CZECH REPUBLIC Law and Practice Contributed by: Irena Lišková, Ladislav Mádl, Eliška Říhová and Adam Vymazal, Randl Partners
Randl Partners Budějovická 1550/15a, Michle
140 00 Praha 4 Czech Republic
Tel: +420 222 755 311 Email: info@randls.com Web: www.randls.com
1. Legal Framework and Regulatory Bodies 1.1 Primary Laws and Regulation In the Czech Republic, advertising is regulated by multiple legal acts which are largely influenced by EU legislation. The basis of Czech advertising law is the Advertis - ing Regulation Act implementing EU sector-specific regulation. Further rules apply based on the: • recipient of the ad (such as the Consumer Protec - tion Act); • advertising platform (such as the Press Act, the Radio and Television Broadcasting Operation Act, and the On-Demand Audiovisual Media Services Act); and • advertised products or services (such as the Phar - maceuticals Act, the Banking Act, the Consumer Credit Act, and the Gambling Act). In addition to the above, it is necessary to consider the data protection laws, in particular the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Czech Personal Data Processing Act. Advertising practices that constitute an unfair com - mercial practice are regulated, from a civil law per - spective, by the Civil Code. Ultimately, in cases of violation of rules on unfair com - petition, the Criminal Code and/or the Act on Criminal Liability of Legal Persons and Proceedings Against
Them may apply (both natural and legal persons may be convicted). 1.2 Enforcement and Regulatory Authorities There are multiple supervisory authorities whose com - petence is most often determined by the advertised product or service or advertising platform. There are several authorities with limited competence and one with competence unrelated to advertised content, namely the trade licensing offices, while none of the authorities listed below have the exclusive authority. Authorities with limited competence include: • the State Institute for Drug Control (medicines); • the Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture (fertilisers and other agriculture-related products); • the Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (food and tobacco); • the customs offices (gambling); • the Office for Personal Data Protection (protection of personal data and dissemination of electronic commercial marketing materials); and • the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting of the Czech Republic (radio and television). Moreover, municipalities may regulate the placement and distribution of advertising materials. Lastly, the courts also play a role in the event of a dispute resulting in the filing of an action or an interim measure concerning an infringement of unfair com - petition law.
89
CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook