Ending abusive clauses in consumer contracts : Mettre un frein aux clauses abusives dans les contrats de consommation

Other than the weight of this dogma of the contract considered as the expression of the parties’ true intention, it appears that the lawmakers wanted at all costs to avoid risking the stability of contracts by granting judges the power to intervene in freely negotiated contracts18. [...] The search for contract justice thus led to the establishment of measures, multiple and varied, to prevent the exploitation of the weaker contractor by the one who is in a position of power. [...] In the case of a loan of a sum of money, the court may pronounce the nullity of the contract, order the reduction of the obligations arising from the contract or revise the terms and conditions of the performance of the obligations to the extent that it finds that, having regard to the risk and to all the circumstances, one of the parties has suffered lesion. [...] A clause in a lease stipulating that the full amount of the rent will be exigible in the event of the failure by the lessee to pay an instalment is without effect. [...] An abusive clause is a clause which is excessively and unreasonably detrimental to the consumer or the adhering party and is therefore not in good faith; in particular, a clause which so departs from the fundamental obligations arising from the rules normally governing the contract that it changes the nature of the contract is an abusive clause.