EstoniaDraft Act Amending the Võlaõigusseadus and Related Acts, Transposing Directive (EU) 2024/2853 on Liability for Defective Products
Võlaõigusseaduse ning võlaõigusseaduse tsiviilseadustiku üldosa seaduse ja rahvusvahelise eraõiguse seaduse rakendamise seaduse muutmise seadus (uue tootevastutuse direktiivi ülevõtmine)
A published draft that has not reached a legislature, dated , as of .
A product liability rule binding private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
As of .
Where it has got to
The text described here is Eelnõu 21.09.2026, draft of the Justiits- ja Digiministeerium as submitted for coordination and opinions, published .
Locally, this stage is eelnõu kooskõlastamiseks ja arvamuse avaldamiseks esitamine.
The stage above is recorded at www.advokatuur.ee.
The initiation line for the Government in the draft text carries no date.
What it requires
- Treat software as a product: software you develop or supply in your business answers like any other product, whether sold alone or built into another product (draft § 1063(1)).
- Keep supplying the software updates and upgrades a product needs to stay safe while it is within your control; a defect caused by software, an update, a missing safety update or a substantial modification within your control is not excused by saying it arose after you put the product on the market (draft §§ 1061(3[1]), 1061(3[2]), 1064(2[2])).
- Keep the technical documentation you could produce if a court orders disclosure on the injured person's application; failing to produce it presumes the product defective (draft §§ 1065[1](1), 1065(2)).
- If you are outside the EU, your importer or authorized representative answers for the product in your place, then your fulfilment service provider, then a distributor or online platform that does not name the responsible business within one month (draft § 1062[1](6), (7), (9), (10)).
- Be ready to prove one of the defences in § 1064(1), including that the defect could not be discovered given the state of science and technology when the product was put on the market, put into service or under your control (draft § 1064(1) point 5).
- Do not rely on a contract term to limit or exclude your liability to the injured person; it is void (draft § 1067).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
The Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs submitted a draft act for coordination and opinions. The draft amends the Võlaõigusseadus (Law of Obligations Act) to transpose Directive (EU) 2024/2853. The draft text bears the date . The draft makes its changes inside the Võlaõigusseadus itself. Section 1063(1) as the draft would restate it treats electricity, software, raw material and a digital manufacturing file as products, alongside any movable thing.
The draft's new section 1061(6) excludes free and open-source software that is developed or supplied outside business or professional activity. Under the draft's new section 1061(3[1]) a product stays under the manufacturer's control while the manufacturer, or a third party with its permission, integrates, connects or supplies parts of it, including software updates or upgrades, or modifies it.
Under the draft's new section 1061(3[2]) a product also stays under the manufacturer's control where the manufacturer is able to supply software updates or upgrades itself or through a third party.
The draft's new section 1064(2[2]) provides that the defence in section 1064(1) point 2, that the defect arose after the product was put on the market, is not available where the cause is a related service, software including an update or upgrade, a missing software update or upgrade needed for safety, or a substantial modification, in each case within the manufacturer's control.
The draft's new section 1061(2[1]) makes the business liable for the destruction or corruption of data that a natural person uses outside business or professional activity. Under the draft's section 1061(2) the business is liable for damage to a natural person's property unless the injured person used the property solely in business or professional activity. The explanatory memorandum states that the EUR 500 lower limit for compensable damage is abolished.
The draft's new section 1062[1](1) makes the businesses it lists jointly and severally liable for damage caused by a defective product. Where the manufacturer of the product or of a component is not established in the European Union, section 1062[1](6) also makes the importer or the manufacturer's authorized representative liable. Where the importer or authorized representative is not established in the European Union, section 1062[1](7) also makes the fulfilment service provider liable.
Section 1062[1](9) makes the distributor liable where no business established in the European Union can be identified and the distributor does not give the requested information within one month.
Section 1062[1](10) applies the distributor rule also to the provider of a digital platform that is not itself a liable business but lets a consumer conclude a distance contract for the product with a trader, where an average consumer could understand that the platform itself, or a person under its authority or control, offers the product. Section 1065[1](1) requires the business to produce the relevant evidence in its possession when the court so orders on the injured person's application.
Section 1065(2) presumes the product defective where the business does not produce the evidence the court has ordered. Section 1065(4) presumes the defect, the causal link or both where the injured person has excessive difficulty proving them, in particular because of technical or scientific complexity, and shows that they are likely.
The draft keeps the defence that the defect could not be discovered given the state of science and technology when the product was put on the market, put into service or under the manufacturer's control. Draft section 1066(2) ends claims ten years after the day following the day on which the product that caused the damage was put on the market or into service, unless an action has been brought by then.
Draft section 1066(2[1]) ends claims for bodily injury or damage to health 25 years after the day following the day on which the product was put on the market or into service, unless an action has been brought by then. That longer period applies where the injured person could not sue within the ten years because the injury was not known to them and need not have been. Draft section 1067 makes void an agreement that limits or excludes the business's liability to the injured person.
The draft's amendment of section 22(2) of the implementation act would apply the new rules only to products put on the market or into service on or after . Section 3 of the draft provides that the Act enters into force on .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app crawls the web, trains models, generates content with AI, deploys a chatbot, sends automated outreach, makes high-risk automated decisions, processes voice recordings, processes biometric data, publishes adult content, operates a social platform, serves under-18s, operates an app store, ships a mobile app, reuses other publishers' content, distributes a software product, records calls, records text chat or tracks devices.