CroatiaZakon o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o obveznim odnosima (Narodne novine 69/2026), Articles 11 to 20, Product Liability Rules as Replaced from 9 December 2026 (Directive (EU) 2024/2853)
Zakon o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o obveznim odnosima
A product liability rule binding private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
As of .
What it requires
- These rules are enacted but do not apply yet: they do not apply to products placed on the market or put into service before , and Articles 1073 to 1080 now in force keep governing those products (Arts. 21(2) and 22 of the amending Act).
- If you develop or make a product, software included, or present yourself as its manufacturer by your name, trade mark or other distinguishing feature, you answer for damage a defect in it causes (Arts. 1072.a points 1 and 11, 1073(1) and 1076(1)).
- Keep supplying the software updates and upgrades needed to keep the product safe while it is within your control: a defect caused by software, by an update or upgrade, or by a missing update needed to maintain safety is not excused because it arose after you placed the product on the market (Arts. 1072.a point 5 and 1078(2)).
- Treat safety-relevant cybersecurity requirements and any recall as part of what decides whether your product is defective (Art. 1075(2) points 6 and 7).
- 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 (Art. 1075(2) point 3).
- Keep evidence you could produce if a court orders you to disclose it: failing to disclose presumes the product defective (Arts. 1074(2) point 1 and 1074.a(1)).
- If you are outside the EU, the importer, your authorized representative or, failing both, the fulfilment service provider answers for the product in your place (Art. 1076(1) point 3).
- If you distribute a product, or run an online platform that lets consumers contract with traders, name the liable operator established in the EU or your own supplier within one month of the injured person's request, or you answer for the damage (Art. 1076(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 its manufacturer (Art. 1076(3)).
- If you build a software component into a product, you have no recourse against the maker of a defective software component that was a micro or small enterprise, or where you waived recourse by contract (Art. 1077.a).
- Do not rely on a contract term to limit or exclude liability to the injured person in advance; such a term is void (Art. 1079).
- Free and open-source software developed or supplied outside a business activity is outside these rules (Art. 1073(5)).
- A claim is time-barred three years after the injured person learned, or should have learned, of the damage, the defect and the identity of the economic operator, and the right to compensation is extinguished ten years after the product was placed on the market or put into service, or 25 years for a latent bodily injury (Art. 1080).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
The Hrvatski sabor adopted the Act amending the Zakon o obveznim odnosima on . Narodne novine 69/2026 published the Act on . Article 1 of the Act names Directive (EU) 2024/2853 among the directives that the Zakon o obveznim odnosima transposes. Articles 11 to 20 of the Act enter into force on . Those articles do not apply to products placed on the market or put into service before .
Article 1072.a, inserted by Article 11, defines a product to include software, electricity and other forms of energy, digital manufacturing files and raw materials. Article 1072.a defines a manufacturer as a person who develops or makes a product, a person for whom a product is designed or made or who presents itself as its manufacturer by putting its name, trade mark or other distinguishing feature on it, and a person who develops or makes a product for its own use.
Article 1072.a defines the manufacturer's control to include integrating, connecting or supplying a component, including a software update or upgrade, and being able to supply software updates or upgrades itself or through a third party. Article 1073(1) as replaced makes an economic operator liable for damage caused by the defect of a product regardless of fault. Article 1073(2) as replaced also covers damage caused by the destruction or corruption of data not used for business purposes.
Article 1073(2) as replaced also covers property damage caused by a medically recognized injury to psychological health. Article 1073(3) as replaced gives the injured person a right to compensation for non-pecuniary damage resulting from that damage. Article 1073(5) as inserted excludes free and open-source software that is developed or supplied outside a business activity. Article 1074(1) leaves the burden of proving the defect, the damage and the causal link with the injured person.
Article 1074(2) presumes a product defective where the economic operator has not disclosed the relevant evidence required under Article 1074.a(1). Article 1074(2) also presumes a product defective where the injured person proves that it does not meet mandatory product safety requirements under EU or national law that protect against the risk of the damage suffered. Article 1074(3) presumes a causal link where the product is defective and the damage is a typical consequence of that defect.
Article 1074(4) presumes the defect, the causal link or both where the injured person faces excessive difficulties, in particular because of technical or scientific complexity, and proves it likely that the defect or the link exists. Article 1074.a(1) has the court order the defendant to disclose relevant evidence in its control on the application of a claimant who has made the claim for compensation plausible.
Article 1075(1) makes a product defective if it does not provide the safety that may legitimately be expected of it or that EU or national law requires. Article 1075(2) lists among the circumstances for judging a defect the relevant product safety requirements, including cybersecurity requirements relevant to safety. Article 1075(2) also lists the effect of any ability of the product to keep learning or to acquire new features after it is placed on the market.
Article 1076(1) makes liable the manufacturer of the defective product, the manufacturer of a defective component, and, where the manufacturer is established outside the EU, the importer, the authorized representative and, failing both, the fulfilment service provider. Article 1076(3) makes liable any person who substantially modifies a product outside the manufacturer's control and then makes it available on the market or puts it into service.
Article 1076(4) makes a distributor liable where no operator in paragraph 1 can be identified and the distributor does not name one, or its own supplier, within one month of the injured person's request. Article 1076(5) applies that rule to an online platform provider that enables consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders where the conditions of Article 6(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 are met.
Article 1077.a denies a manufacturer that built software into a product as a component a right of recourse against the maker of the defective software component where that maker was a micro or small enterprise or the manufacturer waived the right by contract. Article 1078(1) releases an economic operator that proves the defect probably did not exist when the product was placed on the market or arose afterwards.
Article 1078(1) also releases an economic operator that proves the objective state of scientific and technical knowledge did not allow the defect to be discovered. Article 1078(2) denies that release where the defect of a product under the manufacturer's control is caused by a related service, by software including updates or upgrades, by the lack of software updates or upgrades needed to maintain safety, or by a substantial modification.
Article 19 of the Act replaces the word producer with the words economic operator in Article 1079(1). Article 1080(2) as replaced extinguishes the right to compensation ten years after the defective product was placed on the market or put into service, unless proceedings were started against the economic operator within that time. Article 1080(3) extends the period to 25 years where a latent bodily injury prevented the injured person from starting proceedings within ten years.
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.