CroatiaZakon o obveznim odnosima, Articles 1073 to 1080, Liability for a Defective Product (Directive 85/374/EEC)
Zakon o obveznim odnosima, članci 1073 do 1080
In force since .
A product liability rule binding private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
As of .
What it requires
- Treat standalone software as an open question under these articles: a product is a movable thing, a separate part built into a thing, or electricity and other forms of energy, and the text does not say whether software supplied on its own is one (Art. 1074).
- If you make a finished product, produce a raw material or a part built into a product, or put your name, trade mark or another distinguishing sign on a product, you answer as its producer (Art. 1076(1)).
- If you import a product for sale, lease or another form of putting it into circulation, you answer as its producer, jointly with the persons who made it (Art. 1076(2)).
- If the producer cannot be identified, inform the injured person within a reasonable time of the person you obtained the product from, or you are treated as the producer (Art. 1076(3)).
- A product is defective if it does not offer the safety that may legitimately be expected, judged on its presentation, the uses it can reasonably be put to and the time it was put into circulation (Art. 1075(1)).
- You carry the burden of proving a release from liability: that you did not put the product into circulation, that the defect did not exist when you did, that the product was not made for sale or a business purpose, that the defect results from compliance with mandatory rules, that the state of science and technical knowledge did not allow it to be discovered, or that the injured person or an unforeseeable third party alone caused the damage (Art. 1078(1)).
- Do not rely on a contract term to limit or exclude your liability to the injured person in advance; such a term is void (Art. 1079).
- Liability covers death, bodily injury and damage to a thing other than the defective product that is ordinarily intended for personal use, and the injured person bears the first EUR 500 of damage to a thing (Art. 1073(2) and (3)).
- A claim is time-barred three years after the injured person learned, or should have learned, of the damage, the defect and the producer, and the right to compensation is extinguished ten years after you put the product into circulation (Art. 1080).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
Who enforces it
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Is software supplied on its own a 'pokretna stvar' (movable thing) and so a 'proizvod' (product) within Article 1074(1) of the Zakon o obveznim odnosima?
What this law does
Article 1073(1) of the Zakon o obveznim odnosima makes a producer who puts a product into circulation liable for damage caused by its defect regardless of fault. Article 1073(2) covers property damage caused by death or bodily injury and damage to a thing of the injured person other than the defective product. The thing must be of a kind ordinarily intended for personal use, and the injured person must have mainly used it for that purpose.
Article 1073(3) gives compensation for damage to a thing only for the part of the damage that exceeds EUR 500. Article 4 of the 2022 amending Act deleted the kuna equivalent from that paragraph, so the figure is EUR 500. Article 1073(4) allows compensation for non-pecuniary damage caused by a defective product only under the general rules on liability for damage. Article 1073(7) leaves in place the rules on liability for damage caused by a dangerous thing or a dangerous activity.
Article 1073(8) puts on the injured person the burden of proving the defect, the damage and the causal link between them. Article 1074(1) defines a product as any movable thing and a separate part built into a movable or immovable thing. Article 1074(2) adds electricity and other forms of energy.
Article 1075(1) makes a product defective if it does not offer the safety that may legitimately be expected of it, judged on its presentation, the uses it can reasonably be put to and the time it was put into circulation. Article 1076(1) treats as producer the person who made the finished product, a raw material or a part built into it, and a person who presents themselves as producer by putting a name, trade mark or other distinguishing sign on the product.
Article 1076(2) treats a person who imports a product for sale, lease or another form of putting it into circulation as its producer, jointly liable with the persons in paragraph 1. Article 1076(3) treats every person who puts a product into circulation as its producer where the producer cannot be identified, unless that person informs the injured person within a reasonable time of the person it obtained the product from.
Article 1078(1) releases the producer from liability if it proves that the state of science and technical knowledge when it put the product into circulation did not allow the defect to be discovered. Article 1079(1) bars excluding or limiting the producer's liability to the injured person in advance by contract. Article 1079(2) makes a contract term contrary to paragraph 1 void.
Article 1080(1) time-bars a claim three years after the injured person learned, or should have learned, of the damage, the defect and the producer. Article 1080(2) extinguishes the right to compensation ten years after the product was put into circulation, unless proceedings were started against the producer within that time. Article 1.a of the Act, added by the amending Act published in Narodne novine 78/2015, listed Council Directive 85/374/EEC among the directives that the Act transposes.
The Act entered into force on . Articles 11 to 20 of the amending Act published in Narodne novine 69/2026 do not apply to products placed on the market or put into service before .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app distributes a software product or ships a mobile app.