Abstract
The article discusses the crime of the defamation of a head of state whose restitution to the Czech Criminal Code has been recently pondered. It considers whether heads of state should be entitled to a higher legal protection, because they belong among state symbols, or whether on the contrary they should be left exposed to criticism as any other politicians.
Having scrutinized the historical developments in this area, the current legal regulation in various countries and the human rights standards, including the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, the article opts for the latter approach.