How to bring the person responsible to administrative and criminal liability for the unlawful use of your image?
If you believe that a person has unlawfully processed your image, you can request the initiation of an administrative violation or criminal proceedings according to the Law on Administrative Liability or Criminal Procedure Law.
Administrative offence
If a person has unlawfully processed your personal data, you can request the initiation of administrative violation proceedings by submitting an application to the Data State Inspectorate. In your application you should indicate the kind of unlawful actions the data user has carried out, provide substantial arguments and explain the kind of harm that it has created for you.
The Data State Inspectorate may decide to start administrative violation proceedings and in such a situation will contact you and inform you about your right to be recognized as a victim in the case.
Criminal offence
If your image has been taken, used or otherwise processed unlawfully and it has caused you substantial harm, this action may reach the level of a criminal offence. Substantial harm comprises not only a breach of your right to private life but also a significant financial loss which has thereby been caused to you. In such a situation, you can request the initiation of criminal proceedings by submitting an application to an investigating institution or the prosecutor’s office. In your application, you should indicate the kind of unlawful actions the person has carried out, provide substantial arguments and explain the kind of harm that it has created for you.
There may also be specific situations when your image has been published in a way that incites national, ethnic or racial hatred, or social hatred, by concentrating on such characteristics as gender, age, disability or other, or to defame you and your family. Such activity may result in criminal liability for hate crimes or defamation.
You can request the initiation of criminal proceedings by submitting an application to an investigating institution, or the prosecutor’s office. In your application, you should indicate the kind of unlawful actions the person has carried out and provide substantial arguments.
In the aforementioned situations, the investigator or prosecutor may decide to start criminal proceedings and in such a situation will contact you and inform you about your right to be recognized as a victim in the case and to request compensation for the material loss and the moral injury that you have suffered.