Compensation for moral damage caused by armed aggression for the death of a family member: judicial practice

The article is devoted to the study of the possibility of compensation for moral damage caused by armed aggression due to the death of a family member. The judicial practice directly related to determining the amount of compensation for non-pecuniary damage caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine is analyzed. It is determined that for moral damage, it is more appropriate to use the category of “compensation” instead of “reimbursement” due to the fact that reimbursement refers to a payment of varying amounts, while the non-property sphere is not subject to precise calculation. During the study of domestic court decisions, it was found that when Ukraine is sued as a defendant in claims for compensation for damage caused by armed aggression through the death of a family member, the courts refuse to satisfy the claims. It is noted that the only available mechanism that is possible today is to file a lawsuit with national courts or the European Court of Human Rights, where the Russian Federation is the defendant. It has been established that there is no universal methodology for calculating moral damage, and its existence would cause problems in law enforcement. It has been determined that the amount of compensation for moral (non-pecuniary) damage is determined by the court depending on the nature and extent of the suffering (physical, emotional, mental, etc.) experienced by the person, the nature of the non-pecuniary losses (their duration, possibility of recovery, etc.) and taking into account other circumstances. It has been found that the criteria for calculating non-property damage caused by armed aggression in connection with the death of a family member are the existence of family ties and the degree of kinship, the intensity and duration of moral suffering, which includes the depth of grief, the presence of psychological disorders, changes in lifestyle, and the need for psychological support. It has been established that a problematic issue in the possibility of claiming compensation for moral damage caused by armed aggression for the death of a family member is the existence of family ties with the deceased person on the part of the claimant, which is determined by establishing the fact of permanent cohabitation as one family. An important aspect in proving the fact of cohabitation can be a preliminary agreement regulating family legal relations between individuals.