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Cover of: Die unionsrechtlichen Voraussetzungen des Rechtsmissbrauchseinwands
Kai-Oliver Knops

Die unionsrechtlichen Voraussetzungen des Rechtsmissbrauchseinwands

[The Requirements of EU Law on Abuse of Law and Abuse of Rights – the Example of the Right to Withdraw from Credit Agreements and Insurance Contracts]
Section: Essays
Volume 85 (2021) / Issue 3, pp. 505-543 (39)
Published 02.07.2021
DOI 10.1628/rabelsz-2021-0023
Published in German.
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    CC BY 4.0
  • 10.1628/rabelsz-2021-0023
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Summary
In the European Union, it is apparently only in Germany that withdrawals by consumers and policy-holders are often rejected as invalid and abusive. Mostly it is argued that an objection of abuse is subject to national law and that application of the principle of good faith is a matter for the judge alone. In fact, the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union sets strict limits on the objection of abuse and requires special justification, which the national legal system must comply with in accordance with the primacy of European Union law. Under EU law, withdrawal from consumer loans and insurance contracts will be vulnerable to an objection of legal abuse only in very exceptional cases and by no means as a rule.