Distributes a software product, in Slovakia

Zákon č. 294/1999 Z. z. o zodpovednosti za škodu spôsobenú vadným výrobkom · Read the law's page

• Treat standalone software as an open question under this Act: it applies to a hnuteľná vec (movable thing), and its text names electricity and gas as products but does not name software (Sec. 2(1)).
• If you make, extract or otherwise obtain a product, or present yourself as its producer by your name, trade mark or another distinguishing mark, you answer as its producer (Sec. 4(1)).
• If you import a product from abroad for sale, hire or another form of use in the course of your business, you answer as its producer (Sec. 4(2)).
• If you supply a product whose producer cannot be identified, name the producer or your own supplier to the injured person within one month of the claim, or you are treated as the producer; the same applies to an imported product whose importer cannot be identified (Sec. 4(3)).
• Make the product guarantee the safety of its use that can reasonably be expected, having regard to its presentation and the information you gave or should have given, its expected use and purpose, and the time you placed it into circulation (Sec. 3(1)).
• Be ready to prove a Sec. 5(1) defense: that you did not place the product into circulation, that it was probably not defective then or the defect arose later, that you did not make it for business purposes, that the defect results from compliance with a binding legal provision, or that the state of scientific and technical knowledge did not allow the defect to be discovered.
• If you made only a component, be ready to prove that the overall design of the product, the overall producer's requirements or the instructions for use caused the defect (Sec. 5(2)).
• Do not rely on a contract term to exclude or limit your liability in advance, because Sec. 8 bars it.
• Keep the claim periods in view: three years from when the injured person learned or could have learned of the damage and of your identity, and ten years from when you placed the product into circulation (Sec. 9).
• This Act keeps governing a product placed on the market or put into service up to 8 December 2026, because Act No. 242/2026 Z. z. repeals it from 9 December 2026 and applies only to later products (Secs. 17 and 19 of Act No. 242/2026 Z. z.).

Nariadenie vlády Slovenskej republiky č. 89/2026 Z. z., ktorým sa ustanovujú technické požiadavky na prístupnosť výrobkov · Read the law's page

• If you place on the market or put into service a product within section 1(2) of the Regulation (a general-purpose computer hardware system for consumers or its operating system; a payment terminal, ATM, ticketing machine, check-in machine or interactive self-service information terminal intended for services under the special regulations, other than one installed as an integral part of a vehicle, aircraft, ship or rail vehicle; consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability used for electronic communications services or for access to audiovisual media services; an e-reader), make it meet the accessibility requirements of Annex 1, Section I, and for computers and operating systems, terminal equipment and e-readers also Section II (ss. 1(2) and 3(1) to (3); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Arts. 2(1) and 4(1) and (2)).
• As manufacturer, before placing the product on the market or putting it into service, draw up the technical documentation under Annex 3, have the conformity assessed by the internal production control procedure, issue the EU declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking (ss. 5(1) and 11 to 13; Directive (EU) 2019/882, Arts. 7, 16 and 17).
• As manufacturer, also meet the duties of section 5(1)(a) to (e), (g) and (i) to (o) of Act 56/2018: design and make the product to the essential requirements, keep procedures that preserve conformity of series production, investigate complaints and keep a register of complaints, of non-conforming products and of recalls, mark the product with a type, batch or other identifier and with your name and address, supply instructions and safety information in the state language, take corrective action or withdraw or recall a non-conforming product, tell the authorities of a risk, and give the authority information and documentation in the state language on a reasoned request (Regulation, s. 5(1) and footnote 16).
• Keep the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation for at least five years from placing the product on the market or putting it into service and make them available to the authority on request; keep a register of complaints and of non-conforming products; keep for five years the identity of the operators that supplied you and that you supplied (s. 5(2); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Arts. 7 and 12).
• As authorised representative of the manufacturer, keep the declaration of conformity and the technical documentation for five years and make them available to the authority on request, keep for five years the identity of the operators that supplied you and that you supplied, and on a reasoned request give the authority the information and documentation needed to show conformity and cooperate on any action to eliminate a risk (s. 6 and footnote 20; Act 56/2018, s. 6(2)(b) and (c); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 8).
• As importer, do not place a designated product on the market or put it into service if the manufacturer has not had its conformity assessed or if you believe it does not conform until conformity is achieved; inform the manufacturer, the authority and the authority of any other Member State where it is made available; keep a copy of the declaration of conformity for five years and give the authority the technical documentation on request; keep a register of complaints and of non-conforming products; keep trader identity data for five years; put your business name or trademark and your address on the product, ensure instructions and safety information in the state language, keep storage and transport from affecting conformity, take corrective action and withdraw or recall a non-conforming product, and inform of a risk (s. 7 and footnote 23; Act 56/2018, s. 7(1) and (2)(a) to (c), (f), (g) and (i); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 9).
• As distributor, do not make a designated product available if the manufacturer has not affixed the CE marking or if you believe it does not conform until conformity is achieved, nor if it lacks the declaration of conformity, the identification, the manufacturer's or importer's name and address, the instructions or the accompanying documentation; inform the manufacturer or importer and the authorities; keep a copy of the declaration of conformity for five years and give the authority the technical documentation on request; keep a register of complaints and of non-conforming products; keep trader identity data for five years; keep storage and transport from affecting conformity and take corrective action, withdrawal or recall where needed (s. 8 and footnote 25; Act 56/2018, s. 8(1) and (2)(a) to (d); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 10).
• If you place a product on the market under your own name or trademark or modify it in a way that may affect conformity, you carry the manufacturer's duties (s. 9; Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 11).
• As manufacturer, authorised representative, importer or distributor relying on that defence, assess it and keep the result and its documentation for five years from the last making available of the product on the market or putting it into service, give the authority a copy on request, state in the EU declaration of conformity which requirements it was applied to, and notify the authority in writing; the defence is unavailable if you took funds from sources other than your own for improving the accessibility of the product (ss. 12(3), 14(2), (4) and (5); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14(2), (3), (6) and (8)).
• A feature, element or function that meets Annex 1, Section III counts as meeting the accessibility requirements of other binding EU acts unless those acts provide otherwise (s. 3(4)); where the requirements do not cover a function, meet the functional performance criteria of Annex 1, Section IV (Annex 1, Section IV).
• A product, or a feature, element or function of it, that meets a harmonised technical standard or a technical specification, or part of one, is presumed to meet the accessibility requirements that the standard or specification covers (s. 10; Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 15).
• You need not meet the requirements to the extent that doing so would need a significant change that alters the basic nature of the product or would impose a disproportionate burden on you under the criteria in Annex 4 (s. 14(1); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14(1)).
• A microenterprise relying on that defence need not document the assessment or notify the authority, but it must give the authority on request the information needed to assess the conditions (s. 14(3) and (5); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14(4) and (8)).
• A service provider may keep using, for similar services, a self-service terminal that does not meet the requirements and that it used before 28 June 2025, until the end of the terminal's life but no longer than 20 years from the start of its use (s. 16; Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 32(2)).
• Requirements on the technical documentation must not impose a disproportionate burden on microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (s. 12(2)).

