Amount of compensation for moral damage: how to reduce uncertainty and increase efficiency?

Let's start with how to prove moral damages? For disputes in the courts of the Russian Federation, it is believed that moral damage is a rather small category of cases. For the most part, this is due to the fact that there are problems in proving moral damage, and the amounts of compensation awarded by the court leave much to be desired.

In Western countries of the world, to go to court, only the fact of the incident is enough, and people go to court to recover moral damages even for a simple insult to human dignity. And at the same time, you can count on millions if you win!!!

This will not work in our country; the simple fact of the incident will not be enough, since the victim himself will have to collect a fairly serious evidence base in order to substantiate the existence of moral harm caused to him. If you ask a person to describe his state of mind after experiencing an unpleasant incident in his life, I think it will be difficult to do even for a person with “iron” nerves. It is very difficult for a person to describe what kind of moral torment he was able to endure, and on top of everything else, try to explain to the judge that these experiences are not an invention for the purpose of enriching himself at the expense of the harm-doer. And all this is a worthy compensation for the experienced and negative emotions that would not have existed if not for the actions of the perpetrator of the event. However, any lawyer will tell you that evil must always be punished, even if evil does not consider itself to be such. We need to act!!!

How to prove moral damages?

In collecting moral damage, we are helped by Article 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which states that when a citizen has suffered moral damage, which implies physical or moral suffering, by the actions of other persons who actually violate his non-property rights as a person or may infringe on his personal and intangible benefits.

The wording is quite complex, but it is this article that the court is guided by when it seeks moral damages in favor of the injured party. The court cannot simply satisfy a claim for moral damages; it needs to establish the amount of moral damage suffered by the party. Unfortunately, in our country there are no specific characteristics to guide the determination of the amount of moral damage; this fact remains at the discretion of the court. To explain to the judge what exactly moral damage is, the following evidence will help:

1. Medical documents with the diagnosis made by the doctor;
2. Missing work due to sick leave;
3. Receipts and checks for payment for medicines (it is worth noting that medicines must be purchased as prescribed by a doctor);
4. Changing of the living place;
5. Characteristics from the place of work;
6. Administrative incident reports;
7. Expert opinions;
8. Death certificates or certificates of possible dependents;
9. Articles in newspapers and magazines, as well as recordings of broadcasts in the media;
10. Other evidence.

In war, all means are good, so no one will definitely impose any prohibitions on you in providing evidence. The more documents you submit, the higher the percentage of satisfaction of your requirements will be. Of course, it is more difficult to prove damage that is not documented by either law enforcement agencies or the defendant himself. In this case, the evidence will be:

1. Witness's testimonies;
2. Audio recordings of conversations and telephone conversations;
3. Video recordings of the incident itself;
4. Written evidence of threats against you.

An important aspect in such a case is the cause-and-effect relationship between the disease and the moral damage caused to you, which you prove in court by introducing your evidence.

Legislation

The justification of moral damage is carried out using the general rules of civil procedure and law.

The Code of Civil Procedure is the basic law. Chapter 6 of this regulatory document presents the following provisions:

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1. On the principles of evidence (admissibility, reliability, relevance).
2. About the funds:

• evidence;
• explanations of the parties;
• audio, video recordings;
• witness's testimonies;
• written data;
• expert opinions.

The Civil Code presents facts and circumstances that require proof:

• the fact of causing suffering;
• circumstances and specific acts that caused harm;
• cause-and-effect relationship between the act and the harm;
• certain suffering (illness, poor health, etc.);
• amount of compensation.

IMPORTANT: The Civil Code answers the question “What to prove?”, and the Civil Procedure Code answers the question “How to prove?”.

In addition to laws, there are Plenums - clarifications of the Supreme Court, for example, from 1994 “Some issues of application of legislation”.

How to refute moral harm?

Sometimes the law becomes a serious weapon in the hands of unscrupulous citizens who manipulate it by showing dishonesty towards other persons in judicial proceedings. And in the courtroom, a theatrical performance is played out by one, and sometimes several actors, who are trying to prove the infliction of moral harm on them.

