The Supreme Court has for the first time provided clarification on cases related to the violation of personal rights arising from family law relations and the compensation for moral damage resulting from such violations.
Thus, in the Plenum Decision dated December 24, 2025, on "The Protection of Personal Rights," the essence of spouses' personal rights as a special type of personal rights arising from family law relations, and circumstances prohibiting interference with these rights, have been clarified.
Information on this matter was provided to Modern.az by the Supreme Court.
It was stated that spouses' personal rights include the right to marry, the right to divorce, equality of rights between spouses, the right to expect mutual assistance and respect within the family, the right to freely choose a surname, occupation, profession, and other non-property rights established by family legislation.
Subjecting to domestic violence, psychological and physical abuse, as well as keeping under pressure, leaving a spouse in a helpless situation by not showing interest in their illness, surgery, treatment, or the wife's pregnancy, disclosing a family secret or a spouse's personal secret, humiliating honor and dignity, establishing that a child is not the biological father, abusing the right to dispute paternity, displaying disrespectful behavior (regularly or rudely expressing disapproval of one's spouse or to third parties in economic, physical, social, emotional terms), entering into a sham marriage (invalid marriage), eviction from the marital home without legal grounds, and other behaviors contrary to family legislation violate the personal rights of spouses and constitute grounds for inflicting moral damage.
It is prohibited for one spouse to disseminate information constituting a personal or family secret without any legal basis, including the consent of the other spouse. For example, private correspondence, information about one's past, personal relations between spouses (emotional, sexual, etc.), intra-family behaviors, information about the origin of children, adoption, as well as other confidential and sensitive information for the family.
Establishing the fact that a child, whom the person disputing paternity has accepted as their own, cared for, and participated in their upbringing, education, and training, is not their biological father, may not only violate that person's parental rights but also, depending on the circumstances of the case, lead to the humiliation of the father's honor and dignity.
Abuse of the right to dispute paternity, the malicious filing of such a claim, as well as the unconscionable submission of a clearly unfounded claim, may, depending on the circumstances of the case, lead to the humiliation of the wife's honor and dignity, as well as the violation of other personal rights.
Displaying disrespectful behavior – may be expressed when one spouse communicates their disapproval of the other to themselves or to third parties in a manner that humiliates their dignity. For example, one spouse mocking the other's appearance, stating that they are useless or worthless, and using other crude expressions that lead to the humiliation of dignity.
When compensating for moral damage resulting from an invalid marriage, the defendant's fault in entering into a sham marriage, the existence of circumstances that eliminate the invalidity of the marriage, and whether the plaintiff themselves was aware of the conditions of invalidity at the time of marriage are taken into account.
One spouse's desire to separate or divorce, or the use of other opportunities provided by law, is not considered a violation. For example, filing a claim for the division of joint property during marriage, or proposing to conclude a marriage contract regarding this, and using other such legal opportunities are legitimate.
Furthermore, a number of actions taken after the actual breakdown of marital relations are also not considered a violation of spouses' personal rights and cannot constitute grounds for inflicting moral damage. For example, not providing financial assistance and care to the wife (husband), not showing interest in their illness, and not fulfilling other obligations arising from marital relations, etc.
When determining the extent of moral damage, in addition to general criteria, specific circumstances such as the duration of the marriage, the age of the spouses, their opportunities for remarriage, health status, and other special circumstances are taken into account.
It should be specifically noted that only the violation of a person's personal, i.e., non-property rights, can lead to the infliction of moral damage. While the violation of a person's property rights may not directly cause moral damage, in some cases it can lead to the infliction of moral damage.
The right of spouses to receive alimony and additional expenses from each other are also property rights; the violation of these rights will only cause moral damage if it leads to the violation of personal rights. For example, if a husband (wife) obligated to pay alimony to his wife (husband) fails to fulfill this duty, material damage arises; however, if the health of the other party, who is incapacitated and in need of financial assistance, deteriorates due to the inability to receive treatment as a result of unpaid alimony, then grounds for moral damage may arise.
