The Supreme Court has for the first time provided an explanation regarding cases of violation of personal rights arising from family-law relations and the compensation for the resulting moral damage.
Medianews.az reports that the Supreme Court has issued a statement on this matter.
It was noted that the Plenum Decision dated December 24, 2025, "On the Protection of Personal Rights," clarifies the essence of the personal rights of husband and wife as a special type of personal rights arising from family-law relations and the circumstances prohibiting interference with these rights:
The personal rights of husband and wife include entering into marriage, divorce, equality of rights of husband and wife, mutual assistance and respect within the family, the right to freely choose surname, occupation, profession, and other non-property rights established by family legislation.
Acts such as subjecting to domestic violence, psychological and physical violence, coercion, neglecting to care about the illness, surgical operation, treatment of the spouse, or the pregnancy of the wife leaving them helpless, disclosing family secrets or the personal secrets of the husband (wife), degrading honor and dignity, determination of the absence of biological fatherhood of the child, abuse of the right to dispute paternity, disrespectful behavior (expressing disapproval towards oneself or others continually or in a coarse manner economically, physically, socially, emotionally), entering into a sham marriage (invalid marriage), eviction from the residence without legal grounds, and other behaviors contrary to family legislation violate the personal rights of the husband and wife and constitute grounds for moral damage.
It is prohibited for either spouse to disclose information that constitutes personal or family secrets without any legal basis, including without the consent of the other. For example, personal correspondences, information about past, personal relationships between husband and wife (emotional, sexual, etc.), intra-family behavior, origin of children, information about adoption, as well as other confidential and sensitive information related to the family.
The fact that the person disputing paternity is not the biological father of the child they accepted as their own, cared for, and participated in their upbringing, education, and training, while violating parental rights, depending on the circumstances of the case, can also lead to degradation of the father's honor and dignity.
Abuse of the right to dispute paternity, filing a claim maliciously, and the immoral submission of an obviously unfounded claim may, depending on the circumstances, result in the degradation of the wife’s honor and dignity, as well as violation of other personal rights.
Disrespectful behavior can be expressed in the form of one spouse’s disapproval of the other in a way that degrades dignity towards themselves or others. For example, one spouse mocking the other’s appearance, calling them unnecessary or worthless, and using other coarse expressions that degrade dignity.
When compensating moral damage resulting from an invalid marriage, the defendant’s fault in contracting the sham marriage, existence of circumstances eliminating the invalidity of the marriage, and whether the claimant was informed about the conditions of invalidity when entering into the marriage are taken into account.
One spouse’s desire to separate or divorce, or to use other means prescribed by law, is not considered a violation. For example, raising a claim for division of jointly owned property during the marriage, or proposing a prenuptial agreement related to it, and similar legal possibilities is lawful.
Furthermore, certain actions after the factual breakdown of marital relations are not considered violations of the personal rights of the husband and wife and cannot form the basis for moral damage. For example, failure to provide material assistance and care to the spouse, neglect of their illness, and failure to fulfill other obligations arising from the husband and wife relationship, and so on.
When determining the amount of moral damage, in addition to general criteria, specific factors such as duration of the marriage, age of the spouses, opportunities to remarry, health status, and other special circumstances are considered.
It should be specifically noted that only the violation of a person’s personal, i.e., non-property rights may cause moral damage. Violation of a person’s property rights does not directly cause moral damage but in some cases can lead to moral damage.
The right of husband and wife to receive alimony and additional expenses from each other are also property rights. Violation of these rights will cause moral damage only if it leads to violation of personal rights. For example, if the husband (wife), obligated to pay alimony to his wife (her husband), fails to fulfill this duty resulting in material damage, but if due to non-payment of alimony the party who is unable to work and needs material assistance cannot receive treatment and their health deteriorates, moral damage grounds may arise.