CJEU - C 472/11 / Judgment

Banif Plus Bank
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
General Court (First Chamber)
Type
Decision
Decision date
21/02/2013
  • CJEU - C 472/11 / Judgment
    Key facts of the case:
    1. This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Articles 6 and 7 of Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts (OJ 1993 L 95, p. 29) (‘the Directive’).
    2. The request has been made in proceedings between Banif Plus Bank Zrt (‘Banif Plus Bank’) and Mr and Mrs Csipai concerning the payment of sums due under a credit agreement in the event of the early termination of that agreement by the lending institution on grounds of conduct attributable to the borrower. 
    Results (sanctions) and key consequences of the case:
    1. Articles 6(1) and 7(1) of Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts must be interpreted as meaning that the national court which has found of its own motion that a contractual term is unfair is not obliged, in order to be able to draw the consequences arising from that finding, to wait for the consumer, who has been informed of his rights, to submit a statement requesting that that term be declared invalid. However, the principle of audi alteram partem, as a general rule, requires the national court which has found of its own motion that a contractual term is unfair to inform the parties to the dispute of that fact and to invite each of them to set out its views on that matter, with the opportunity to challenge the views of the other party, in accordance with the formal requirements laid down in that regard by the national rules of procedure. 
    2. The national court must, in order to determine whether the contractual term on which the claim brought before it is based may be unfair, take account of all of the other terms of the contract. 
  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

     

    29-36