Protection of personal rights
The firm´s main specialization is the protection of personality rights. Eva Ondřejová is one of the leading experts in this field. She possesses long-term experience in representing individuals and companies in cases of violation of their personality rights. She deals with the protection of personality not only on a practical level, but also theoretical. She has published on the topic of personality protection in both Czech and foreign law journals and cooperates with European institutions and organizations dealing with/engaged in personality protection. She was awarded as the 2013 Talent of the Year in the prestigious Lawyer of the Year competition. Eva Ondřejová is responsible for extending the use of personality protection lawsuits in cases where it was impossible to enforce one´s rights by other legal means.
Thanks to international experience and her foreign partners and consultants from more than 15 countries she receives up-to-date information on judicature, by comparing jurisdictions offers new solutions in our legal code and thanks to contact with prominent experts in the field she always finds a solution for clients in any disputes, no matter how complicated.
Given the legislation´s evolution and the strengthening of individuals´ personality rights, it is now possible to effectively enforce one´s rights. This however places high demands on the justification of a legal complaint, be it the burden of allegation and of proof, as well as the justification of the abovementioned demanded reimbursement. We provide our clients with qualified assistance in conciliatory solution of a dispute, as well as the proceedings.
Among the most frequent cases of violation personality rights in which we represent our clients are:
Violation of privacy
Violations of one´s personal privacy can have various forms. Due to the expansion of technology and new means of communication however the consequences are all the more perceptible. This applies mainly to the disclosure of intimate details of one´s private and family life, unauthorized intrusion into one´s private premises, surveillance of private life, making audio or video recordings of one´s private life and their exploitation and distribution. Along with one´s privacy, his dignity and honor are also violated and his appearance or personal documents abused. One has the right to decide if and how should the realities of his personal life be made available to others and defend himself against (resist) unauthorized interference in this sphere. See the firm´s Flyer for more details.
Violation of honor and dignity
Honor and dignity are significant values enjoying special protection. In cases of violation one´s honor decreases in the eyes of the public, his respect in society is jeopardized, which is reflected in his personal and professional life. Violation takes place mainly in the form of slander, releasing false information or true but highly distorted facts to the public exchange of photographs, in case of violating the presumption of innocence, unacceptable or unauthorized criticism.
Misuse of likeness
In case of taking and using photographs of someone without his approval, even for non-commercial use, is considered a violation of one´s right for a likeness. Use for commercial (advertising) purposes means groundless enrichment on part of the violator. Audio recordings and other expressions of personal nature are protected in a similar manner. See the firm´s Flyer for more details.
Misuse of name (Image rights)
Family name and newly also pseudonym are protected as well. It is a significant attribute of one´s personality. Unauthorized usage may also cause interference in one´s reputation and his privacy. Most often this concerns name abuse (of a celebrity, athlete) for promotional or commercial purposes, capitalizing on a name, interference with pseudonym, mistaking of names in news or when used for literary characters.
Life and health
In case of harm caused during birth, serious spinal cord, nervous system or brain damage, car accident, motorcycle, bicycle, in-line skates, public transport vehicle accident, during a sports activity by a third party due to gross negligence, due to failure to follow protection and safety regulations at work, at construction sites, due to medical malpractice or negligence by any other person performing specialized work, to persons placed in the custody of a third party, during care in a nursing home, on the shop´s premises, by insufficient maintenance, cleaning, insufficient security, by sexual assault, either physical or sexual abuse, stalking, forced participation in pornography, by toxic substances, accident at work and occupational disease, by harm from a disrupted vacation and in case of loss of life, the damaged person and his close relatives can claim compensation for the caused emotional suffering, the disruption of family ties, privacy, job. See the firm´s Flyer for more details.
Personality rights, especially dignity, can be violated if the person located at a medical facility is exposed to humiliating conduct on part of the workers and staff. Should he not give consent to examination or intervention, then it is considered a violation of privacy and family life. A frequent case is also the misuse of data and biological material. Disputes regarding the protection of personality also appear in cases concerning adoptive and biological parents.
Misuse of personal data
In case of misuse of personal data the personal data protection law is being violated, but intervention can lead to the violation of personality rights, be it privacy, honor or dignity and name or other expressions of personal nature.
If the personality rights of a deceased person have been affected, then the new Civil Code authorizes the relatives to demand financial satisfaction.
If the clients are interested only in the counterparty´s acknowledgment of affecting honor and do not demand financial reimbursement, it is possible to demand moral satisfaction and within it only a symbolic satisfaction, e.g. of 1 CZK.
How to prevent the violation of personality rights (the infringment of image rights, defamation)?
In case of violating one´s personality rights and causing non-material (moral) harm it is possible to demand that the perpetrator:
refrains from other unwarranted interference
removes the effects of an unwarranted interference (recording withdrawal, public apology)
provides the damaged party with adequate financial satisfaction, unless a moral satisfaction such as an apology, symbolic compensation etc. is sufficient.
Pre-emptive measures can lead to an immediate refrain from privacy violation or other types of interfering with one´s personality rights.
One can make use of an out-of-court private arrangement, mediation and, should out-of-court negotiations fail, action on personality protection with the right for compensation for non-material harm.
Eva Ondřejová offers the possibility to utilize the institute of personality protection should a parent who has a child in his custody unreasonably prevent the other parent from contacting the child, interfering thus with the personality rights of that parent, specifically the right to a family life. Action on personality protection is an effective legal means of protection especially in cases where the parent prevented contact on a long-term basis or repeatedly, intentionally, when he flagrantly violated the other parent´s right to contact the child or when he did not react to a ruling. Not enabling contact with the child is considered as violation of personality protection, the right to privacy, a family life and dignity.
The New Civil Code strengthens the protection of weaker parties, children and persons close. See the firm´s Flyer for more details.
