Many countries, including Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, take a fairly conservative approach to consumer protection. On the assumption that an ordinary citizen is the weaker party to a transaction (with no legal training, no means to pay a substantial state duty to defend their interests in court, and so on), lawmakers grant citizens additional safeguards set out in laws and secondary legislation. Our client, whose business had been exclusively wholesale trade in construction equipment and imported garden-care machinery, added a retail line. The client asked us to prepare a legal opinion clarifying certain aspects of how consumer protection legislation applies.
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state duty paid by consumers to file a claim
Home court
consumers can sue where they live, not where the seller is
Low bar
standard of proof for moral damage claims
Section 01
Consumer Rights: The Less Obvious Aspects
The main piece of legislation in the consumer sphere is the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Consumer Rights Protection”. Most of the law is devoted to the rights and guarantees of consumers.
Key fact
One of a consumer’s key yet less obvious rights, which every seller must uphold, is the right to information.
In particular, consumers must be given information about goods and their manufacturers (sellers, suppliers, service providers), including the product characteristics stated in catalogues, advertising or photographs. It follows that if the image of a product on the seller’s website differs significantly from the product delivered by the courier, the consumer has grounds to claim that their right to information has been violated and may therefore refuse the product without reimbursing the seller’s delivery costs.
Important
In addition, a violation of the consumer’s right to information may entitle the consumer to compensation for moral damage (non-pecuniary harm).
Case in point
A district court heard a dispute in which a consumer brought claims against a seller because a robotic lawnmower lacked a feature that the seller’s employee had promised at the time of purchase. In particular, it could not be fully integrated into a smart home system, which, according to the claimant, meant the product could not be used for the purpose for which it had been bought. The consumer sought 2,500 Belarusian roubles in moral damages. The dispute ended in a settlement agreement, with compensation set at 150 Belarusian roubles.
Section 02
Moral Damage to Consumers: The Courts’ Approach (2026)
Key fact
Consumers are entitled to compensation for moral damage.
Moral damage means the physical and mental suffering a person experiences through the fault of the person who caused the harm. While physical suffering is more or less clear, mental suffering often raises questions. Courts proceed from the premise that mental suffering usually takes the form of fear, shame, humiliation or other psychologically distressing experiences.
Lawyers who regularly represent businesses in consumer disputes note with regret that the standard of proof for moral damage is very low. Claimants very rarely provide objective evidence that buying a defective product actually caused them emotional suffering. In our client’s case, some potential claims could even seem comical: to recover moral damages, a potential claimant would have had to show how a faulty orbital sander had affected their emotional state.
Takeaway for business
Businesses should factor in the risk of such claims, whatever sector they operate in.
Section 03
Consumer Rights When Quality Requirements Are Breached
Key fact
Consumers are entitled to receive goods and services of proper quality.
If a product of improper quality has been sold, the consumer may demand a replacement or a price reduction, or a refund of the money paid. In addition, a bad-faith seller must compensate the consumer for all losses and harm caused by defects in the goods or services.
For example, if an equipment failure made it necessary to replace the wiring at a property, the seller may be ordered to pay for the repairs.
Section 04
Consumer Safeguards in Court That Sellers Don’t See Coming
If a consumer’s rights have been violated, the consumer must first send a claim to the bad-faith seller. If the seller refuses to satisfy the claim voluntarily or simply ignores it, the consumer should go to court to protect the violated rights.
Key fact
Current legislation gives additional guarantees to consumers who bring court proceedings.
For example, consumers do not have to pay state duty to file a claim. In effect, seeking judicial protection costs the consumer nothing, whereas if the consumer “wins”, the state duty from which they were exempt when filing will be charged to the seller.
In addition, consumers may sue in the court for their place of residence rather than where the seller is located. For example, if a consumer orders goods from Minsk for delivery to their home in Brest and the goods turn out to be defective, they can sue the seller in Brest. This undoubtedly places an additional burden on the seller, which has to find local legal counsel, develop a litigation strategy away from its home base, and so on.
The outcome
These are just some of the issues we covered in our opinion for the client. Some of our recommendations were used in drafting the seller’s internal policies.