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Control of Price Related Terms in Standard Form Contracts in Croatia

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Control of Price Related Terms in Standard Form Contracts

Part of the book series: Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law ((GSCL,volume 36))

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Abstract

Party autonomy or freedom of contract represents one of the main principles of any national contract law and the Croatian law is no different. There are, however, restrictions to this freedom, notably in the interest of consumers. One of the means to ensure that the contractual provisions are not to the detriment of consumers is the control of standard contract terms. General provisions on control of standard contract terms are provided for in the general law on obligations and it is applicable to all contracts, irrespective of the contracting parties. On the other hand, legislation on consumer protection provides for control of standard contract terms in consumer contracts and it is not surprising that the provisions therein are mirror image of the relevant EU legislation. In addition, control of standard control terms is afforded in special legislation on particular services.

Very generally, it may be stated that one of the principal mechanisms of consumer protection is the price disclosure and, even in broader terms, that the price related terms are clear and transparent. As to the control of these terms in standard contracts, so far scarce case law points out that in the course of assessing the price-related terms contained in the standard contract terms, the Croatian courts have not distinguished between main and ancillary terms affecting the price and every term which has an impact on a price is generally considered a price-related term. Thus, all the subject-matter and price related contract terms are treated equally and they are subject to an assessment against their unfairness only provided that these terms do not meet the transparency requirements.

The courts are competent to control standard contract terms, including the price related terms. However, besides them, the competence to control standard contract terms (including price related terms) in some special consumer contracts (e.g. in the sectors of energy, financial services and electronic communication) is given to the relevant independent regulators. There are significant disparities in terms of various aspects of this control (e.g. timing of control /ex ante or ex post/, personal scope of protection provided, power of entities which control standard contract terms, legal protection provided and legal effects of the decision of the competent body regarding the unfairness of a standard contract term).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Gorenc et al. (2006). p. 2.

  2. 2.

    The Obligations Act (Zakon o obveznim odnosima, National Gazette of the Republic of Croatia (Narodne novine, hereinafter: NN) No 35/05, 41/08, 125/11, 75/15, 29/18).

  3. 3.

    Gorenc et al. (2006), p. 2.

  4. 4.

    For instance, in contracts for provision of public utilities, where providers are often bound by law to enter into contract, if so requested by a customer or utility user.

  5. 5.

    Pursuant to Art. 268/1 OA, a preliminary contract is a contract under which the parties undertake an obligation to enter into the contract at the later date.

  6. 6.

    This position was taken by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia (hereinafter: the SCRC) in judgment No Rev. 1212/12-2 of 19 December 2012, available at: https://sudskapraksa.csp.vsrh.hr/decisionPdf?id=090216ba80510bc7, and by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia (hereinafter: the CCRC) in decision No U-III-2935/2014 of 3 February 2016, available at: https://sljeme.usud.hr/usud/praksaw.nsf/94b579567876f9fcc1256965002d1bf4/c12570d30061ce54c1257f4e0048815b/$FILE/U-III-2935-2014.pdf. Page consulted on September 17, 2017.

  7. 7.

    The possibility that the court orders a party to the pre-contract to enter into the main contract is specifically provided for in Art. 268/4 of the OA which reads: “If a party refuses to enter into the main contract, the court shall, at the request of an interested party, order the refusing party to enter into the main contract within a specified period of time.”

  8. 8.

    See in more detail: Baretić and Markovinović (2012), p. 58.

  9. 9.

    See in more detail, Baretić and Markovinović (2012), pp. 58–60.

  10. 10.

    See, for example, Art. 14 of the Financial Activities and Pre-Bankruptcy Procedures Act (Zakon o financijskom poslovanju i predstečajnoj nagodbi, NN 108/12, 144/12, 81/13, 112/13, 71/15, 78/15, hereinafter: the FAPPA).

  11. 11.

    Art. 296 OA.

  12. 12.

    Arts. 49–50 of the Consumer Protection Act (Zakon o zaštiti potrošača, NN No 41/14, 110/15, hereinafter: the CPA), and Art. 10 of the Bylaw on the Manner and Conditions for Conducting of Electronic Communication Networks and Services Activities, issued by the Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (hereinafter: HAKOM) (Pravilnik o načinu i uvjetima obavljanja djelatnosti elektroničkih komunikacijskih mreža i usluga, NN No 154/11, 149/13, 82/14, 24/14, 42/16, hereinafter: the HAKOM Bylaw).

