Unfair contract terms under Greek law: Case law developments

This note examines a decision by the Greek Supreme Court which offers an interpretation of the unfair term provision in consumer protection law. The case concerned a class action by a consumer organization against a commercial bank. The decision makes a breakthrough in two related respects. First, the Court not only interprets the national law in the light of the EU Directive on Unfair Contract Terms, but also adopts rules of interpretation and reasoning that run parallel to the latest European discussion on unfair contract terms. Second, in an unprecedented manner for Greek case law, it declares a large number of contractual clauses to be unfair, hence broadening consumer protection significantly. Most commercial banks in Greece are now under an obligation to modify their pre-formulated contracts in order to comply with the Court's interpretation of the provision on unfair terms in the Consumer Protection Act. © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.