Supreme Court Expressed Its Position as for Restitution of Moral Damage Caused due of Illegal Actions of Public Authority

Restitution of moral damage caused with illegal decisions, actions or inactivity of public authorities, bodies of local self-government, is aimed at compensation of caused damages for victim, as well as prevention of commitment of such actions by public authority in future, particularly, by means of performing precautionary measures for upgrading the execution of their functions for the protection human rights and interests.

Such opinion is provided in a judgment of the Supreme Court adopted after consideration of an administrative case in cassation procedure under the claim to the Office of the Executive Directorate of the Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases Social Insurance Fund of Ukraine.

The essence of dispute consisted of the fact, that the Office of the Executive Directorate of the Fund refused the plaintiff to issue his dossier regarding which a resolution on insurance payment had been adopted (with the possibility to make necessary copies), as well as provided written replies to a range of the plaintiff’s questions considered by him as formal reply with no real answer. The plaintiff asked to recognize such a reply as wrongful, to oblige the defendant to provide him with specific answers to each question, to recover moral damage from the defendant.

The Supreme Court represented by the panel of judges of the Administrative Cassation Court cancelled the judgments of first and appeal instance courts, which had refused to satisfy the claim, and adopted a new resolution, with which the claim was satisfied partially.

The Court had analyzed Part 3 of Article 32 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the laws of Ukraine “On Information”, “On Mandatory State Social Insurance against Industrial Accident and Occupational Disease that Caused Disability” (in valid version as of the moment of appearing the disputable legal relations) and noted the following.

There are no reasons to consider the information about the insured person (victim) kept in his/her dossier like one, which represents state secret or one, which for other reasons may not be provided for an individual, to whom it concerns, for his perusal.

If because of the violation of right to freedom of information an individual suffered from material or moral damage, he is authorized to get compensation under a judgment. The citizen, under his claim and in procedure established by current law, may receive the compensation of moral damage caused by illegal actions or decisions of a body or official while considering the claim. The amount of restitution of moral (non-pecuniary) damages in monetary terms shall be determined by court.

Therefore, because of long-term, more than 15 years, failure to consider the plaintiff’s claim in a proper way, failure to provide him with clear and understandable, justified and comprehensive reply as for it, which had caused the necessity of multiple applications to courts, executive service and had led to the violation of the plaintiff’s rights and interests, including the right to information, as well as taking into account his health status and age, the Supreme Court represented by the panel of judges of the Administrative Cassation Court concluded that the plaintiff had suffered from moral damage, which should be recovered from the defendant.

Resolution of the Supreme Court of 15 August 2019 in the case No. 823/782/16 (administrative proceeding No. К/9901/13886/18) – http://www.reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/83692196.