STRICT LIABILITY OF THE SELLER FOR DAMAGES CAUSED AS A RESULT OF DEFECTIVE GOODS IN CONSUMER TRANSACTIONS

The following judgment of the European Court of Justice deals with two main questions. The first question is whether the seller who is not in fault is obliged to compensate the loss of the consumer which exceeds the subjective equivalence between the obligations of the parties arising from the contract. The second question is whether the seller is able to refuse to replace goods not in conformity on the ground that replacement would impose unreasonable costs on him. The court answers the first question in the affirmative on the following grounds: The demanded remedy had to be completed without any burden on the consumer and any significant inconvenience to the consumer; even assuming that the non-conformity of goods did not result from the fault of the seller, the fact remained that by delivering goods not in conformity the seller failed correctly to perform the obligation; the seller’s financial interests were sufficiently protected by the Directive. Regarding the second question, the court denies such a possibility for the seller where the repair is not possible. However, the court also allows to imply costs on the consumer, while enabling reducement in the reimbursement, which seems to be contradictory since the court requests that a remedy had to be completed without any burden on the consumer. In conclusion, however, the ruling seems fair