SloveniaZakon o odgovornosti za proizvode z napako (draft Act on Liability for Defective Products, EVA 2026-2030-0038), transposing Directive (EU) 2024/2853
Zakon o odgovornosti za proizvode z napako
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 Predlog zakona o odgovornosti za proizvode z napako (EVA 2026-2030-0038), Delovno gradivo 3. 7. 2026, with explanatory text. That print is EVA 2026-2030-0038, published .
Locally, this stage is medresorsko usklajevanje in na SVZ (interdepartmental coordination).
The stage above is recorded at e-uprava.gov.si.
The e-uprava entry records the interdepartmental step on ; the draft text attached to it is headed working material of .
What it requires
- If you develop or make software, have it developed or made, or present yourself as its manufacturer, you answer as the manufacturer; free and open-source software developed or supplied outside a commercial activity is not a product (draft Arts. 5(1) point 3 and 6(1)).
- Keep supplying the software updates and upgrades needed to keep the product safe while the product is under your control; where you kept control of the product, you cannot rely on the Article 10(1) point 2 excuse (that the defect probably did not exist when you placed the product on the market) for a defect that results from software, an update or upgrade, a missing safety update, a connected service or a substantial modification (draft Arts. 9(2) and 10(2)).
- Judge safety against all the circumstances, including cybersecurity requirements, what the product can go on to learn or acquire after it is placed on the market, a recall, and the effect of other products used with it (draft Art. 8(2)).
- Keep records you could produce: on a claimant's plausible claim the court orders you to disclose the relevant data and documents available to you, and failing to do so presumes the product defective (draft Arts. 18(1) and 19(1) point 1).
- Meet the mandatory safety requirements that protect against the harm suffered: a product that does not meet them is presumed defective (draft Art. 19(1) point 2).
- If you are a manufacturer outside the EU, your importer, your authorized representative or your fulfilment service provider answers for the product in your place; a distributor or online platform answers too if no such person can be identified and it does not name one within one month of the injured person's request (draft Arts. 11 and 12).
- If you substantially modify a product without the manufacturer's consent and then make it available on the market or put it into use, you answer as the manufacturer of the modified product (draft Art. 6(2) and (3)).
- Do not rely on a contract term to limit or exclude your liability to an injured person: a term departing from the Act's rules on liability to the injured person's detriment is null (draft Art. 16).
- Be ready to prove a draft Article 10(1) excuse: that you did not place the product on the market or put it into use, that the defect probably did not exist then, that it results from complying with legal requirements, that the objective state of scientific and technical knowledge did not allow it to be discovered, or, for a component maker or a person who substantially modified the product, the component and modification excuses (draft Art. 10(1)).
- Keep the claim periods in view: three years from the day the injured person learned or should have learned of the defect, the damage and who caused it; ten years from placing the defective product on the market or putting it into use; 25 years for latent personal injury (draft Art. 15).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
The draft Zakon o odgovornosti za proizvode z napako transposes Directive (EU) 2024/2853. The e-uprava page lists the Ministry of Justice as the proposer of the draft. The e-uprava page records the draft as sent to interdepartmental coordination on . The draft text published on e-uprava is headed working material of . The draft would apply from . The draft would end Articles 58 to 65 of the ZVPot-1 with effect from .
The draft would keep those articles in use for products placed on the market or put into service before that date. The draft makes the manufacturer liable to a natural person for death, personal injury or damage to health, including medically recognized harm to mental health. The draft also covers the destruction or corruption of data that is not used for professional purposes.
The draft counts software as a product, except free and open-source software developed or supplied outside a commercial activity. The draft makes the importer and the authorized representative answer like the manufacturer where the manufacturer is established outside the European Union, and the fulfilment service provider too where there is no importer or authorized representative established in the European Union.
The draft does not let a manufacturer that kept control of the product rely on the excuse in Article 10(1) point 2 where the defect results from software, including updates or upgrades, a missing safety update, a connected service or a substantial modification. The draft keeps the development-risk defense: the manufacturer is excused if it proves that the objective state of scientific and technical knowledge did not allow the defect to be discovered.
The draft has the court, on a claimant's request that shows a plausible claim, order the defendant to disclose the relevant data and documents available to it. The draft presumes the product defective where the defendant fails to disclose the relevant documents under Article 18(1). The draft sets a limitation period of three years from the day the injured person learned or should have learned of the defect, the damage and the person who caused it.
The draft extinguishes the claim ten years after the defective product was placed on the market or put into use, unless the injured person started proceedings within that period. The draft extends that period to 25 years where latent personal injury or damage to health kept the injured person from starting proceedings.
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.