  13. 13.

    See, for example, Art. 15 of the Agency in Real Property Transactions Act (Zakon o posredovanju u prometu nekretninama, NN No107/07, 144/12, 14/14, hereinafter: the ARPT).

  14. 14.

    Art. 42 of the Electronic Communications Act (Zakon o elektroničkim telekomunikacijama, NN No 73/08, 90/11, 133/12, 80/13, 71/14, 72/17, hereinafter: the ECA), Art. 303 of the Credit Institutions Act (Zakon o kreditnim institucijama, NN No 159/13, 19/15, 102/15, 15/18 hereinafter: the CIA), Art. 18 of the ARPT.

  15. 15.

    Art. 95 of the Gas Market Act (Zakon o tržištu plina, NN No 18/18, hereinafter: the GMA).

  16. 16.

    Art. 296 OA.

  17. 17.

    Art. 14 FAPPA.

  18. 18.

    Arts. 49–50 CPA and Art. 10 HAKOM Bylaw.

  19. 19.

    Art. 296 OA and Arts. 49–50 CPA.

  20. 20.

    Art. 42 ECA.

  21. 21.

    Art. 42/2 ECA.

  22. 22.

    Art. 296/1 OA.

  23. 23.

    See, for example, judgments of the County Court in Varaždin No Gž-5087/12-2 of 21 August 2013 available at: http://www.iusinfo.hr/CaseLaws/Content.aspx?Doc=ZUPSUD_HR&SOPI=ZSRH2012508B7A2 and No Gž-2671/13-2 of 14 April 2014 available at: http://www.iusinfo.hr/CaseLaws/Content.aspx?SOPI=ZSRH2013267B1A2&Doc=ZUPSUD_HR. Page consulted on September 20, 2017.

  24. 24.

    Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts, OJ 1993, L 95/29.

  25. 25.

    See infra Sect. 2.2.

  26. 26.

    Directive 2011/07/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions, OJ 2011, L 48/1.

  27. 27.

    Art. 296/3 OA.

  28. 28.

    Art. 324/1 OA.

  29. 29.

    The Civil Procedure Act (Zakon o parničnom postupku, NN 53/91, 91/92, 58/93, 112/99, 88/01, 117/03, 88/05, 02/07, 84/08, 123/08, 57/11, 148/11, 25/13, 89/14.).

  30. 30.

    Art. 502a/1 CPrA.

  31. 31.

    Arts. 49 and 50 OA.

  32. 32.

    Art. 55 OA.

  33. 33.

    Art. 52 OA.

  34. 34.

    More on reasons prompting exclusion of price-related and subject-matter-related contract terms from assessment against their unfairness in the European law, see in Cámara Lapuente (2019), p. 5.

  35. 35.

    See the Government’s Decree defining bodies and persons qualified to initiate proceedings for protection of consumers’ collective interests (Odluka o određivanju tijela i osoba ovlaštenih za pokretanje postupaka za zaštitu kolektivnih interesa potrošača, NN No 105/2014.).

  36. 36.

    Arts. 106–118 CPA.

  37. 37.

    Art. 42/2 ECA.

  38. 38.

    Art. 7 OA.

  39. 39.

    See in more detail infra Sect. 4.

  40. 40.

    Art. 375 OA.

  41. 41.

    Art. 329 OA.

  42. 42.

    Art. 296/3 OA, Art. 52 CPA.

  43. 43.

    Art. 296/3 OA, Art. 52 CPA.

  44. 44.

    The same with respect to the EU law, Cámara Lapuente (2019), p. 5.

  45. 45.

    See Cámara Lapuente (2019), pp. 15–16.

  46. 46.

    Available at: http://www.iusinfo.hr/CaseLaws/Content.aspx?Doc=VRHSUD_HR&SOPI=VSRH2014RevtB249A2. Consulted on September 30, 2017.

  47. 47.

    http://www.iusinfo.hr/Appendix//USTSUD_HR//USRH2015B2521AIII_44_1.pdf. Page consulted on September 30, 2017.

  48. 48.