Zákon č. 242/2026 Z. z. o zodpovednosti za škodu spôsobenú vadným výrobkom · Read the law's page

• This Act is enacted but does not apply yet: it applies to damage caused by a product placed on the market or put into service from 9 December 2026, and Act No. 294/1999 Z. z. keeps governing earlier products (Secs. 17, 19 and 20).
• If you develop, make or produce a product, software included, have it designed or made, or present yourself as its manufacturer by your name, trade mark or other distinguishing sign, you answer as its manufacturer; free and open-source software developed or supplied outside a business activity is outside the Act (Secs. 1(2)(a), 2(a) and (f), 6(1)).
• Keep supplying the software updates and upgrades needed to keep the product safe while it is under your control: a defect caused by software, an update or upgrade, a missing necessary update, a related service or a substantial modification under your control is not excused on the ground that it arose after you placed the product on the market (Secs. 2(g), 7(1)(c) and 7(4)).
• Treat safety-relevant cybersecurity requirements and any recall or other corrective measure as part of what decides whether your product is defective (Sec. 5(2)(f) and (g)).
• Allow for what the product learns or acquires after it is placed on the market, because the effect of that ability is weighed in deciding whether it is defective (Sec. 5(2)(c)).
• Keep evidence you could produce if a court orders you to disclose it on a claimant's plausible claim: failing to disclose presumes the product defective (Secs. 14(1) and 15(2)(a)).
• Meet the binding product-safety requirements that protect against the harm: failing them presumes the product defective (Sec. 15(2)(b)).
• If you are a manufacturer outside the EU or the EEA, your importer, your authorized representative and, failing both, the logistics service provider answer in addition to you (Sec. 6(3)).
• If you distribute a product or run an online platform that lets consumers contract with traders, identify the liable person established in a Member State, or your own supplier, within one month of the injured person's request, or you answer for the damage (Sec. 6(4) and (5)).
• If you substantially modify a product outside the manufacturer's control and then make it available on the market or put it into service, you answer as a liable person (Sec. 6(6)).
• If you made only a component, be ready to prove that the design of the product it was incorporated into, or the product manufacturer's instructions, caused the defect (Secs. 6(2) and 7(2)).
• Do not rely on a contract term or a unilateral declaration to exclude or limit your liability to the injured person, because it is void (Sec. 8).
• Keep the claim periods in view: three years from when the injured person learned or could have learned of the damage, the defect and your identity, and ten years from when you placed the product on the market or put it into service, or 25 years for a delayed injury to health (Secs. 12 and 13).