Protection of personality – How to defend an interference with honour?

Quick overview

• Defamation is an unjustified act that damages a person’s reputation – typically defamation, spreading false information or making offensive statements.
• Under the Civil Code, you can seek an injunction to stop the interference, to remove its effects, and to obtain adequate compensation, usually an apology or financial compensation.
• If the defamation meets the elements of a criminal offence, a criminal complaint can also be filed.

Need to remove defamation or defamation quickly? Our team can help you prepare a pre-action notice, a request for removal of content or a defamation claim.

The Civil Code provides that absolutely everyone has the right to the protection of his or her life and health, as well as freedom, honour, dignity and privacy.

In the first part of the series on the protection of personality rights, we will look at the protection of a person’s honour. No one has to put up with insults and inappropriate comments. It is even less necessary to suffer the patently false statements mentioned in the introduction, especially if it harms your work or family.

What is an attack on honour?

How to define honor is a philosophical question that has no clear definition. However, we are concerned with the practical side of the matter. Today, it is assumed that a person may behave dishonestly, but he can never become a completely honorless person who is allowed to be insulted for no reason. You may lose your reputation, but you will never lose your honour completely.

Honour is violated by publishing false information or true but grossly distorted facts, for example. Furthermore, various photo montages, vulgar criticism or, for example, interference with the presumption of innocence.

The difference between defamation, criticism and opinion

Not every unpleasant or negative statement about another person constitutes an attack on honour. The Czech legal system protects not only a person’s personality but also freedom of expression. In practice, therefore, the question often arises as to where legitimate criticism ends and defamation begins.

In particular, the communication of a false statement of fact which may seriously damage a person’s reputation is considered defamation. A typical example is a claim that someone has committed a crime or committed an unethical act when this is not true.

Conversely, a criticism or value judgment may be permissible even if it is very harsh. For example, if someone writes that a business provides “very poor service” or that a politician “runs a city poorly,” this is usually a value judgment. It cannot simply be described as slander if it is based on certain facts.

In assessing such disputes, courts look in particular at:

• whether the statement is a statement of fact or an evaluative opinion,
• whether the allegation was true or at least based on a factual basis,
• whether the communication was reasonable in the circumstances.

In legal practice, we often encounter, for example, disputes arising from internet reviews. A negative review of a company is not usually unlawful in itself. However, if someone makes a specific false claim (for example, that a business steals or cheats customers), there may be an injury to reputation.

How to defend yourself and what to demand?

A person whose honour has been violated has the right to claim that:

• The interference in question – in our case, the posting of the photo montage on social media– should be refrained from. It is therefore possible to demand that the author of the photo should not publish it anywhere else.
• To remove the consequences of the act – in this case, to remove the previously published copies from all the pages where they were uploaded.
• In addition, he was given appropriate compensation – this usually consists of a public apology in the event of non-pecuniary damage. The text of the apology must be required in the action so that the opposing party cannot further damage the interest originally affected by the apology.

Although the right to the protection of personality is a personal right, it can be asserted by any of the persons close to the person concerned after his or her death. However, persons of public interest participating in public debates have to endure a greater degree of criticism. This applies not only to politicians but also, for example, to various ‘celebrities’.

How to deal with online defamation

A large part of defamation disputes today arise on the internet – in particular on social networks, discussion forums or in reviews. Here, defamation can spread very quickly and affect a large number of people.

If you are a victim of online defamation, it is advisable to take a systematic approach.

1. Secure evidence

First of all, save the evidence of the publication of the rumour. Ideally:

• a screenshot of the page,
• archiving the URL,
• or a notarized record of the page’s content.

Without evidence, it may be difficult to prove later what was actually posted.

2. Ask for the content to be removed

Often just contact:

• the author of the post,
• the website operator,
• or the administrator of the social network.

Many platforms have their own mechanisms for reporting defamatory or false content.

3. Pre-suit challenge

If the author does not respond, you can contact us and send a pre-suit challenge through an attorney. This usually includes a request for:

• removal of the content,
• an apology,
• or financial compensation.

We know from our own experience that in many cases the dispute is resolved at the pre-suit notice stage. The author of the defamation is often unaware of the legal consequences of his/her actions and removes the content after being warned.

However, we often encounter cases where people react emotionally to defamation and make the situation worse by arguing publicly on social media. It is usually more effective to first secure evidence and send a legal notice to remove the content.

If you need to quickly remove defamation from the internet or prepare a pre-action legal challenge, we can help.

When is monetary compensation payable?

Compensation is primarily in the form of a public apology (called moral satisfaction). Only if a mere apology would not be sufficient in view of the seriousness of the interference can financial compensation be awarded.

The amount depends on many factors. The higher the amount claimed, the more it is necessary to prove the severe consequences for the victim’s person, health, family or, for example, his or her work and business.

A banker, for example, cannot afford to be associated with embezzlement. An educator, on the other hand, is associated with casual sexual behaviour.

The courts take a very different approach here, always assessing the specific effects on the life of the victim and his family in the individual case. It is therefore a good idea to prove them as far as possible.

How the courts determine the amount of financial compensation

If an apology or removal of the defamation is not sufficient, the court may also award financial compensation for non-pecuniary damage. However, the amount of this compensation is not fixed by law and always depends on the specific circumstances of the case.

In making their decision, courts usually consider in particular:

• the gravity of the interference,
• the extent of the publication of the defamation,
• the impact on the victim’s personal or professional life,
• whether the conduct was intentional or repeated.

Whether the defamation was published in the media or on the internet, where it can reach a large number of people, also plays a significant role.

For example, in cases where a false claim affects the professional reputation of a businessman or professional, the courts may award significantly higher sums than in ordinary personal disputes. This is because a similar allegation may have a direct impact on his or her business or career.

When can defamation be a criminal offence

In addition to a private lawsuit, it is often advisable to contact the police or, better yet, the prosecutor’s office with a criminal complaint.

The law states that “whoever makes a false statement about another which is likely to endanger his reputation among his fellow citizens to a significant degree, in particular to damage his employment, disrupt his family relations or cause him other serious harm, shall be liable to imprisonment for up to one year for defamation.”

If he does so by press, film, radio, television, publicly accessible computer network (on the Internet) or other similarly effective means, he may be punished by up to two years.

In addition, anyone who falsely accuses another of a crime may also be tried for perjury and, in an extreme case, sentenced to up to 8 years’ imprisonment.

The concept of injury is also encountered in connection with compensation for damages in criminal law, when it justifies the application of a higher criminal rate. In the context of environmental law, we are familiar with the concept of ecological damage. What is behind these terms and how is the individual amount of damage determined? This is the focus of our article.

Summary

Personality protection protects a person’s honour, dignity and reputation from unjustified interference, such as false statements, photomontages, insults or misrepresentations. If such interference occurs, the victim may seek an end to the conduct, the removal of its consequences and appropriate compensation, usually in the form of an apology or, in more serious cases, financial compensation. However, not every negative statement is defamation, as the law also protects freedom of expression and allows for legitimate criticism. When defamation occurs on the internet, it is important to provide evidence and demand the removal of the content, or take legal action. Defamation can also have criminal consequences, as it is a criminal offence to spread false information that can seriously damage a person’s reputation.