Defamation law in Czechia

This article explores the codification of defamation in the Czech legal system. It is not written by lawyers, and does not replace a professional legal advice.

Relevant Wikidata terminology: natural person, defamation, defamation, libel, slander.

English defamation terminology
First, let us clarify related terminology in English: The above is likely to be an oversimplification.
 * defamation
 * subclass: slander: spoken
 * subclass: libel: written
 * superclass: crime
 * superclass: tort

Czech defamation law
About Czech term pomluva, which is informally well translated as defamation:
 * In Wikidata, the term is here:.
 * A semi-implicit definition of pomluva is here: . This is 40/2009 Sb. Zákon trestní zákoník.
 * A pomluva (defamation) is a trestný čin (crime) since it is specified in trestní zákoník (penal code).
 * The penalty is 1 year or 2 years in prison (odnětí svobody), depending on the medium of publication of the defamatory statements.
 * The definition requires the statement made to be untrue.
 * The definition stays silent about the intent or belief of the author of the potentially defamatory statement.
 * The definition stays silent about demonstration or proof of truth or untruth of the statement; it merely requires the statement to be untrue.
 * The definition does not make it clear who has the burden of proof as for truth.
 * There is a contrasting term křivé obvinění (false accusation) that has a separate codification and penalty.
 * Another contrasting term is urážka na cti (insult of honor) that has a separate codification and penalty.
 * According to one source--but not explicitly the law--the object of defamation has to be a natural person in order for the title to apply.
 * According to one source--but not explicitly the law--the person doing the defamation must have a certain intent.