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ĐORĐEVIĆ v. CROATIA JUDGMENT
Rights of personality
Section 19
“(1) All natural persons or legal entities are entitled to the protection of their rights
of personality [prava osobnosti] under the conditions provided by law.
(2) Rights of personality within the meaning of this Act are the right to life, to
physical and mental health, reputation, honour, dignity, name, privacy of personal and
family life, liberty, etc.
(3) A legal entity shall have all the above-mentioned rights of personality – apart
from those related to the biological character of a natural person – and, in particular,
the right to a reputation and good name, honour, name or company name, business
secrecy, entrepreneurial freedom, etc.”
Section 1046
“Damage is ... an infringement of rights of personality (non-pecuniary damage).”
Request to desist from violating rights of personality
Section 1048
“Anyone may request a court or other competent authority to order the cessation of
an activity which violates his or her rights of personality and the elimination of its
consequences.”
The relevant case-law
72. As to which rights of natural persons, apart from those enumerated
in section 19 of the Civil Obligations Act, are to be considered rights of
personality, it should be noted that only the following have so far been
interpreted as rights of personality by the Croatian courts: the right to life,
the right to physical and mental integrity (health), the right to liberty, the
right to reputation and honour, the right to privacy of personal and family
life, the right to secrecy of letters and personal manuscripts, the right to
personal identity (in particular, the rights to one’s image, voice and name)
and the moral rights of authors.
73. The relevant part of the Constitutional Court’s decision
no. U-III-1437/2007 of 23 April 2008, concerning the right to compensation
in respect of rights of personality, reads as follows:
“...
Section 1046 of the Civil Obligations Act defines non-pecuniary damage as an
infringement of rights of personality. In other words, any infringement of rights of
personality amounts to non-pecuniary damage.
Section 19(2) of the Civil Obligations Act defines rights of personality for the
purposes of that Act as: the right to life, physical and mental health, reputation,