Khaberni - The Abu Dhabi Court for Family, Civil, and Administrative Affairs ruled that a young man has to pay another individual 5,000 AED in moral damages, following his conviction for invasion of privacy. This ruling complements a previous compensation awarded by the Criminal Court, which amounted to 20,000 AED.
The court also ruled that the defendant must pay the claimant 20,000 AED as temporary compensation, making the total financial penalty 45,000 AED. The punishment for the defendant included the deletion of his Snapchat account and a six-month ban from using the Internet.
In detail, a young man filed a lawsuit against another, demanding compensation of 50,000 AED for the material and moral damages incurred due to the violation of his privacy, which subjected him to contempt and suspicion among his workplace, relatives, and peers. He also demanded the coverage of court costs and legal fees, noting that the defendant filmed him in a public place while handling some amounts without his consent and posted the pictures on Snapchat.
He added that this incident caused him material and moral harm and prompted him to initiate criminal proceedings against the defendant, resulting in a conviction. The claimant refuted the defense's counterclaim, which alternatively requested compensation commensurate with the damage.
The court explained in its ruling that the criminal lawsuit proved the charge against the defendant of invading the victim's privacy by taking personal photos in a public place and publishing them on Snapchat without consent. The criminal court had already convicted the accused and punished him with a fine of 20,000 AED, the deletion of his Snapchat account, and a six-month internet ban, while ordering him to pay the claimant 20,000 AED as temporary compensation, and covering the civil lawsuit costs and court fees.
The court noted that the error the defendant was charged with was the same basis upon which the claimant established the present lawsuit. The criminal ruling definitively determined the occurrence of the act constituting the common ground between the criminal and civil claims, its legal description, and its attribution to the offender.
The court pointed out that according to the settled law of civil transactions (any harm to another obligates the perpetrator to compensation), the defendant's error was proven by the criminal judgment, and he had caused proven moral harm to the claimant, affecting emotions and feelings, and violating a confirmed right, which deserved compensation in completion of the temporary compensation previously awarded by the Criminal Court.
The court rejected the claimant's request for compensation for material damages, noting the absence of evidence to prove material harm caused by a mistake attributed to the defendant, and no proven elements of liability such as error, damage, and causation; thus, the claim for material compensation was unfounded legally. The court also found that the claimant's act of hiring an attorney did not constitute legally recognized material harm, as it was a unilateral act done voluntarily to strengthen his position in the dispute, without the defendant being obliged or responsible for it. The court ruled that the defendant must pay the claimant 5,000 AED in moral damages in addition to the previously awarded 20,000 AED, and cover the lawsuit expenses and attorney fees, rejecting all other claims.
