privatum sub tutela iuris publici latet". This research field implies, at the same time, a complex theoretical framework: that of the "economic analysis of Law", a perspective whose method is inductive with a tendency to specialize in private law; and the "realistic economic analysis of Law", which with a mixed inductive-deductive method, preserves the aforementioned Baconian subordination. Both require the framework of a general theory of the State and Law. In this way, Law 1480 of 2011, Statute of the Consumer, it is observed that at the local level the mayors are given legal instruments to guarantee the Rights of the consumer, whose concept is different for the instrumentality of each theory of economic analysis of law mentioned: for one, the relationship between consumer and trader is one of coordination and, for the “realistic” one, it is hierarchical and subordinate. For the first, the solution lies in establishing the degree of "efficiency" and "effectiveness" of the norm, which implies contenting oneself with a consecrating right without justiciability, mere "ius ad rem"; for the realist, on the other hand, more comprehensive, the protection of consumer rights imposes, not only on mayors, but also on the State as a whole, specific responses to ensure the “ius in re”