Already in a number of previous legal circulars we have addressed the issue of withdrawal from a purchase contract by a consumer without stating reasons pursuant to the provision of Section 1829(1) of the Civil Code (Act No. 89/2012 Coll.). In this April contribution we shall conversely address situations where a consumer does not have the right to withdraw from a purchase contract without stating reasons in distance selling. These are exceptional situations when purchasing certain goods by a consumer, which are expressly enumerated in the Civil Code (however, in this legal circular we shall not address those cases where services or digital content in intangible form are provided to the consumer).

Exceptions to the general rule are contained primarily in the provision of Section 1837 of the Civil Code, which implements Article 16 of Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights. For practice, the most important will evidently be the provision of Section 1837(g) of the Civil Code, which was newly incorporated into Czech legislation and which provides that “a consumer cannot withdraw from a contract… for the supply of goods in sealed packaging which the consumer has removed from the packaging and which cannot be returned for hygienic reasons…” These cases in commercial dealings will be relatively frequent, whilst the range of products to which this exception will apply may, in our opinion, be relatively broad.

In practice, the provision of Section 1837(d) of the Civil Code may also be used relatively frequently, which provides that a consumer cannot withdraw from a contract “for the supply of goods which have been modified according to the consumer’s wishes or for his person.” This means that if a purchaser orders individualisation of a product from the seller (for example engraving or printing of the purchaser’s initials on the product, its recolouring, etc.) or if a product is produced specially for the purchaser based on an agreement with the seller, the purchaser does not have the right to withdraw from such a purchase contract.

Last but not least, it is appropriate to mention also the legal regulation contained in Section 1837(h) of the Civil Code, where it is established that a consumer cannot withdraw from a contract “for the supply of an audio or video recording or a computer programme if he has broken their original seal.” In connection with this provision, a relatively complex question arises (primarily in the area of distribution of computer programmes) regarding the relationship between the purchase contract itself and the licence agreement, on the basis of which the consumer acquires the right to use the computer programme in question (a licence arises).

In conclusion, we remind that from the issue discussed in this circular (where a consumer cannot withdraw from a purchase contract) it is necessary to very rigorously distinguish situations where goods are damaged by the consumer before his withdrawal from the contract. Such a fact does not affect the consumer’s right to withdraw from such a contract (however, it may have other legal consequences).

Josef Aujezdský

Law Firm Mašek, Kočí, Aujezdský www.e-Advokacie.cz – on-line legal advisory

This text was originally prepared by the law firm Mašek, Kočí, Aujezdský in cooperation with the Association for Electronic Commerce (APEK) as legal circular No. 4/2014 intended for members of this association.

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