Khaberni - Two students bullied their peer inside a school in the UAE, where they beat and filmed him, causing him physical and psychological harm. The Al Ain Court for Civil, Commercial, and Administrative Claims ruled that the guardian of the second defendant, in his capacity as the guardian of his minor son, must compensate the assaulted student with an amount of 30,000 dirhams, after the plaintiff (the student's guardian) dropped the lawsuit against the first defendant.
In detail, a guardian of a student at a school in the city of Al Ain filed a lawsuit against the guardians of two students, demanding solidarity in compensating her with 500,000 dirhams for the material, psychological, and moral damage caused by their minor sons to hers. She indicated that the defendants' sons had bullied and physically assaulted her son inside the school and at home, and had been captured on video while beating him, resulting in damages including the victim feeling fear, mood swings, and inability to control his emotions. They were also convicted by a criminal court, and she provided a copy of the judgment issued in the personal affairs lawsuit of Al Ain and a copy of a medical report.
During the hearing of the lawsuit, the defendant requested to drop the lawsuit against the first defendant, limiting the lawsuit to the second defendant only, and the court granted this request.
The court explained in its reasoning that from reviewing the documents and evidence, including a photographic copy of the judgment convicting the defendant's son in the present lawsuit and another regarding the charge of assaulting the victim's bodily integrity in a public place and in view of the public, it is evident that the act which the criminal lawsuit was based on is the same one that the plaintiff relied on. Therefore, the court has conclusively decided on the occurrence of the act that forms the common basis between the criminal and civil lawsuits, and the legal characterization of this act and its attribution to the perpetrator.
Regarding the compensation request, the court noted that the fault of the defendant's son was proven, resulting in harm to the plaintiff's son, evident from the physical injuries in accordance with the criminal judgment supporting the lawsuit, which incapacitated him from personal activities for no more than 20 days and caused him psychological pain. Causality between the fault and harm was established, thus legally obligating the defendant to compensate the plaintiff for that harm. The court ruled to record the plaintiff's discontinuance of her lawsuit against the first defendant, imposed the costs of discontinuance on her, and obligated the second defendant to pay the plaintiff an amount of 30,000 dirhams as specified in the reasons, along with court costs.