In most cases, they do not have an evidentiary basis for their suffering, however, it is worth being safe and well prepared for the interrogation of the plaintiff and his witnesses. It is necessary to bring such unscrupulous citizens into the open by asking questions on record, recording the discrepancies in their testimony. It is best to describe such inconsistencies in a written objection and attach it to the case file. Arguments may include:

1. Inadequacy of the amount to be recovered;
2. Absence of a cause-and-effect relationship between the event and the composition of civil proceedings;
3. Confusion in witness statements;
4. Illegality of the plaintiff's claims in the statement of claim.

It is best in this case to turn to a lawyer for help, who, already at the preliminary court hearing, will be able to “sow the seed of doubt” in the judge’s head and break the plaintiff’s entire position in the case, write, call, I will help in this matter. It is not easy to object to the plaintiff’s arguments when he really suffered, but no one is immune from accidents and accidents. In this case, you need to show the judge your agreement with the material part of the statement of claim, but a complete refusal in terms of recovery of moral damages since there are discrepancies in the behavior of the plaintiff and in the actual circumstances of the case.

Who calculates the amount of compensation and how?

Who and how calculates compensation for moral damage and what is it expressed in?

The amount of compensation for moral damage is always determined in monetary terms (clause 1 of Article 1101 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The specific value in most cases is established by the court (clause 2 of Article 1101 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). An exception here would be the situation where the employer compensates his employee for damages, when the amount of payment is provided for in the employment contract and the employee agrees with this amount (Article 237 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation).

What are the criteria for determining the amount of compensation for moral damage? The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (clause 2 of Article 1101) instructs courts to navigate:

• on the nature of the suffering experienced by the victim;
• the degree of guilt of the person who caused this suffering (when the need for compensation for damage of this kind depends on it);
• the specific circumstances of the harm situation;
• individual characteristics of the victim;
• reasonable and fair approach.

The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation adds here:

• other circumstances that deserve attention in each specific case - resolution No. 1 of January 26, 2010 (clause 32);
• the amount at which the victim himself estimates the expected compensation - Resolution No. 10 of December 20, 1994 (clause 1).

That is, despite the fact that the amount of payment specified by the court will be expressed in a very specific monetary amount, no rules have been established for quantitative determination of the amount of compensation for moral damage, and the assessment of the amount of payment is carried out based on qualitative indicators based on an individual approach.

How to describe moral damages in a statement of claim?

Not every person has the talent of writing, and after the shock they have experienced, it will be all the more difficult to gather their thoughts and put everything on paper in a statement of claim. First, you need the words to be supported by medical documents, which will indicate, for example:

• the patient has a tendency towards apathy;
• severe nervous state associated with stress;
• depressed mood towards life;
• insomnia or severe sleep problems;
• weight loss associated with loss of appetite;
• anxiety and headaches along with the emergence of new phobias.

If at least one diagnosis from the above manifests itself in your life, you need to describe how it interferes with your daily life. Let's say there is a fear of public transport or cars in general. In this case, you need to describe what inconvenience you experience. We are talking about hard-to-prove infliction of harm to health, which means we need to make sure that the judges “shed a tear,” so to speak.

In relation to the defendant, words such as: immoral and cynical should be used. Perhaps he mocked your condition and does not repent of what he did. He behaves defiantly and shamelessly. As for the victim, it is not enough to describe that he simply feels bad at heart.

It should be pointed out that serious consequences are possible in the future, but at present it all comes down to moral or possible psychological damage to the victim’s family and himself. Such epithets are just suitable for characterizing the soul, because it cannot be taken outside and shown how wounded it is.

Minor harm to health: characteristics

Causing physical harm to health is equivalent to a violation of human rights, and therefore is punishable in accordance with the law. In this case, the punishment depends not only on the circumstances of the incident, but also on the severity of the damage caused. In the simplest cases, the preventive measure may be a fine, correctional labor, or arrest for a short period. But in more serious situations, the punishment may be long-term imprisonment.

A mild degree of severity of harm caused to the victim’s health is considered a category within which bodily injuries are considered the least dangerous. Such injuries cannot cause disability or lead to death.

The main characteristics of mild harm are as follows:

1. a person has minor injuries that do not require a long period of time to eliminate;
2. temporary disability caused by injuries is no more than 21 days.

However, even with injuries interpreted as minor, the injured person has the right to demand compensation for moral damage from the culprit (151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). And this is quite reasonable, because under such circumstances a person not only suffers physically, but also experiences certain emotional and psychological discomfort.

