On 21 May 2010, Act No. 155/2010 Coll., amending certain acts to improve their application and to reduce the administrative burden on entrepreneurs, was published in the Collection of Laws. This Act, inter alia, amends the Act on Consumer Protection and the provisions of the Civil Code concerning so-called consumer contracts, whereby some of the changes made will also have an impact on the legal status of operators of internet shops. Other regulations affected by this amendment include the Act on the Czech Trade Inspection Authority, the Act on Technical Requirements for Products and the Trade Licensing Act.

The most important change from a theoretical perspective is the introduction of a new definition of consumer into the Czech legal order. We addressed the issue of defining the term “consumer” in more detail in the March circular (3/2010), in which it was mentioned that the Act on Consumer Protection (Act No. 634/1992 Coll., as amended) and the Civil Code (Act No. 40/1964 Coll., as amended) each contain a different definition of consumer. Act No. 155/2010 Coll. changes this situation and unifies the regulation in both of the aforementioned acts, whereby it newly defines a consumer as “a natural person who does not act within the framework of his business activity or within the framework of the independent exercise of his profession”. From the effective date of Act No. 155/2010 Coll., which shall occur on 1 August 2010, it will thus be beyond doubt that a consumer for the purposes of the above-mentioned acts means exclusively a natural person. The narrowing of the concept of consumer to natural persons only more faithfully reflects the existing Community regulation and should contribute to the elimination of situations which are sometimes problematic in practice.

Another important change made to the Civil Code is the replacement of its provision Section 55(2) with new wording. The current form of this provision is as follows: “Stipulations in consumer contracts within the meaning of Section 56 shall be deemed valid unless the consumer invokes their invalidity (Section 40a). However, if such a stipulation directly affects other stipulations of the contract as well, the consumer may invoke the invalidity of the entire contract.” Section 56 of the Civil Code contains regulation of prohibited contractual stipulations in consumer relations. Prior to the effective date of the amendment in question, such stipulations were so-called relatively invalid, which meant that the consumer had to expressly invoke their invalidity (by a legal act vis-à-vis the supplier). From the effective date of Act No. 155/2010 Coll., such stipulations are so-called absolutely invalid, which means that the consumer need not invoke the invalidity and the court takes into account the potential invalidity of such stipulations automatically. Section 55(2) of the Civil Code now reads: “Stipulations in consumer contracts pursuant to Section 56 are invalid.”

This text was translated from Czech to English using an AI translator.