ECJ Clarifies Consumer Protection Rules Relating To Sale Of Consumer Goods And Associated Guarantees

On 4 June 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the "ECJ") clarified the scope of Directive 1999/44/EC of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees (the "Directive") in the context of a request for a preliminary ruling from a Dutch Regional Court of Appeal (Case C-497/13, Froukje Faber v. Autobedrijf Hazet Ochten BV).

The request was made in the context of a dispute between Ms Froukje Faber and a garage called Autobedrijf Hazet Ochten BV (the "Hazet garage"). In May 2008, Ms Faber had purchased a secondhand vehicle at the Hazet garage. In September 2008, the vehicle caught fire and was entirely wrecked. The vehicle was towed to the Hazet garage by a tow truck and later sent to a scrapyard. In May 2009, Ms Faber notified the Hazet garage that she was holding it liable. While a technical investigation was needed to determine the cause of the vehicle fire, such an investigation could not take place as the vehicle had been scrapped in May 2009.

The ECJ was first asked whether a national court before which an action is brought is required to examine of its own motion whether the purchaser is to be regarded as a consumer within the meaning of the Directive, regardless of whether the party has relied on that status. The ECJ...