Do I have the right to demand compensation for moral damages for libel and in what amount? (a neighbor spread slander against me at my husband’s work).

Compensation for moral damage

But in addition to the punishment provided for by law, compensation for causing moral damage can also be demanded from the offender. To do this, you must file a claim in the magistrate’s court, and send the main statement to the police department where the slander was distributed. The amount of moral damages for libel is determined by the plaintiff himself and is indicated in a separate statement from the libel.

In fact, 80% out of 100% of the time, the plaintiff who is able to correctly and accurately draw up an appeal will be able to achieve a positive result and recover moral damages for defamation. In a lawsuit, the defamed person must provide maximum evidence about the harm caused to his health, psyche or damage to his reputation, and irrefutable facts that could confirm this have yet to be collected. But the ideal option is the testimony at trial of at least 1 person who could confirm the facts you presented. The more arguments you collect, the higher your likelihood of success.

On recovery of moral damages for knowingly false denunciation (cancelled)

As a result of a false denunciation, the defendant undermined the personal reputation of the plaintiff, since the plaintiff was summoned by the leadership of the FSB and he had to justify himself for what the plaintiff did not do and write a report.

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 98 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the party in whose favor the court decision was made, the court awards the other party to reimburse all legal costs incurred in the case.

Based on this statement from the defendant, an internal investigation was carried out by an investigator of the military investigation department for the Krasnodar Territory, Art. Lieutenant of Justice FULL NAME5, as a result of which a “Resolution was issued to refuse to initiate a criminal case from DD. MM. YYYY At the court hearing it was established that DD. MM. YYYY the defendant filed an application against the plaintiff addressed to the head of the internal security department of the FSB of the Russian Federation for CC, containing deliberately false information discrediting the honor and dignity of the plaintiff, an FSB officer. The plaintiff provided a certificate stating that he purchased three vouchers to a sanatorium for himself and his children from Travel Agency LLC. FULL NAME2 DD. MM. YYYY year of birth and full name DD. MM. YYYY year of birth for the period from DD. MM. YYYY according to DD. MM. YYYY total cost 97,540 rubles including treatment.

Assignment of compensation amount

A claim for defamation and compensation for moral damage are 2 statements that will be considered in one trial. Do not be afraid to declare a larger amount of monetary compensation than you think at first glance, since moral damages for libel in judicial practice have tended to decrease during the course of the proceedings.

The court will carefully consider and assess the severity of the suffering caused and ultimately assign a fair amount of compensation, often it is much less than the amount claimed by the plaintiff. To get the maximum amount of the required compensation, it is recommended to seek qualified legal assistance. In this case, you are guaranteed the outcome of the case with the maximum payment, which can pay for the services of a lawyer and cover costs along with damages.

Spreading false information

Before moving on to issues affecting compensation for moral damages for defamation, you should understand what this concept actually means.

What it is?

Slander, or slander in other words, is the dissemination among the general public of information that does not correspond to reality and is deliberately false. At the same time, this type of information must violate the human right to inviolability of personality, honor and dignity.

Until 2012, dissemination of defamatory information provided for liability only in the framework of civil proceedings and administrative proceedings.

But after making the appropriate amendments and additions, an article appeared in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, providing for liability for this kind of act.

Punishment

Any person who is faced with a situation where he has been slandered, fortunately, can challenge false information, prove his innocence in it, and also demand fair punishment for the one who is guilty of disseminating it.

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for two articles that establish liability for the dissemination of slanderous information (Article 128.1) and insult (Article 130).

