Review article
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.30925/zpfsr.47.2.11
The Transformation of Procedural Law into an Instrument for the Protection of Consumers’ Human Rights: Lessons from Case C-351/23 GR REAL
Paula Poretti
; University of J. J. Strossmayer in Osijek, Faculty of Law Osijek, Croatia
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* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The paper examines the theoretical and practical implications of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-351/23 GR REAL s.r.o. v PO, RT for national legal systems, with particular emphasis on the transformation of procedural law into an instrument for the protection of consumers’ human rights. In the case at hand, the core issue is the relationship between the principle of disposition in civil proceedings and the court’s obligation to ensure ex officio effective protection of consumer rights. The paper re-examines the capacity of national courts, within the traditionally defined limits of their role, to ensure the effective enjoyment of rights guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, particularly the rights enshrined in Article 47 thereof, in the context of extrajudicial enforcement proceedings based on a mortgage over immovable property sold at auction. The analysis of the judgment indicates a tendency toward the gradual expansion of judicial intervention in favour of consumers, whereby the Court of Justice of the European Union strengthens their procedural position and mitigates the imbalance relative to legal entities acting as creditors. Notably, it does so by relying not only on the guarantees of procedural rights contained in the Charter but also on corresponding rights guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The paper concludes by examining how and to what extent this development affects the redefinition of the boundaries between national procedural autonomy and the obligation to ensure the full effectiveness of EU law.
Keywords
consumer protection; fundamental rights; Directive 93/13; procedural mechanisms; extrajudicial enforcement.
Hrčak ID:
350947
URI
Publication date:
15.9.2026.
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