SlovakiaZákon o zodpovednosti za škodu spôsobenú vadným výrobkom (Act on Liability for Damage Caused by a Defective Product), No. 242/2026 Z. z., Transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/2853
Zákon č. 242/2026 Z. z. o zodpovednosti za škodu spôsobenú vadným výrobkom
A product liability rule binding private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
As of .
What it requires
- 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 , 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).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
Section 20 provides that the Act takes effect on . The annex to the Act lists Directive (EU) 2024/2853 as the act it transposes. Section 17(1) applies the Act to damage caused by a defective product placed on the market or put into service from . Section 17(2) leaves the rules in force up to governing the liability for a product placed on the market or put into service up to that day.
Section 19 repeals Act No. 294/1999 Z. z. Section 2(a) counts electricity, a digital manufacturing file, a raw material and software as a product. Section 1(2)(a) excludes free and open-source software that was developed or supplied outside a business activity. Section 3(1) gives a natural person to whom a defective product caused damage the right to compensation. Section 4(1)(a) covers death or damage to health, including medically recognized damage to psychological health.
Section 4(1)(b) covers damage to or destruction of property, except the defective product itself, a product damaged by a defective component that the manufacturer integrated or connected or that is under its control, and property used exclusively for business or professional purposes. Section 4(1)(c) covers destruction or corruption of data, except data used for business or professional purposes.
Section 5(1) makes a product defective if it does not provide the safe use that can reasonably be expected or that special provisions lay down. Section 5(2)(c) weighs in judging a defect the effect of the product's ability to keep learning or to acquire new features after it is placed on the market or put into service. Section 5(2)(f) weighs in judging a defect the relevant product-safety requirements, including cybersecurity requirements that relate to the safety of the product.
Section 6(1) makes the manufacturer of a product liable for damage caused by a defective product. Section 6(2) makes the manufacturer of a defective component that is integrated into or connected with the product under the manufacturer's control liable together with the manufacturer of the product.
Section 6(3) makes the importer, the authorized representative and, where neither is established in a Member State, the provider of logistics services liable in addition where the manufacturer is not established in a Member State. Section 6(4) makes the distributor liable where no liable person established in a Member State can be identified and the distributor does not name one within one month of the injured person's request.
Section 6(5) extends section 6(4) to the provider of an online platform that allows a consumer to conclude a distance contract with a trader, where the provider is not an economic operator and the conditions of a special provision are met. Section 6(6) makes a person who makes a product available on the market or puts it into service after a substantial modification outside the manufacturer's control liable.
Section 7(1)(e) releases a liable person on proof that the objective state of scientific and technical knowledge did not allow the defect to be discovered. Section 7(4) denies the release for a defect that arose after the product was placed on the market where a related service, software including its updates or upgrades, a missing software update or upgrade needed to maintain safety, or a substantial modification under the manufacturer's control caused the defect.
Section 8 bars excluding or limiting the liability towards the injured person and makes a unilateral declaration or an agreement that does so void. Section 9 makes two or more liable persons liable jointly and severally. Section 12 time-bars the claim three years after the injured person learned or could have learned of the damage, the defect and the identity of the liable person.
Section 13(1) extinguishes the right to compensation if the injured person does not claim it within ten years of the day the defective product was placed on the market or put into service. Section 13(2) extends that period to 25 years where a delayed manifestation of injury to health prevented the injured person from claiming within ten years.
Section 14(1) has the court order the defendant, on the claimant's application, to disclose relevant evidence in its control once the claimant presents facts and evidence sufficient to support the plausibility of the claim. Section 15(2)(a) presumes the product defective where the defendant does not disclose the relevant evidence it holds.
Section 15(2)(b) presumes the product defective where the claimant shows that it does not meet product-safety requirements under special provisions that are meant to protect against the damage suffered. Section 15(4) has the court presume the defect, the causal link or both where the claimant has excessive difficulty in proving them because of technical or scientific complexity and shows that they are probable.
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.