| Abstract [eng] |
ABSTRACT The development, scope, and limitations of the ex officio duty of national courts to evaluate unfair contract terms under Council Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts, as developed in the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), are being critically analyzed in this master's thesis. From its beginnings in Océano Grupo Editorial and Salvat Editores (2000) to the most recent significant laws, such as SPV Project 1503 (2022), the thesis outlines the doctrinal advancement of the obligation, highlighting the crucial phases in its development and the fundamental ideas that define it. This research focuses at the conceptual foundations of the ex officio duty, emphasizing on the concepts of the consumer as a structurally weaker party, the principle of effectiveness, and equivalence. The thesis also evaluates the scope and limitations of the ex officio duty in a variety of procedural instances, such as regular civil processes, enforcement actions, order-for-payment proceedings and arbitration-related proceedings. It explores how the hypothesis conflicts with fundamental principles of national civil procedure, such as res judicata, party disposition, the adversarial principle, and procedural deadlines. A critical analysis of the case law is used to evaluate the CJEU's strategy for handling these conflicts, paying special attention to the gradual balance between legal stability and protection of the consumer. This thesis further evaluates the ex officio doctrine's application in the Lithuanian legal system by examining the Supreme Court of Lithuania's case law, essential Civil Code and Code of Civil Procedure articles and the constitutional foundations for consumer protection. Advantages and disadvantages of the Lithuanian framework especially with regard to the order-for-payment process, the relationship with res judicata, education and knowledge of the judge and the institutional function of the State Consumer Rights Protection Authority were the highlighting points of this examination. With proposals for improving Lithuania's application of the ex officio obligation through institutional reform, judicial training, and legislative modification this thesis ended. In the end, the thesis places the ex officio doctrine in the broader structure of EU procedural law, claiming that it to be the most advanced illustration of the transformation of principle of effectiveness for national courts from a negative impact on national procedural autonomy to a positive aspect of procedural obligations. |
