This book explores the role of Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights--which guarantees the right to effective judicial protection--in consumer cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union, as well as civil courts in Spain and the Netherlands.

Die Arbeit untersucht das Spannungsfeld zwischen einem fairen Resultat und Fairplay im Rechtsverfahren. Bislang hat der Europäische Gerichtshof es traditionell abgelehnt, hier eine klare Wahl zu treffen, indem er sich in Vorabentscheidungen im Zusammenhang mit der ex officio-Überprüfung weitgehend dem nationalen Recht unterwirft. Diese Arbeit zeigt, dass spezifische Schutzvorrechte zunehmend substantiell korrekte Urteile hervorgebracht haben, während ein neuer Grundrechtsansatz den individuellen Verfahrensschutz nicht gefördert hat.

Through its case law, the CJEU has developed and established various legal institutions and principles guaranteeing the effectiveness of EU law including consumer protection law. Although much time has passed since the CJEU required from Member States' courts to give the “Community (now: Union) law its full effect within the framework of the judicial systems of the Member States”, more recent cases demonstrate the serious struggles of the courts when it comes to the enforcement of the EU consumer protection law. The effectiveness of the judicial protection of consumer protection rights is sometimes undermined by the most basic questions, such as who qualifies a person as a “consumer” in a national civil law dispute, the court or the claimant? Moreover, recent studies of the European Commission demonstrate that the national courts are barely aware of their duty in an ex officio application of the EU consumer protection law. With the exception of the courts' duty to examine the unfairness of contract terms in business-to-consumer (B2C) relations of their own motion, they seem to be reluctant to the idea of an ex officio application of consumer protection law. This paper examines the position of courts in this new environment of allegedly more effective enforcement mechanisms and questions to what extent the Member States' courts are obliged to apply the EU consumer protection law ex officio.

This insightful and timely book provides a comparative assessment of selected legal issues emerging from the EU legal context which impact profoundly on the national legal systems. It argues that judicial interaction can answer complex legal questions relating to the implementation of the EU Charter.

The Active Role of Courts in Consumer Litigation traces the emergence of a specific EU Law doctrine governing the role of the national courts in proceedings involving consumers that whilst only established more recently, has already become an important benchmark for effective consumer protection. According to the 'active consumer court' doctrine, developed in the case-law of the CJEU, national courts are required to raise, of their own motion, mandatory rules of EU consumer contract law, notably those protecting consumers from the use of unfair terms. This results in the strengthening of procedural consumer protection standards in ordinary proceedings but also in payment order proceedings, consumer insolvency proceedings or repossession proceedings directed against the primary family residence of the mortgage debtor. The considerations of contractual imbalance will now have to be taken into account in court proceedings leading, where necessary, to the reform of national procedural safeguards to protect the weaker contractual party. Dr Anthi Beka is a legal administrator with the chambers of Judge M. Vilaras in the Court of Justice of the European Union. She holds a PhD from the Faculty of Law, University of Luxembourg.

The book focusses on the enforcement of consumer law in order to identify commonalities and best practices across nations. It is composed of twenty-eight contributions from national rapporteurs to the IACL Congress in Montevideo in 2016 and the introductory comparative general report. The national contributors are drawn from across the globe, with representation from Africa (1), Asia (5), Europe (15), Oceania (2) and the Americas (5). The general report proposes a general introduction to the question of enforcement and effectiveness of consumer law. It then proceeds to identify the variety of ways in which national legislatures approach this question and the diversity of mechanisms put in place to address it. The general report uses examples drawn from the reports to illustrate common approaches and to identify more original or distinct unique approaches, taking into account the reported strengths and weaknesses of each. The general report consistently points readers to particular national reports on specific issues, inviting readers to consult these individual contributions for more details. The national contributions deal with the following areas: the national legal framework for consumer protection, the general design of the enforcement mechanism, the number and characteristics of consumer complaints and disputes, the use of courts and specialized agencies for the enforcement of consumer law, the role of consumer organizations and of private regulation in the enforcement of consumer law, the place of collective redress mechanism and of alternative dispute resolution modes, the sanctions for breaches of consumer law and the nature of external relations or cooperation with other countries or international organizations. These enriching national and international perspectives offer a comprehensive overview of the current state of consumer law around the globe.

The consumer protection is a very important part of the legislation of the European Union. This is the fourth publication in the series "Consumer protection". It brings the relevant case law of powers and duties of the national courts in the field of consumer protection. It is necessary to bring more effective protection of the consumer and that can be achieved by adopting uniform rules of law in the matter of unfair terms or unfair commercial practices. Those rules should apply to all contracts concluded between sellers or suppliers and consumers. In this case, the Court of Justice of the European Union has an important function because it brings unification also to the interpretation of the consumer protection law. To facilitate the establishment of the internal market and to safeguard the citizen in his role as a consumer when acquiring goods and services under contracts which are governed by the laws of the Member States other than his own, the national courts need to protect consumer on their own motion. This collection of case law brings a brief overview of the situation in which has the national court obligation to protect the consumer even if the consumer doesn ́t protect himself.This title brings case law related to: - powers, duties, and obligations of national courts;- court proceedings - order of payment, enforcement, ...;- unfair terms in consumer contracts;- unfair terms in consumer credits, loans. and mortgages;- unfair commercial practicesand more ...