The following types of punishment are provided for libel in Russia:

1. Under Part 1 of Article 218.1 of the article, persons who allow the dissemination of information in the form of simple conversations, leaflets, etc., are liable. dissemination of false information does not have signs of aggravating circumstances. For such actions, the punishment may be the following: a fine in an amount not exceeding 500,000 rubles or performing compulsory labor for up to 160 hours .
2. The second part of Article 218.1 of the article provides for liability for those who disseminated false information regarding the victim through the media, the Internet, or made a demonstration in any other way among the public. Punishment: a fine of up to 1 million rubles or community service of up to 240 hours .
3. The third part of Article 218.1 places responsibility on those citizens who took advantage of their official position during the dissemination of information. Punishment: a fine of up to 2 million rubles, as well as compulsory work of up to 320 hours .
4. An even more severe punishment is provided for under Part 4 of the article. Thus, if the victim is accused of an unlawful sexual act or has a disease that poses a threat to others, the punishment may be a fine of up to 3 million rubles or compulsory work of up to 400 hours . As an example of such a crime, one can cite the actions of citizen N., who, having decided to annoy her ex-friend, spread information through leaflets that citizen E. was HIV-infected and dangerous to society, which in fact was a lie, known in advance to the criminal.
5. The heaviest punishment will be suffered by the one who decides to accuse another person of committing a serious (especially serious) crime: up to a 5 million fine or up to 400 hours of compulsory labor.

In addition to the criminal punishment that the person guilty of distributing defamatory information will incur, you can attach to your application a claim for compensation for moral damage, which should be considered within the same criminal case.

Remember that if slander is spread against you without aggravating circumstances, a case can be initiated only if there is your application submitted to the magistrate’s court, since such actions are classified as cases brought in private proceedings.

How to protect yourself?

None of us can be completely protected from the fact of slander. That is why, if information has already been disseminated against you and you have applied to the court for justice, then before a decision is made on the case, you must adhere to certain rules.

Try:

1. Do not engage in controversy over popular information.
2. Avoid communicating with the person who spread it, except in cases where you want to reconcile with the offender.
3. Collect as much evidence as possible about what happened.

Crimes must be punished. Find out about the penalties for large-scale fraud. The company goes through stage 4 bankruptcy. Read more about each of them in the article.

Moral damage and its differences from slander

Slander and the publication of defamatory information will certainly harm the reputation of the person to whom the slander was directed - this is the initial negative factor. Moral damage is the resulting consequences that can be measured in monetary terms. Therefore, the difference between moral damage and slander lies in the payment of compensation in favor of the plaintiff in the amount established by the court decision.

If libel is punishable in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, then compensation is initially assigned by the applicant. The fullness of its payment depends on how broadly the plaintiff can form an evidence base for his damages. But the final amount will still be determined by the court. Punishment for slander is not always accompanied by a request for compensation for moral damage, so 1 or 2 applications are filed with the police.

Official website of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation obliged, when considering cases of rehabilitation of acquitted defendants, to take into account the damage caused to their business reputation, and also explain what the court was guided by when reducing compensation for moral damage.

If the court has come to the conclusion that it is necessary to recover damages, then its amount must be adequate and real, otherwise the award of extremely small, insignificant compensation would lead to a negative result, giving the victim the impression of a disdainful attitude towards his rights, the highest authority emphasizes.

The crux of the matter

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation considered the complaint of a resident of Yekaterinburg, against whom a criminal case was opened in 2014 on charges of fraud. Three and a half years later, she was acquitted due to her non-involvement in the crime. The applicant demanded compensation for moral damage caused by unfounded criminal prosecution, which she estimated at 3 million rubles.

The Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg partially satisfied the claims, reducing compensation by 60 times and collecting only 50 thousand rubles. The court considered that the plaintiff did not confirm in any way the improper conditions of detention in the pre-trial detention center, which resulted in the deterioration of the plaintiff’s health, and the arguments about the physical, mental and psychological impact of the investigators, as well as about moral experiences in connection with hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital were not confirmed.

The courts of appeal and cassation agreed with these conclusions.

Position of the Armed Forces

The right to compensation by the state for harm caused by illegal actions (or inaction) of state authorities or their officials is enshrined in the Constitution (Article 53), and rehabilitation also includes the elimination of the consequences of moral harm (Article 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure), reminds the Supreme Court.

