Home › Research▻People▻Law

Law

Dr Caterina Gardiner

PhD

Contact Details

Lecturer Bar/College Lecturer
E: caterina.gardiner@nuigalway.ie
 
researcher
 

Biography

Caterina Gardiner LLB, LLM, Solr, PhD                                                                                          

Caterina Gardiner specialises in commercial and consumer law.  More recently, her research has focused on e-commerce and the challenges for consumers presented by the growth of online retailing.  She graduated with a LL.B from Trinity College Dublin in 1990 and an LL.M in Commercial Law from University College Dublin in 1996.  She also holds a PhD from University College Cork.  Her PhD thesis explores the tension between private and public regulatory objectives in the regulation of online consumer contracts.  In 2021, she published a monograph entitled "Unfair Contract Terms in the Digital Age: The Challenge of Protecting European Consumers in the Online Marketplace"( Edward Elgar Publishing 2021).  This monograph further develops the themes explored in her doctoral thesis, particularly relating to the effectiveness of the Unfair Contract Terms Directive as a regulatory tool in the context of the digital transformation and accompanying globalisation.

Caterina Gardiner has acted as adviser on several government expert groups including the the Sales Law Review Group, an expert group established by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to review sales law in Ireland and provide recommendations for modernisation and reform. She was also an invited member of the first Consumer Rights Advisory Group (2012) that was established to formulate new consumer legislation.  
 
Caterina joined the School of Law in the National University of Ireland, Galway in 1996. She has lectured in many subjects including international trade law, company law, legal and business ethics, business law, commercial law and consumer law.  
 

Research Interests

Caterina Gardiner's main research interests are in the area of sales law, consumer law and electronic transactions.  She has also worked in the field of International sales law and the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods.
 
 July 2012: Invited Member of the Advisory Committee on Consumer Legislation established by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to advise on consumer legislation. November 2008 - October 2011:  Academic Member of the Sales Law Review Group, an expert group established by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, to review the legislation governing the sale of goods and supply of services. The Group prepared a position paper on the draft Consumer Rights Directive which was published in April 2009.  In October 2011, the Group issued its final report, Report on the Legislation Governing the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services, a comprehensive document containing extensive recommendations for reform of consumer and commercial sales law. 

June, 2006: Appointed Member of the Graz and Salzburg working group ‘Transfer of Movables’ within the Study Group on a European Civil Code and wrote the National Report for Ireland on the Transfer of Movables. This report dealt with issues surrounding the acquisition and loss of movables including the transfer of ownership, the passing of property, agency, the consequences of insolvency of the parties, the nemo dat principle and reservation of title. The Report was published in January 2009.

Research Projects

  Project Start Date End Date
AUSTRIAN FUND FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH C GARDINER 01-JAN-06 26-NOV-07

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2021) 'Star Taxi App is an 'Information Society Service' but is the Meter Still Running for the Classification of Platform Services?'
Gardiner, Caterina (2021) 'Star Taxi App is an 'Information Society Service' but is the Meter Still Running for the Classification of Platform Services?'. Journal of European Consumer and Market Law, [Details]
(2019) 'Principles of Internet Contracting: Illuminating the Shadows'
Caterina Gardiner (2019) 'Principles of Internet Contracting: Illuminating the Shadows'. Common Law World Review, 48 (4):208-232 [Details]
(2015) 'Scheme of Consumer Rights Bill 2015: Paving the Way for Digital Consumers Part 1'
Gardiner, Caterina (2015) 'Scheme of Consumer Rights Bill 2015: Paving the Way for Digital Consumers Part 1'. The Commercial Law Practitioner, 22 (10):243-248 [Details]
(2015) 'Scheme of Consumer Rights Bill 2015: Paving the Way for Digital Consumers Part 2'
Gardiner, Caterina (2015) 'Scheme of Consumer Rights Bill 2015: Paving the Way for Digital Consumers Part 2'. The Commercial Law Practitioner, 22 (9):222-227 [Details]
(2013) 'The Proposed Common European Sales Law: A New Direction for European Contract Law?'
Gardiner, C (2013) 'The Proposed Common European Sales Law: A New Direction for European Contract Law?'. Dublin University Law Journal, 36 :183-216 [Details]
(2007) 'The EC (Commercial Agents) Directive: Twenty Years After its Introduction, Divergent Approaches still emerge from Irish and U.K. Courts'
Gardiner, C. (2007) 'The EC (Commercial Agents) Directive: Twenty Years After its Introduction, Divergent Approaches still emerge from Irish and U.K. Courts'. Journal of Business Law, :412-441 [Details]
(2006) 'The Meaning of Negotiate under the Commercial Agents Directive. Just who is a Commercial Agent?'
Gardiner, C. (2006) 'The Meaning of Negotiate under the Commercial Agents Directive. Just who is a Commercial Agent?'. Commercial Law Practitioner, 13 [Details]
(2006) 'Compensating Commercial Agents: Uncertainty Continues'
Gardiner, C. (2006) 'Compensating Commercial Agents: Uncertainty Continues'. Commercial Law Practitioner, 13 [Details]
(2001) 'The State Claims Agency; a New Role for the National Treasury Management Agency'
Gardiner, C. (2001) 'The State Claims Agency; a New Role for the National Treasury Management Agency'. Irish Law Times, 19 [Details]
(2000) 'Corporate Manslaughter'
Gardiner, C. (2000) 'Corporate Manslaughter'. Commercial Law Practitioner, 7 [Details]
(1999) 'U.S. and E.C. - Banana Split at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) - Implications for the future of Dispute Settlement at the WTO'
Gardiner, C. (1999) 'U.S. and E.C. - Banana Split at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) - Implications for the future of Dispute Settlement at the WTO'. ILT, 17 [Details]
(1998) 'Trade and Environment in the GATT/WTO'
Gardiner, C. (1998) 'Trade and Environment in the GATT/WTO'. ILT, 16 (1) [Details]

