Cláusula sobre honorarios de abogado: procedimiento sumario de reclamación de honorarios y su apreciación como abusiva o engañosaSentencia del Tribunal de Justicia 9ª de 22 de septiembre de 2022 as. C-335/21: Vicente y Delia

Abstract

ECJ declares that EU Law must be interpreted as precluding national legislation relating to a summary procedure for the payment of lawyers» fees under which the claim brought against the consumer client is the subject of a decision given by a non-jurisdictional authority. In fact, the intervention of a court takes place only at the stage of the appeal against that decision, if any, without the court being able in such a case to assess either the unfairness of the terms contained in the contract which gave rise to the dispute or the possibility of adducing evidence other than that adduced before the non-jurisdictional court. On the other hand, a contract concluded between a lawyer and his client which prohibits the latter from withdrawing from the proceedings without his knowledge or against his advice and which stipulates a financial penalty in the event of non-compliance with that prohibition is assessed from the point of view of unfair terms or unfair practices — in particular, misleading terms