Criminal law

Defamation

Defamation is criminal when it is untrue and can seriously damage someone's reputation, job or family. On the internet the sentencing range doubles. But most disputes about defamation do not belong in criminal law, and the courts say so out loud.

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Defamation is the most common criminal complaint that leads nowhere. People confuse insult, criticism and defamation, and the police shelve most of it. But there is another side: a social media post that cost someone their job can be a crime, and on the internet the sentencing range is doubled.

When defamation is criminal

Subsidiarity

Criminal law is the last resort. In defamation cases both the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court say expressly that most disputes over reputation should be resolved by a civil action for the protection of personality rights, not by the police. For the accused, that is argument number one. For the injured party, it means that a criminal complaint without a clear untrue statement and without demonstrable harm will end up in a drawer, and that the better route is usually a civil court with a claim for an apology and damages.

What this rests on

No advice on this page is an opinion. Each one has a section of the law and a court decision behind it. Click through, the full text is on Europaius.

Statute

  • § 184 tr. zákoníkudefamation: communicating an untrue statement capable of seriously endangering someone's standing; in print or on the internet, up to two years
  • § 12 tr. zákoníkusubsidiarity of criminal repression

Case law

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