Journal of the Charles University Law Faculty
Petr Šustek
Author’s affiliation:
Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague
To selected private law aspects of compulsory vaccination, or is anyone liable for possible damage to health?
Jurisprudence 3/2017 Section: Articles Page: 3-16
Keywords: compulsory vaccination, compensation for damage to health, damage to health resulting from compulsory vaccination, civil liability of the state
Abstract: The paper is dedicated to the Czech regulation of compulsory vaccination and its private law consequences. Firstly, the author introduces the vaccination controversy and analyses the case law of the Czech Constitutional Court related to the compulsory vaccination. Subsequently, he proceeds with a detailed analysis of the Czech Supreme Court's decision in the case of civil liability for damage to health resulting from compulsory vaccination. Since the said decision applied the legislation effective until 31 December 2013, the paper aims to reflect the approach of the Supreme Court in relation to the effective Civil Code, in which there is no relevant legal basis for granting the claims for damages resulting from compulsory vaccination. For this reason, the author calls for a new legal-political solution, e.g. in the form of insurance. In order to present a possible solution, the author analyses German regulation and makes de lege ferenda proposals for the Czech Republic.
