Abstract
n Section 1475 (2), Czech Civil Code makes it possible for the right to the compensation for personal injury to form a part of inheritance on condition that it has already been acknowledged or enforced as a debt before a public body. This leads to several negative consequences in practice.
First of all, it gives rise to the so-called "races with death" when the injured person or her closed persons try to enforce the right to compensation before the court as soon as possible in the last days they can spend together. At the same time, the said condition fails to fulfil the preventive function of tort law as from the perspective of civil liability, it is much cheaper for a tortfeasor to kill than to cause a grave personal injury.
The article analyses the historical background of the relevant regulation as well as the development in close jurisdictions (Austria and Germany). Based on the findings of this analysis, it is argued that the condition of previous enforcement of the right to compensation should be abandoned.