    Judgment of the County Court in Split No Gž-377/17 of 13 July 2017, Judgment of the Municipality Court in Zagreb No 125 P-2651/15-21 of 29 September 2017, Judgment of the Municipality Court in Zadar No 53 P-2343/2014 of 2 September 2015 (unpublished).

  49. 49.

    http://www.vsrh.hr/CustomPages/Static/HRV/Files/2017dok/VSRH-Priopcenje-Revt-575-2016-5-an.pdf.

  50. 50.

    See judgment 43 PŽ-6632/2017-2 at p. 62.

  51. 51.

    More about how the Court of Justice of the European Union distinguishes between main and ancillary price-and-subject-matter-related terms, see Cámara Lapuente (2019), pp. 11–15.

  52. 52.

    The Compulsory Insurance in Transport Sector Act (Zakon o obveznim osiguranjima u prometu, NN No 151/05, 26/09, 75/09, 76/13, 152/14).

  53. 53.

    See in more detail, Cámara Lapuente (2019), pp. 7–8.

  54. 54.

    Until 1 July 2013 (the day of accession of Croatia to the EU), HANFA was authorized to undertake measures which would specifically obligate insurance undertakings to change their standard contract terms, including, but not limited to, insurance premiums. Following the accession to the EU and consequent liberalisation of the market, the regime has changed to a current situation.

  55. 55.

    Art. 2/1/7 CACA (Zakon o potrošačkom kreditiranju, NN No 75/09, 112/12, 143/13, 147/13, 9/15, 78/15, 102/15, 52/16).

  56. 56.

    NN No 15/14.

  57. 57.

    Art. 11.b and 11.c CACA.

  58. 58.

    Art. 12.a FAPPA.

  59. 59.

    The Payment System Act (Zakon o platnom prometu, NN No 133/09, 136/12).

  60. 60.

    Art. 9, 22/3, 27 of the PSA.

  61. 61.

    Art. 302/2, 3 CIA.

  62. 62.

    The Comparability of Fees Related to Payment Accounts, Payment Account Switching and Access to Payment Accounts with Basic Features Act (Zakon o usporedivosti naknada, prebacivanju računa za plaćanje i pristupu osnovnom računu, NN No70/17).

  63. 63.

    The Credit Agreements for Consumers Relating to Residential Immovable Property Act (Zakon o stambenom potrošačkom kreditiranju, NN No 101/17).

  64. 64.

    Arts. 18, 24 CFRA.

  65. 65.

    See e.g. Art. 12/1/2, 35/3, 42.a, 62, 63 of the ECA, Art. 5 of the Measures for Decreasing the Costs of Setting High Speed Electronic Communications Networks Act (Zakon o mjerama za smanjenje troškova postavljanja elektroničkih komunikacijskih mreža velikih brzina, NN No 121/16), Art. 17 of the Bylaw on Universal Services (Pravilnik o univerzalnim uslugama, NN No 146/12, 82/14, 41/16), Art. 23 of the Bylaw on Number Transferability (Pravilnik o prenosivosti broja, NN No 24/15, 71/16).

  66. 66.

    Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 laying down measures concerning open Internet access and amending Directive 2002/22/EC on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications network and services and regulation (EU) No 531/2012 on roaming on public mobile communications network within the Union, OJ 2015, L 310/1.

  67. 67.

    Art 46 of the Postal Services Act (Zakon o poštanskim uslugama, NN No 144/12, 153/13, 78/15, hereinafter: the PSA), Art. 25 of the Bylaw on Provision of Universal Services, NN No 41/13.

  68. 68.

    http://www.mppi.hr/UserDocsImages/MPPI_Okvirni_program_NGA_BB_prenotification-EN_v4_17072014.pdf. Last consulted on June 14, 2017.

  69. 69.

    Art. 202. of the Safety of Road Traffic Act (Zakon o sigurnosti prometa na cestama, NN No 67/08, 48/10, 74/11, 80/13, 158/13, 92/14, 64/15, 108/17).

  70. 70.

    Art. 26 of the Energy Act (Zakon o energiji, NN No 120/12, 14/14, 95/15, 102/15, 68/18, hereinafter: the EA).

  71. 71.

    Art 30/3 EA.

  72. 72.

