The Court of Cassation has issued a notable ruling regarding the secret monitoring of spouses' digital correspondence in divorce cases. In a mutual divorce case heard in Kayseri, a husband who monitored his wife's WhatsApp messages without her knowledge or consent was found to be heavily at fault.
According to a report by Türkiye Gazetesi, the wife filed for divorce, alleging that her husband was having an affair with another woman, subjected her to economic and physical violence, insulted her, and failed to fulfill his marital obligations. The husband filed a counter-suit, claiming that his wife had violated her duty of loyalty.
According to the case file, the husband monitored the wife's WhatsApp account on her phone via a web connection on his work computer and obtained the correspondence this way. The Kayseri 2nd Family Court determined that the correspondence was obtained without the wife's knowledge or consent.
The local court ruled for the divorce, finding the husband heavily at fault and the wife slightly at fault for the events leading to the divorce. The husband's counter-suit, based on the claim that his wife had committed adultery with another man, was rejected on the grounds that it could not be proven.
The Court of Cassation, which conducted the appeal review, also ruled that correspondence obtained through unlawful methods cannot be used as evidence. The decision emphasized that for evidence to be considered valid, it must be obtained through methods permitted by law.
The Court of Cassation found it appropriate to grant custody of the common child to the mother. Furthermore, it was decided that 500 thousand lira in pecuniary damages and 800 thousand lira in non-pecuniary damages be paid to the woman, along with child support for the common child.
News Source: 12punto
