Criminal acts against honor and reputation

Kaznena djela protiv časti i ugleda specifična su kaznena djela. Uspostavljena su Kaznenim zakonom 1997. koji je preuzeo njihovo uređenje iz Krivičnog zakona Kraljevine Jugoslavije 1929. godine. Najprije su se svodila na četiri osnovna oblika: uvredu, klevetu, iznošenje osobnih ili obiteljskih prilika i predbacivanje kaznenog djela. Najvažnija novina bila je reguliranje načina zaštite u slučaju počinjenja kaznenog djela klevete. Od samog početka postojali su problemi koji su znatno otežavali njezinu primjenu što je na koncu dovelo do noveliranja. U svjetlu izmjena i dopuna došlo je do brisanja, odnosno ukidanja pojedinih kaznenih djela. Revizija je u prvom redu bila usmjerena na povredu časti i ugleda počinjenu putem iznošenja tvrdnji koje mogu škoditi osobnom ili obiteljskom životu osobe, te na predbacivanje krivnje za kazneno djelo za koje postoji pravomoćna osuda. U skladu s tim, uvedeno je teško sramoćenje kod kojeg se kao osnovna pretpostavka tražila difamantna činjenična tvrdnja. Pravo na slobodno izražavanje je ljudsko pravo koje je važno za pojedince, građane i demokraciju te je u skladu s tim zaštićeno mnogim međunarodnim dokumentima, od kojih se u prvom redu spominje Europska Konvencija kojom se štite ljudska prava i slobode. Naime, u čl. 10 ona osigurava primarnu zaštitu građanima i ujedno zagovara demokraciju u modernom društvu. Dva temeljna problema koja se nameću odnose se na granice do koje se proteže takva sloboda, kao i njezin utjecaj na spomenuta kaznena djela iz sfere zaštite časti i ugleda.Criminal acts against honor and reputation are considered as special criminal acts. They were established by Criminal Code in 1997, which took their setup from the Criminal Code of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1929. At first there were four basic types: libel, insult, disclosure of personal or family circumstances and reproaching for committing a criminal act. The key novelty was regulation of the ways of protection in case of insult and defamation lawsuit. After its entry into force, there was some difficulty in its application, which prompted certain amendments. In the light of the changes, some of this offences were deleted or abolished. In the first place, the amends dealt with the offences against honor and reputation which were committed by intentionally making false claims that may harm person’s character, personal or family life, as well as reproach for committing a non-appealable criminal act. In accordance with that, they introduced the sanctions for extremely malicious defamation which had to be based on the factual statement of defamation. At the same time, defamation laws necessarily represent an interference with the right to freedom of expression. The freedom of speech and expression is one of the fundamental human rights important for individuals, citizens and democracy in the modern society and it is directly regulated by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in article 10. There are two main problems connected with this freedom. The first problem is limiting the freedom of expression and the second one refers to role and purpose of criminal act of defamation