Constitutional Court’s decision on compensation claims for moral damage

By the Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated April 24, 2020 “On Interpretation of Article 23 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan” (hereinafter: the Decision) several controversial issues in the current legislation about the grounds for compensation for moral damage resulting from the death of a person and the claim of compensation for moral damage have been clarified. Thus, the decision states that:

1. A claim for moral compensation may be filed not only by the family members of the deceased, but also by other close persons of the him/her. I.e. a “close” person is not only a relative within the framework of family law, but also refers to those persons who had a special relationship with the person who died or had a damage to his/her health, had a sincere relationship and spiritual closeness, played an important role in his/her life,  lived together with him/her for a long time, whose living conditions changed and had actually experienced emotional trauma and suffering as a result of death or damage to his/her health.

2. The payment of compensation to one of the close persons of a person in connection with the death of him/her does not exclude the right of deceased’s other close persons to compensation. The deceased’s close persons who had an emotional trauma from the death of this person have the right to receive compensation jointly or individually.

3.  Being the heir of the deceased is not a ground of compensation for moral damage, the closeness between the plaintiff and the deceased is the main criterion. Although the plaintiff claiming compensation for moral damage is the heir of the deceased, such claim is excluded if they were not emotionally close before death, if the plaintiff did not experience pain or grief or emotional trauma from his death.

You can contact Caspian Legal Center via contacts below if you have any questions regarding the mentioned issues, as well as for legal assistance regarding claims on compensation for moral damage: