SlovakiaZákon o zodpovednosti za škodu spôsobenú vadným výrobkom (Act on Liability for Damage Caused by a Defective Product), No. 294/1999 Z. z. (Directive 85/374/EEC)
Zákon č. 294/1999 Z. z. o zodpovednosti za škodu spôsobenú vadným výrobkom
In force since .
A product liability rule binding public and 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 this Act: it applies to a hnuteľná vec (movable thing), and its text names electricity and gas as products but does not name software (Sec. 2(1)).
- If you make, extract or otherwise obtain a product, or present yourself as its producer by your name, trade mark or another distinguishing mark, you answer as its producer (Sec. 4(1)).
- If you import a product from abroad for sale, hire or another form of use in the course of your business, you answer as its producer (Sec. 4(2)).
- If you supply a product whose producer cannot be identified, name the producer or your own supplier to the injured person within one month of the claim, or you are treated as the producer; the same applies to an imported product whose importer cannot be identified (Sec. 4(3)).
- Make the product guarantee the safety of its use that can reasonably be expected, having regard to its presentation and the information you gave or should have given, its expected use and purpose, and the time you placed it into circulation (Sec. 3(1)).
- Be ready to prove a Sec. 5(1) defense: that you did not place the product into circulation, that it was probably not defective then or the defect arose later, that you did not make it for business purposes, that the defect results from compliance with a binding legal provision, or that the state of scientific and technical knowledge did not allow the defect to be discovered.
- If you made only a component, be ready to prove that the overall design of the product, the overall producer's requirements or the instructions for use caused the defect (Sec. 5(2)).
- Do not rely on a contract term to exclude or limit your liability in advance, because Sec. 8 bars it.
- Keep the claim periods in view: three years from when the injured person learned or could have learned of the damage and of your identity, and ten years from when you placed the product into circulation (Sec. 9).
- This Act keeps governing a product placed on the market or put into service up to , because Act No. 242/2026 Z. z. repeals it from and applies only to later products (Secs. 17 and 19 of Act No. 242/2026 Z. z.).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
Who enforces it
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Does a hnuteľná vec (movable thing) in section 2(1) of Act No. 294/1999 Z. z., which section 2(1) extends to electricity and gas, include software supplied on its own as a product?
What this law does
Section 1(1) makes the producer liable for damage a defective product causes to the health or life of the injured person, or to a thing other than the defective product that is ordinarily intended for personal use or consumption and served the injured person mainly for that purpose. Section 1(1) leaves the injured person to prove the defect, the damage and the causal link between the defective product and the damage.
Section 1(2) covers damage to a thing other than the defective product only where the damage exceeds 20,000 Slovak korunas. Section 2(1) defines a product as any movable thing that was made, extracted or otherwise obtained and is intended to be placed into circulation. Section 2(1) also treats electricity and gas intended for consumption as a product.
Section 3(1) makes a product defective if it does not guarantee the safety of its use that can reasonably be expected, having regard in particular to its presentation and the information given about it, its expected use and purpose, and the time it was placed into circulation. Section 3(2) provides that a product is not defective only because a more perfect product was placed into circulation.
Section 4(1) makes the producer the person who made, extracted or otherwise obtained the product, or who presents itself as the producer by its name, trade mark or another distinguishing mark. Section 4(2) also treats as a producer whoever imports a product from abroad for sale, hire or another form of use in the course of its business.
Section 4(3) treats every supplier as the producer where the producer cannot be identified, unless the supplier names the producer or its own supplier to the injured person within one month of the claim. Section 4(3) applies the same rule to an imported product whose importer cannot be identified, even where the producer is known. Section 5(1)(a) releases the producer from liability on proof that it did not place the product into circulation.
Section 5(1)(b) releases the producer on proof that, according to the circumstances that preceded the damage, the product can be taken to have been free of the defect when it was placed into circulation or that the defect arose later. Section 5(1)(c) releases the producer on proof that it did not make the product for sale or other use for business purposes and did not distribute it in the course of its business.
Section 5(1)(d) releases the producer on proof that the defect results from compliance with a duty arising from a generally binding legal provision. Section 5(1)(e) releases the producer on proof that the state of scientific and technical knowledge when the product was placed into circulation did not allow the defect to be discovered.
Section 5(2) releases the producer of a component on proof that the overall design of the product, the requirements of the producer of the overall product or the instructions for use of the overall product caused the defect. Section 6(2) limits the producer's liability to 3,500 million Slovak korunas where the same defect in identical products injured the health or life of several persons.
Section 6(3) reduces the compensation where the producer proves that the fault of the injured person also contributed to the damage. Section 6(4) makes two or more liable producers liable jointly and severally. Section 7(1) keeps the producer liable for the whole damage where an act or omission of a third person also contributed to it. Section 8 bars excluding or limiting the producer's liability in advance by contract.
Section 9(1) time-bars the claim three years after the day the injured person learned or could have learned of the damage and of the identity of the producer. Section 9(2) time-bars the claim at the latest ten years after the day the producer placed the defective product into circulation. Section 10 disapplies the Act to damage caused by a nuclear event governed by a special provision. Section 12 provides that the Act takes effect on . The Act was promulgated on .
Section 19 of Act No. 242/2026 Z. z. repeals the Act. Section 17(2) of Act No. 242/2026 Z. z. keeps the Act in force for a product placed on the market or put into service up to .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app distributes a software product or ships a mobile app.