Books

  Year Publication
(2022) Unfair Contract Terms in the Digital Age.
Gardiner, Caterina (2022) Unfair Contract Terms in the Digital Age. UK: Edward Elgar. [DOI] [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2009) 'National Report on the Transfer of Movables in Ireland'
Gardiner, C. (2009) 'National Report on the Transfer of Movables in Ireland' In: National Reports on the Transfer of Movables in Europe. Sellier European Law Publishers. [Details]

Published Reports

  Year Publication
(2011) Report on the Legislation Governing the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services.
Professor Robert Clark, Tony Burke, Caterina Gardiner, Michael Kilcoyne, Roderick Maguire, Sean Murphy, Kevin O'Higgins, Dr. Nathan Reilly, Dr. Fidelma White (2011) Report on the Legislation Governing the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services. Government Publications, Dublin. [Details]

Conference Contributions

  Year Publication
(2020) Annual Conference of the Society of Legal Scholars September 2020,
Gardiner, C (2020) Lack of Transparency and Unfair Terms in Mass-Market Online Contracts - An Empirical Analysis. [Conference Paper], Annual Conference of the Society of Legal Scholars September 2020, Virtual Conference hosted by the University of Exeter , 07-SEP-20 - 07-SEP-20. [Details]
(2017) Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference 2017,
Gardiner, C (2017) Hyperlinks, Scroll-boxes and Hidden Terms: The Transparency Principle of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Directive and Online Consumer Contracts. [Conference Paper], Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference 2017, Dunboyne Castle, Co. Meath , 25-NOV-17 - 26-NOV-17. [Details]
(2015) Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference 2015,
Gardiner, Caterina (2015) On the Horizon: New Rights and Remedies for Digital Consumers. [Conference Paper], Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference 2015, Salthill Hotel Galway , 28-NOV-15 - 28-NOV-15. [Details]
(2013) ABA Section of International Law 2013 Fall Meeting,
Caterina Gardiner (2013) Opting into the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. [Invited Paper], ABA Section of International Law 2013 Fall Meeting, London , 16-OCT-13 - 17-OCT-13. [Details]
(2013) International Commercial Transactions: Sales of Goods and Cross-Border Financing, New England Law, Boston,
Gardiner, C (2013) Cross-Border Sales: The View from Ireland. [Invited Paper], International Commercial Transactions: Sales of Goods and Cross-Border Financing, New England Law, Boston, New England Law School, Boston, U.S.A , 21-FEB-13 - 21-FEB-13. [Details]
(2012) Re-orientating Consumer Law:Simplification, Conceptualisation and Subsidiarity. Duo-colloquium DeMontford University Leicester and University of Exeter,
Caterina Gardiner (2012) Reform of Consumer Sales Law in Ireland: Modernisarion,Simplification and Integration. [Invited Paper], Re-orientating Consumer Law:Simplification, Conceptualisation and Subsidiarity. Duo-colloquium DeMontford University Leicester and University of Exeter, University of Exeter , 17-DEC-12 - 17-DEC-12. [Details]
(2012) Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference;Legal Scholarship and Judicial Reasoning: A Mutual Interaction,
Caterina Gardiner (2012) The Proposed Common European Sales Law: A New Direction for European Contract Law?. [National Refereed Conference Paper], Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference;Legal Scholarship and Judicial Reasoning: A Mutual Interaction, Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel Dublin , 17-NOV-12 - 17-NOV-12. [Details]

Annotations/Encodings

  Year Publication
(2000) Irish Current Law Statutes Annotated, The National Treasury Management Act 2000.
Gardiner, C (2000) Irish Current Law Statutes Annotated, The National Treasury Management Act 2000. Annotations/Encodings [Details]
(2001) Irish Current Law Statutes Annotated, The Waste Management (Amendment) Act 2001.
Gardiner, C (2001) Irish Current Law Statutes Annotated, The Waste Management (Amendment) Act 2001. Annotations/Encodings [Details]

Media

  Year Publication
(2021) RTE Brainstorm: What are my Rights when I Buy Online from the UK after Brexit?.
Caterina Gardiner (2021) RTE Brainstorm: What are my Rights when I Buy Online from the UK after Brexit?. Ireland: RTE Media [Details]
(2021) RTE Brainstorm: The Biggest Lie Online: Why we Ignore Legal Terms and Conditions.
Caterina Gardiner (2021) RTE Brainstorm: The Biggest Lie Online: Why we Ignore Legal Terms and Conditions. Ireland: RTE Media [Details]

Non Published Reports

  Year Publication
(2009) Position Paper on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Consumer Rights . Sales Law Review Group.
Gardiner, C. (2009) Position Paper on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Consumer Rights . Sales Law Review Group. Non Published Reports [Details]

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
Irish Association of Law Teachers Member /

Committees

  Committee Function From / To
Advisory Committee on Consumer Legislation Invited Member 11-JUL-12 /
Examination Security Goup /

Other Activities

  Description

External Examiner for Exeter University LL.M in International Commercial Law 2013 to date

External Examiner for Griffith College in Company Law and Revenue Law from 2010 to 2013   

Teaching Interests

Commercial Law
Company Law 
European Consumer Law and Policy