I. INTRODUCTION The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 14 September 2023 (Case C-83/22, RTG v. Tuk Tuk Travel S.L.) concerns the duty to inform under Article 5 of the NPTD, in the context of contract termination due to the COVID-19 pandemic2, which falls under Article 12, paragraph 2, and the powers and duties incumbent upon the national judge to protect the consumer. In accordance with the traditional principle of party autonomy in civil procedure, since the issue was not raised by the interested party, it is not for the judge to remedy this deficiency, as doing so would compromise their impartiality. The issue of Member States’ procedural autonomy is first raised in paragraph 29: “In the present case, the question of whether the facts invoked by the claimant in the main proceedings to justify his cancellation of the package travel contract in question can be classified as ‘unavoidable and exceptional circumstances’ within the meaning of Directive 2015/2302 is covered by the autonomous assessment of the referring court. Furthermore, the latter did not consider it necessary to submit a preliminary question as to the scope of the concept of ‘unavoidable and exceptional circumstances’ within the meaning of this Directive in order to resolve the dispute submitted to it.” II. THE FACTS The dispute arose from a package for two people, purchased from the British tour operator Tuk Tuk Travel on 10 October 2019 for travel to Vietnam and Cambodia, departing from Madrid on 8 March 2020, with the return scheduled for 24 March of the same year. A portion of the price, amounting to €2402, was paid, leaving a balance of €5208. The general terms and conditions of the contract stated, among other things, the possibility of cancelling it before its commencement, upon payment of a cancellation fee3. However, the information did not refer to the possibility of 2 The CJEU had previously ruled, in general terms, that the concept of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances can encompass a global health crisis (CJEU, 8 June 2023, Case C-407/21). The case before the Spanish court concerns the reimbursement of payments made by the traveller after the traveller cancelled the contract because off the spread of the coronavirus. 3 A situation that falls under paragraph 1 of Article 12, in which the traveller pays an appropriate and justifiable termination fee to the organiser. 38 CARLOS TORRES
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==