Modification of The Spanish Consumers and End-Users Act

1.      On March 28th 2014 the Official State Bulletin published Law 3/2014, of 27th March, which modifies the General Law for the defense of Consumers and End-Users.

This modification of the Law for the Defense of Consumers and End-Users (LCU) results from the European Parliament Board and Directive 2011/83/UE dated October 25th, 2011 that eliminates existing European legislation regarding protection for consumers in contracts celebrated at a distance and contracts entered into outside of trading establishments and also condenses and harmonizes the different legislations existing in European countries, to avoid disparities between one and another.

2.      The changes introduced by the LCU enforce protection for consumers, especially in long distance contracts and those outside of trading establishments. For example, the information to be given by the director to the consumer before entering into a contract has been broadened.

It is also interesting to point out that article 83 of the LCU is modified with respect to abusive clauses in that it eliminates the Judge´s capacity in case a clause is considered null. Up until now, when the Judge considered a clause as abusive, he could change the wording to maintain the substance of the contract. With the new wording of the article 83, this is no longer possible. Therefore, if the Judge declares a clause to be null, this clause will be considered non-existent and, if without it the contract cannot be maintained even though the article does not expressly state it, we can only deduce that the contract will be null and void as well.

Marbella April, 3rd, 2014