Kazneni zakon, Computer Crime Chapter (Arts. 266-273)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 1 January 2013.
A computer misuse rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 6 September 2026.
What it requires
- Do not access a computer system, part of one, or computer data in Croatia without authorisation; unauthorised access alone is a criminal offence, rising from up to two years' imprisonment to up to three years where the system or data belongs to a government body, the Constitutional Court, an international organisation Croatia belongs to, a local or regional government unit, a public institution, or a company of special public interest.
- Do not interfere with the operation of a computer system, damage, alter, delete, destroy or conceal another person's computer data or programs, or intercept a non-public transmission of computer data, without authorisation; each is a separate criminal offence carrying up to three years' imprisonment.
- Do not make, acquire, sell, possess, distribute or make available a device, computer program or computer data created or adapted to commit any of these offences; doing so is itself a criminal offence carrying up to three years' imprisonment, or up to two years for passwords, access codes or similar data.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Kazneni zakon Chapter XXV punishes unauthorised access to a computer system or computer data (Art. 266) with up to two years' imprisonment, rising to three years where the target is a government body, the Constitutional Court, an international organisation Croatia belongs to, a local or regional government unit, a public institution, or a company of special public interest. Interference with a computer system's operation (Art. 267), damage to computer data (Art. 268), unauthorised interception (Art. 269) and computer forgery (Art. 270) each carry up to three years' imprisonment. Computer fraud (Art. 271) carries six months to five years, rising to one to eight years where a substantial gain or loss results. Misuse of devices (Art. 272) carries up to three years for devices, programs or data, and up to two years for passwords or access codes made or distributed for the same purpose. Article 273 raises the penalty for Articles 267 to 270 to six months to five years where the target is a government body, the Constitutional Court, an international organisation Croatia belongs to, a local or regional government unit, a public institution, or a company of special public interest, and for Articles 266 to 269 to the same six months to five years where the offender conceals their real identity and causes confusion about the authorised holder of that identity; it rises further, to one to eight years, for an offence under Articles 267 to 269 committed by a means intended to attack a larger number of computer systems, or that causes significant damage.
What it reaches
Obligation class
Access restriction
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Chapter XXV of the Kazneni zakon (Criminal Code) creates the criminal offences against computer systems, programs and data. Article 266 punishes unauthorised access to a computer system, part of one, or computer data, with a higher penalty where the target is a government body, the Constitutional Court, an international organisation Croatia belongs to, a local or regional government unit, a public institution, or a company of special public interest.
Article 267 punishes disabling or hindering a computer system's operation or use, or computer communication. Article 268 punishes unauthorised damage, alteration, deletion, destruction or concealment of another's computer data or programs, or blocking access to them. Article 269 punishes unauthorised interception of a non-public transmission of computer data.
Article 270 punishes computer forgery: unauthorised creation, entry, alteration, deletion or suppression of computer data with legal significance, intending it be used as genuine. Article 271 punishes computer fraud committed to obtain an unlawful material gain by manipulating computer data or a computer system's operation, with a higher penalty where a substantial gain or loss results.
Article 272 punishes making, acquiring, distributing or making available a device, program or data created or adapted to commit any of these offences, or a password or access code for the same purpose.
Article 273 raises the penalty for Articles 267 to 270 where the target is a government body, the Constitutional Court, an international organisation Croatia belongs to, a local or regional government unit, a public institution, or a company of special public interest, and for Articles 266 to 269 where the offender conceals their real identity and causes confusion about the authorised holder of that identity; it raises the penalty further, to one to eight years' imprisonment, for an offence under Articles 267 to 269 committed by a means intended to carry out an attack on a larger number of computer systems, or that causes significant damage.
When LexLint raises it
crawls_web
Read the law
zakon.hr, consolidated text of the Kazneni zakon (Criminal Code)