Constitutional Court rejects compensation claim by cheated spouse against third party

The Constitutional Court has rejected the individual application of a complainant who was cheated on during their marriage and whose claim for non-pecuniary damages against a third party had been denied.

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Constitutional Court rejects compensation claim by cheated spouse against third party

A woman who claimed she was cheated on during her marriage filed a lawsuit for non-pecuniary damages against the woman she alleged was her legally wedded husband's lover, on the grounds that her "personal values were harmed."

The local court rejected the case. After failing to obtain results from her appeals, the woman filed an individual application with the Constitutional Court, claiming that her "right to respect for family life" had been violated following the rejection of her request for non-pecuniary damages from her husband's lover.

The Constitutional Court ruled that the applicant's "right to respect for family life," guaranteed under Article 20 of the Constitution, had not been violated.

The reasoning of the High Court will be written at a later date.

THE COURT OF CASSATION HAD THE FINAL SAY

While some courts had accepted lawsuits for non-pecuniary damages filed by spouses who claimed they were cheated on during their marriage against third parties, other courts had rejected them.

Due to the disagreement between decisions and the continuation of different practices, the matter was brought to the Court of Cassation with a request to resolve the conflict, and the Court of Cassation's Grand General Assembly for the Unification of Jurisprudence convened to examine the issue.

The decision of the Grand General Assembly, which ruled that a person cheated on while the marriage union is ongoing cannot demand non-pecuniary damages from their spouse's lover, was published in the Official Gazette on December 8, 2018.

The Court of Cassation had ruled that, in accordance with the provision in the 2nd paragraph of Article 174 of the Turkish Civil Code, "The party whose personal rights have been attacked due to events that caused the divorce may request that an appropriate amount of money be paid as non-pecuniary damages by the other party who is at fault," non-pecuniary damages can only be requested from the at-fault spouse and only through a divorce case.

The following findings were made in the reasoning:

"A third party who is not a party to the marriage union and therefore has no obligation of loyalty is not under an obligation to comply with the obligations arising from the marriage contract between the spouses.

Unless there is another violation of personal rights committed by the third party, it has been concluded and determined that it is not possible for the cheated spouse to demand non-pecuniary damages from the third party solely due to the act of being with a married person."

News Source: AA