Moral harm is understood as moral or physical suffering caused by actions (inaction) that encroach on intangible benefits belonging to a citizen from birth or by force of law (life, health, personal dignity, business reputation, privacy, personal and family secrets, etc. .), or violating his personal non-property rights (the right to use his name, the right of authorship and other non-property rights in accordance with the laws on the protection of rights to the results of intellectual activity) or violating the property rights of a citizen, is explained in the Plenum of the Supreme Court (paragraph 2 of the resolution dated 20 December 1994 No. 10)

“Moral harm, in particular, may consist of moral feelings in connection with the inability to continue an active social life, loss of a job, disclosure of family or medical secrets, dissemination of untrue information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen, temporary restriction or deprivation of any - rights, physical pain associated with injury caused, other damage to health or in connection with a disease suffered as a result of moral suffering, etc.,” explains the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court notes that there is no standard to measure pain, physical inconvenience and mental suffering and anguish in monetary terms, but the courts must take into account the requirements of reasonableness and fairness.

“Consequently, if the court has concluded that it is necessary to award monetary compensation, then its amount must be adequate and real.

Otherwise, awarding an extremely small, insignificant amount of money would mean ignoring the requirements of the law and would lead to a negative result, giving the victim the impression of a disregard for his rights,” the Supreme Court emphasizes.

Meanwhile, in this case, the conclusions of the courts on determining the amount of compensation for moral damage do not comply with the regulatory provisions, as well as the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court, the highest authority believes.

“When determining the amount of compensation for moral damage, the court did not take into account the procedural features of the criminal prosecution, which lasted 3 years and 6 months, the measures of procedural coercion, which limited the rights (of the applicant) and affected her personal and family life, as well as the characteristics of the plaintiff at the place of work,” - considers the Sun.

As follows from the case materials, the actions of the investigator to conduct an outpatient forensic psychiatric examination of the accused as part of the investigation of a criminal case were declared illegal by the decision of the Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg. Meanwhile, these circumstances did not receive any assessment from the court.

In addition, the court of first instance did not at all examine the circumstances in which the unlawful criminal prosecution caused damage to the business reputation of the plaintiff, who at the time of the accusation was working as the director of a travel agency.

Thus, the conclusion of the court of first instance to determine the amount of compensation for moral damage to be recovered is not motivated by anything, and the courts of appeal and cassation did not eliminate the violation of substantive and procedural law.

In connection with this, the Supreme Court sent the case for a new trial to the Sverdlovsk Regional Court.

Alice Fox

The Downside of Slander

Often in judicial practice there are situations when a libel claim is a direct slander. That is, the applicant wants to remove suspicion from himself and thereby preserve his reputation; the goal of profit may also be pursued. But, in this case, no one can cancel the presumption of innocence and the plaintiff will have to prove irrefutable facts that you really slandered him. If all the evidence was fabricated and untrue, but the court made a decision not in your favor, you have the right to appeal to higher courts.

Of course, you can’t do this without the help of a good lawyer. You will not only have to collect facts that contradict the evidence of your plaintiff, but also provide information that the plaintiff intentionally wanted to harm you. If the original court decided to compensate the applicant for moral damages, then in appealing this decision you have the right to demand recovery of moral damages from justified slander in the form of:

1. compensation awarded for defamation in favor of the original plaintiff;
2. legal expenses paid;
3. attorney's fees;
4. own moral damage.

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Rumors on the Internet

Spreading false information about someone while remaining incognito? Yes Easy! In the world of information technology and active use of the Internet, nothing is impossible.

It seems that it could be simpler: take some neutral nickname, hide as an anonymous person, publish information discrediting another person and sit and wait for the result. But it's not that simple. Even despite the fact that the offender took all possible measures to remain anonymous, it is possible to bring such a person to justice and recover compensation for moral damage from him. Anyone who wants to do this illegal act should think again/

In Russia there is already a similar judicial practice to bring such persons to justice and recover moral damages in favor of the victim.

