Overview
The Croatian Criminal Code distinguishes between infectious disease and sexually transmitted disease in that transmission of the latter is only punished if the ‘injured party’ seeks prosecution or is a child.
Failure to comply with protection measures and subsequent transmission of disease incurs imprisonment of up to three years, or in the case of negligence, one year. We are not aware of any cases of HIV criminalisation in Croatia to date.
Laws
Criminal Code
Article 180. Spread and Transmission of Contagious Disease
(1) Whoever fails to comply with regulations or orders of the competent state authority ordering check-ups, disinfection, disinsectisation, deratisation, quarantining of patients or another measure for the prevention and suppression of infectious diseases among people or the prevention and suppression of infectious animal diseases that can also be contracted by people and where consequently the danger of spreading an infectious disease among people or the transmission of the infectious disease from animals onto humans occurs, shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding two years.
(2) Whoever by not complying with the measures of protection infects another person with a dangerous infectious disease, shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding three years.
(3) If the criminal offence referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 of this Article is committed by negligence, the perpetrator shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding one year.
(4) The criminal offence referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, where it concerns a sexually transmitted disease, shall be prosecuted at the injured party’s request, unless the criminal offence was committed against a child.
Acknowledgements
Our thanks to Australian law firm Hall & Willcox for their research assistance to confirm current relevant legislation.
