As the Advocate-General rightly observed in point 38 of his opinion, the self-same person may be regarded as a consumer in relation to certain transactions and as an economic operator in relation to others. They might require to contract, for instance, with specialists for mechanical or electrical repairs to premises or to equipment. In my respectful view Di Pinto ought to have been followed in Chris Hart; if it had been the potential absurdity of a major trader claiming the protection afforded to a consumer whenever he stepped out of his habitual line of business would not have arisen. In 2003, he joined St Mirren, but again his stay was a short one, and he moved on after making only three appearances.

That case concerned a question of application of Section 23A of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1976 to a contract of employment. I no longer can kid myself that if I win back some of what I have lost, I will breath a sigh of relief and then stop, because that simply won't happen, I will just lose it again and that is the reality. The writ was placed before a sheriff who refused to grant a warrant for service holding that the defender was a consumer, that the contract was one for services, and that consequently jurisdiction was excluded in terms of Rule 3. If such a person acts partly within, partly outside his trade or profession the situation only falls within the scope of Article 5 if he acts primarily outside his trade or profession".

The status of consumer referred to by Article 13 is not determined by a pre-existing subjective situation; the same natural person may be a consumer for certain purposes and an entrepreneur for others.

Kevin, who has since gone on to play pool for Scotland, has now not had a bet for more than six years, holds a prominent position in Gamblers Anonymous and also uses his experiences to help the Professional Footballers Association (Scotland) to educate today's footballers on the pitfalls of gambling. The sheriff in holding that the jurisdiction of the court was not excluded by virtue of Rule 3 of Schedule 8 of the 1982 Act, also excluded from probation certain averments by the defender which seek to found on the 1999 Regulations. Alongside the date of the transfer, the clubs involved and the transfer fee, it also displays the market value of the player at the time of the transfer.Before that view could be taken he had to be said to be involved in the "organisation of the activity which leads to gain", in other words a managerial act. The specific protection sought to be afforded by those provisions is unwarranted in the case of contracts for the purpose of trade or professional activity, even if that activity is only planned for the future, since the fact that activity is in the nature of a future activity does not divest it in any way of its trade or professional character". The essence of the argument advanced on behalf of the defender was that he had, in a private capacity, entered into a contract to enable him to earn more as an employee. That said, I do not in what is at this stage a question of interpretation, attach the importance of attempting to determine the relative bargaining strengths of the parties as my predecessor did in Chris Hart.

It should be interpreted in the light of its purpose which is to protect the weaker party and in accordance with other International instruments with the same purpose such as the Judgments Convention. He reached the conclusion that this would be sufficient to exclude the defender from the definition of "consumer" having regard in particular to the decision in Benincasa. In the present case the agent for the defender submitted that in employing someone effectively to act as a recruitment consultant the defender was not engaging in a managerial act; it was a matter of personal requirement that he seek employment.

Consumer" is defined as "any natural person who, in contracts covered by the Regulations, is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business or profession". He went on to say that "The evidence is all to the effect that it was outside their trade or profession that the contracts were being made". As in many areas where the jurisprudence of the European Court applies, all is not necessarily as obvious as it seems. He said that he did not think that the European Court could have intended those words as a substitute for the words of the relevant EEC directive (with which he was concerned) or of the Brussels Convention, but even if they were to be applied literally concluded that the contracts in question were for the purpose of satisfying the needs of the defendants in terms of private consumption. Kevin eventually signed for Hearts but his move to Tynecastle was hampered by a back injury which limited his appearances, after a brief spell with St Mirren in 2003 he retired from senior football.