For example, the victim may have felt or still feels fear. Or, let's say, shock. In a word, the citizen experiences some kind of moral suffering and suffers from its consequences. And this is already regarded as a deterioration in the quality of life.

Usually, when they talk about moral harm, they mean:

• excitement, anxiety;
• sleep disturbances, up to complete insomnia;
• irritability;
• depressed state;
• depression and other pathological conditions.

Of course, if we are talking about moderate or severe categories of damage, it is much easier to justify the need for compensation for moral costs. With a mild degree, everything is somewhat more complicated. However, in such cases, judicial practice is distinguished by positive results. Especially if the fact of intentional mutilation is proven. For example, deliberate beating.

It is also worth applying for compensation if injuries were sustained as a result of interaction with a source of increased danger. Simply put, in the event of an accident. Or, for example, damage occurred due to rude actions of employees of a healthcare organization.

Examples of justification for moral harm

Let's look at a case where medical workers make a mistake in an operation or in the entire course of treatment. A person's health is the most important thing in his life, and those people who are responsible for it must exercise due diligence every minute. Unfortunately, this does not always happen and doctors make mistakes that are critical for a person and haunt his entire life. In this case. It is necessary to conduct a forensic medical examination and identify doctors’ errors already at the stage of civil proceedings.

If the examination confirms the negligence of doctors and answers all the questions of interest in favor of the victim, moral damages will be justified and the plaintiff should tell the court how he will now live with this health problem and how this case will affect his successful career and how his family will worry with him. In this case, satisfaction of claims in the largest amount is guaranteed.

What is the payment period?

After the court decision, you can pay immediately, but it is better to wait for the decision to come into force. It will come into force in a month if it is not appealed to a higher court.

The plaintiff may ask the court for immediate enforcement of the decision, but such a request will need to be supported by evidence that delay in enforcement would have adverse consequences for the plaintiff.

Well, if you decide not to pay for as long as possible, then there are no deadlines, everything will depend on your property and financial situation, the bailiffs and the actions of the collector.

How much can I claim for moral damages?

I would like to say right away that the amount of the state duty will not depend on the amount of your claims. For a claim for moral damages, the amount of state duty will be three hundred rubles. Therefore, you can declare any amount you wish. However, we immediately warn that the judge significantly reduces the requirements and satisfies to the extent that he considers necessary the amount of moral damage actually suffered, which means that it is better to prepare well or contact me, as a specialist, this is what I do within the framework of this category of cases , or what a lawyer from our Law Office will do for you:

• will collect a suitable evidence base;
• will help with the assessment of moral damage;
• competently prepare a package of documents for submitting it to the court;
• will represent interests in court;
• prepare a list of questions for a possible forensic examination;
• question defense and prosecution witnesses;
• will recover payment for his legal services from the losing party in the dispute.

We should not forget that judges must be impartial in every case, but judges are the same people who simply hide their emotions under the guise of justice. An experienced lawyer knows all the nuances in the case of recovery of moral damages and will be able to not only competently prove its presence in the case, but also justify the amount of the stated claims so that the judge cannot significantly reduce them. Remember, you cannot hide any information from your lawyer. By contacting a lawyer, you not only receive highly qualified legal assistance, but also a loyal friend in the fight for justice in court.

Write in the comments if you have any questions, or call to schedule a personal consultation. Let's solve the problem together today!!!

What is better for the culprit: to compensate voluntarily before the trial or after?

To answer this question, you need to understand what kind of court we are talking about. There may be a trial under criminal article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for causing harm to life and health, or a civil claim for moral damages.

• In the first case, it is naturally better to pay before the trial through a settlement agreement, since this voluntary payment will be taken into account by the judge when making a sentence.
• With a civil lawsuit, things are a little more complicated. Before the legal dispute, you can discuss the amount with the victim and, if it is real, then pay. But if the victim declares some unrealistic amount of moral compensation, then you don’t have to pay, let him try to recover this money from you through the court.

Citizens who have never encountered courts or forced collection do not understand that after a trial it is sometimes extremely difficult to get money, which is why they are so frivolous about proposals for settlement agreements and payment of a smaller amount, but immediately.