Istanbul Court of Cassation orders man to compensate divorcing wife for overnight accommodation of friends
Oya Armutçu – ANKARA
The Court of Cassation has ruled that a married man’s hosting of his single friends as overnight guests, without prior approval from his wife, is a reason for divorce and compensation.
The Court of Cassation’s ruling, which may set a legal precedent, came after a woman in Istanbul filed for divorce on the grounds that her husband was gambling and also bringing his unmarried friends to their house as overnight guests, despite her repeated indications that she was uncomfortable with this situation.
The family court denied the woman’s request for compensation, saying her husband’s actions were not “an attack on her personal rights,” but it did agree to the divorce, finding the husband at fault for his actions.
Following the local court’s decision, both spouses appealed to the Turkey’s Court of Cassation: The man on the grounds that he was found at fault for ending the marriage, and the woman on the grounds that she did not receive non-pecuniary damages for her husband’s hosting of his friends.
The Court of Cassation approved the family court’s ruling for a divorce between the two but it reversed by a unanimous vote the lower’s courts ruling against non-pecuniary damages.
“It has been understood from the investigation conducted and evidence collected that the defendant gambles up to the ‘obsession’ point, thus putting his family in economic hardship, and lets his single friends stay overnight although the complainant indicated her discomfort. These actions amount to an attack on the complainant’s personal rights, requiring non-pecuniary damages. As a result, immaterial compensation of an appropriate amount is required on behalf of the complainant as per Article 174/2 of the Turkish Civil Code. The refusal of this demand is not found right,” the court said in its ruling, dated Oct. 29.
The same court also rejected the man’s appeal request.