There are cases when it is not possible to identify a person, but they are so rare that it is simply wrong to say that it is best not to file a claim with the police or court, but to wait for the information to disappear on its own. Each of us, when logging onto the Internet and performing at least some action, leaves a certain trace. Only a very good hacker can erase it correctly and competently, and even then not always.

A well-known case that took place in practice is indicative. Not so long ago (in 2009), the famous blogger M. spread false information through his page that Yu. Kuklachev abuses his cats and uses electric shocks and other prohibited devices when training. Kuklachev proved the fact that this information was untrue and demanded compensation in the amount of 100,000 rubles . After some time, the parties decided to agree on a peaceful solution to the issue, but for unknown reasons it did not take place. As a result, in 2010, the court ordered M. to remove false information and reimburse 40,000 rubles .

Quite often, slanderous information is disseminated through social networks that are so beloved by everyone.

Compensation for moral damage

In the legislation of the Russian Federation, there is Article 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which indicates the possibility of compensation for moral damage to a citizen. In this case, moral harm is considered to be the infliction of moral or physical suffering on a person, based on actions aimed at violating the personal non-property rights of a citizen. Moreover, they can also refer to an encroachment on his material wealth.

Physical suffering of a citizen can only occur when non-material rights are violated.

In the Russian Federation, compensation for moral damage is not as common as it is practiced in the West. For the first time, such norms began to be applied in the early nineties in connection with changes in the Civil Code.

The claim must contain a description of exactly what rights of the plaintiff were violated, as well as what kind of harm was caused. Moral damage and its compensation, judicial practice in road accidents, easy health? Next, you should indicate what actions led to the infliction of moral damage on the victim.

The amount of expected compensation should be indicated. It is imperative to clarify why exactly this amount is expected to be reimbursed. In turn, the court, when considering a case for compensation for moral damage, will determine the connections between the plaintiff and the defendant. It will establish what specific actions of the offender led to moral consequences for the victim.

All collected evidence will be considered, and an assessment will be made of the actions committed that led to moral damage. The upper and lower amounts of compensation for moral damage are not indicated, but will be determined directly by the court.

Neighbors made up a false report

How was the false denunciation expressed? If this is a statement to the police, then wait for a decision to refuse to initiate proceedings, take this decision and go to court in a civil manner.

An interested person has the right, in the manner established by the legislation on civil proceedings, to apply to the court for the protection of violated or disputed rights, freedoms or legitimate interests, including with a request to award him compensation for violation of the right to trial within a reasonable time or the right to execute a court decision within a reasonable time.

At the request of interested parties, it is allowed to protect the honor, dignity and business reputation of a citizen even after his death.6. The procedure for refuting information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen in cases other than those specified in paragraphs 2 - 5 of this article is established by the court.5. If information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen turns out to be available on the Internet after its distribution, the citizen has the right to demand the removal of the relevant information, as well as a refutation of this information in a way that ensures that the refutation is communicated to Internet users.

How to compensate for moral damage if you have been slandered

Since libel is a crime that is directed against the honor and dignity of an individual, it is subject to criminal liability, which is charged in accordance with the provisions of Article 129 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation . Accordingly, the basis for filing a claim for compensation for moral damage will be the initiation of criminal proceedings against the attacker.

1. Transmitting a message that affects the honor and dignity of the victim.
2. False nature of the message transmitted.

Without recognition of criminal liability, a civil claim will not receive recognition. Because of this, the process must begin by filing a statement of precedent for libel with law enforcement agencies in the presence of supporting facts and witnesses.

1. Name of the district court, details of the plaintiff and defendant.
2. Title of the document.
3. The main part, setting out in detail the situation of slander, which you have recreated based on information from employees or acquaintances involved in the spread of defamatory rumors.
4. Explanations of what consequences the spread of slander led to and determination of the connection between slander and the indicated consequences.
5. Appeal to the court with a request to recover compensation for moral damage caused by slander;
6. Determination of the amount of moral damages for libel.
7. Date, signature, list of attached documents.

Dear readers! Our articles talk about typical ways to resolve legal issues, but each case is unique.