Efectos de la Jurisprudencia del Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea sobre el proceso civil interno

Abstract

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law relating to the protection of consumer rights is having a significant impact on the domestic civil procedural systems. Bearing in mind that the economic and legal inequality between consumers and professionals manifest itself in extra-judicial and judicial levels, the ECJ points out that the court’s duty to intervene ex officio is the most convenient solution. The Spanish civil process provides a clear example of a system being transformed as a result of some landmark ECJ judgements which apply such solution. A key element of this phenomenon lies in the meaning and extension given to principle of effectiveness as a limit of procedural autonomy of the member countries. In fact, with the aim of ensuring the rights conferred by Directives on consumer law, there has been observed a tendency to strength the ex officio court’s powers. However, this tendency is inherently contrary to the basis of the Spanish civil procedural system. Therefore, the effectiveness must be applied by taking into consideration the basic principles of the domestic judicial system.