    Art. 28 EA.

  73. 73.

    Art 30/1,2 EA.

  74. 74.

    Art 4–7. of the Electrical Energy Market Act (Zakon o tržištu električne energije, NN No 22/13, 95/15, 102/15, 68/18, hereinafter: the EEMA).

  75. 75.

    Art. 72/5/2 EEMA.

  76. 76.

    Arts. 59 and 94 5. GMA.

  77. 77.

    Art. 59 GMA.

  78. 78.

    Decision on the amount of tariff elements for transport of gas, (Odluka o iznosu tarifnih stavki za transport plina, NN No 127/17).

  79. 79.

    Decision on the amount of tariff elements for storage of gas (Odluka o iznosu tarifnih stavki za skladištenje plina, NN No 122/16).

  80. 80.

    Decision on the amount of tariff elements for distribution of gas (Odluka o iznosu tarifnih stavki za distribuciju plina, NN No 122/16).

  81. 81.

    Tariff elements for public service of supply of gas for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2017 (Iznosi tarifnih stavki za javnu uslugu opskrbe plinom za razdoblje od 1. travnja do 31. prosinca 2017. godine, NN No 26/17).

  82. 82.

    Art. 9 OODMA (Zakon o tržištu nafte i naftnih derivata, NN No 19/14, 73/17).

  83. 83.

    Art. 42 in fine of the Dental Medicine Act (Zakon o dentalnoj medicini, NN No 121/03, 117/08, 120/09).

  84. 84.

    Art 18 of the Advocacy Act (Zakon o odvjetništvu, NN No 9/94, 117/08, 50/09, 75/09, 18/11).

  85. 85.

    Art. 161 of the Notaries Act (Zakon o javnom bilježništvu, NN No 78/93, 29/94, 162/98, 16/07, 75/09, 120/16).

  86. 86.

    Art. 7, 42, 57, 83 CPA.

  87. 87.

    The requirement that a consumer be informed in good time before he/she makes a transactional decision is particularly emphasised by the CJEU in cases: CJEU Judgment of 18 December 2014, CA Consumer Finance SA, C-449/13, EU:C:2014:2464 and CJEU Judgment of 23 October 2014, Schulz and Egbringhoff, C-359/11 and C-400/11, EU:C:2014:2317. (see in more detail Cámara Lapuente (2019), p. 9).

  88. 88.

    Art. 7 OA.

  89. 89.

    Art. 7 OA.

  90. 90.

    Bylaw on a manner of indication of a selling and unit price for products and services (Pravilnik o načinu isticanja maloprodajne cijene i cijene za jedinicu mjere proizvoda i usluge, NN 66/2014).

  91. 91.

    See in more detail Cámara Lapuente (2019), pp. 9–10.

  92. 92.

    Art. 5 OA.

  93. 93.

    Art. 5 CFRA.

  94. 94.

    Art. 42a ECA.

  95. 95.

    Art. 45 PSA.

  96. 96.

    Art. 40 EEMA.

  97. 97.

    Bylaw on Substance and Form of Information on Timeshare Contract (Pravilnik o sadržaju i obliku obavijesti o ugovoru o vremenski ograničenoj uporabi nekretnine, NN No 66/14), and Bylaw on Obligation to Inform Consumers (Pravilnik o obvezi informiranja potrošača, NN No 14/10).

  98. 98.

    See also Cámara Lapuente (2019), p. 10.

  99. 99.

    https://www.hnb.hr/o-nama/informacije-potrosacima/bitne-informacije/informativna-lista/informativna-lista-ponude-kredita-potrosacima.

  100. 100.

    Art 35/5,6 CPA.

  101. 101.

    Art.11 CACRIPA.

References

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  1. University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, Zagreb, Croatia

    Marko Baretić & Siniša Petrović

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  1. Marko Baretić
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  1. Faculty of Law, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Yeşim M. Atamer

  2. Faculty of Law, Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Yeşim M. Atamer

  3. Faculty of Law, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Pascal Pichonnaz

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Baretić, M., Petrović, S. (2020). Control of Price Related Terms in Standard Form Contracts in Croatia. In: Atamer, Y.M., Pichonnaz, P. (eds) Control of Price Related Terms in Standard Form Contracts. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23057-9_11

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