Birutė Šiba v Arūnas Devėnas.
Date: 2015-01-15
19. In that connection, it must be observed that Directive 93/13 applies, as is clear from Article 1(1) and Article 3(1), to the terms of ‘a contract concluded between a seller or supplier and a consumer which have not been individually negotiated’ (see, to that effect, judgment in Constructora Principado , C‑226/12, EU:C:2014:10, paragraph 18).
20. As the 10 th  recital of Directive 93/13 states, the uniform rules of law in the matter of unfair terms should apply to ‘all contracts’ concluded between sellers or suppliers and consumers, as defined in Article 2(b) and (c) of Directive 93/13 (see judgment in Asbeek Brusse and de Man Garabito , C‑488/11, EU:C:2013:341, paragraph 29).
21. It is therefore by reference to the capacity of the contracting parties, according to whether or not they are acting for purposes relating to their trade, business or profession, that the directive defines the contracts to which it applies (judgment in Asbeek Brusse and de Man Garabito , EU:C:2013:341, paragraph 30).
22. That criterion corresponds to the idea on which the system of protection implemented by the directive is based, namely that the consumer is in a weak position vis-à-vis  the seller or supplier, as regards both his bargaining power and his level of knowledge. This leads to the consumer agreeing to terms drawn up in advance by the seller or supplier without being able to influence the content of those terms (judgment in Asbeek Brusse and de Man Garabito , EU:C:2013:341, paragraph 31 and the case-law cited).
23. As regards contracts for legal services, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, it should be observed that, in the field of lawyers’ services, there is, as a general rule, some inequality between ‘client-consumers’ and lawyers owing in particular to the asymmetry of information between the parties. Lawyers display a high level of technical knowledge which consumers may not have and the latter therefore may find it difficult to judge the quality of the services provided to them (see, to that effect, judgment in Cipolla and Others , C‑94/04 and C‑202/04, EU:C:2006:758, paragraph 68).
24. Thus, a lawyer who, as in the case in the main proceedings, provides a legal service for a fee, in the course of his professional activities, to a natural person acting for private purposes is a ‘seller or supplier’ within the meaning of Article 2(c) of Directive 93/13. The contract relating to the supply of such a service is, therefore, covered by that directive.
25. Such a finding cannot be invalidated by the public nature of lawyers’ activities, since Article 2(c) of Directive 93/13 refers to any ‘purposes relating to his trade, business or profession, whether publicly owned or privately owned’ and as recital 14 of that directive states, it ‘also applies to trades, business or professions of a public nature’.
28. In light of the objective of consumer protection pursued by that directive, the public or private nature of the activities of the seller or supplier or his specific task cannot determine whether or not that directive is applicable (see, by analogy, judgment in Zentrale zur Bekämpfung unlauteren Wettbewerbs , C‑59/12, EU:C:2013:634, paragraph 37).
29. As the Commission observed in that regard at the hearing, the exclusion from the scope of Directive 93/13 of many contracts concluded by ‘client-consumers’ with persons practising liberal professions, characterised by independence and ethical requirements to which those persons are subject, would deprive all those ‘client-consumers’ of the protection granted by that directive.
31. Contractual terms which have not been individually negotiated, in particular those which are drafted for general use, do not contain, as such, personal information relating to lawyers’ clients, disclosure of which might undermine the confidentiality of the legal profession.
33. The fact remains that the nature of the services which are the subject-matter of the contracts subject to Directive 93/13 must be taken into account, in accordance with Article 4(1) thereof, read in the light of its 18 th  recital, in order to assess the unfairness of the terms of those contracts. That assessment must be conducted by the national court and take account of that nature and refer, at the time of conclusion of the contract, to all of the circumstances attending its conclusion (see, to that effect, judgment in Aziz , C‑415/11, EU:C:2013:164, paragraph 71, and order in Sebestyén , C‑342/13, EU:C:2014:1857, paragraph 29).