A judge before whom a consumer claims that certain contractual terms are unfair is required to verify on their own initiative other terms of the contract provided that they relate to the subject-matter of the dispute before them, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in a judgement delivered on Wednesday 11 March (Case C-511/17).
In 2007, Mrs Györgyné Lintner brought an action before the Hungarian courts seeking a declaration that certain terms in a mortgage loan agreement with the Hungarian bank UniCredit Bank Hungary were invalid under the EU Unfair Terms Directive (93/13).
Wondering whether, in the light of EU case law, it should not also rule on the compatibility with the Directive of certain other contract terms which were not covered by the action, the Court of Budapest-Capitale then decided to refer the matter to the CJEU.
In its judgement delivered on Wednesday, the Court of Justice first stated that the court before which a consumer claims that certain terms in a contract concluded with a seller or supplier are unfair is not required to examine of its own motion and individually the possible unfairness of all the other terms of the contract which the consumer has not contested.
However, the judge must carry out such an examination for clauses which are related to the subject-matter of the dispute, even if they are not contested by the consumer, “where they have access to the legal and factual elements necessary for that task”, the Court of Justice adds.
In order not to exceed the limits of the subject-matter of the dispute as defined by the parties, the judge is not, however, obliged to automatically check the other clauses which are not related to the subject-matter of the dispute, the CJEU also stresses.
To consult the Court's judgement: http://bit.ly/3cMo1VP (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)