Court:

Athens Court of Appeals, Decision No 7827/2005

Topics:

Consumer protection

Liability of the producer for defective products

Distribution agreement

Liability of importer and distributor of such products

Definition of a defective product

Articles:

Articles 6, 7 and 14 Law 2251/1994

Articles 361, 914 & 932 of Civil Code

Facts:

On 17 May 2000 claimant purchased from one of the defendants an automobile, which was produced by the other defendant and had been equipped with anterior safety belts pre-tensioners and driver's airbag. The airbag was supposed to activate itself automatically in case the vehicle had a head-on collision with velocity over 25 kilometers per hour. On 31 July 2000 claimant suffered a car-crash which included several side crashes and a final head-on crash. By the time the head-on crash occurred the velocity of the vehicle had been reduced to under 25 km/h and the airbag was not activated. The claimant was severely injured and asked for compensation claiming that the airbag did not operate properly due to its defect.

Legal Questions:

What is the liability of the importer and the distributor of a defective product? When is a product defective?

Decision:

The Court verified that apart from the manufacturer, the importer into European Community may be liable for the defects of a product but not an importer into Greece importing from another EU country. Further a distributor carries out its business not on behalf of the producer but in its own name and therefore has the responsibility to take all necessary precautionary measures to prevent defective products from being circulated. Also, a product is defective when it does not provide for a reasonable safety when properly used for the purpose it is intended. Therefore, and since the airbag was supposed to be activated in case of head-on collision with a velocity of more that 25 km/h - and this was not the case here - the product could not be considered defective and no compensation should be awarded to claimant.

Comments:

The decision deals with the very important issue of the distribution agreements. The distributor has certain responsibilities that resemble the ones of the producer; one of those being his/her obligation to act without negligence and with every reasonable diligence in order to prevent the circulation of defective products. The Court also reiterates the firm position of the jurisprudence that the defectiveness must be thoroughly examined and proved before the awarding of any compensation. Therefore, the product cannot be considered unsafe if its operation complies with its specifications, as it was the case here.

Original text:

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