Moral Harm Compensation as a Remedy to Housing Rights
Authors:   Kazan Branch, Russian State University of Justice, Kazan, Russian Federation, Karyaginа Veronika S. 
Published: December 2021

Introduction. The increased interest in modern Russian legal science towards the problems of moral harm compensation, while having been resulted from the widespread use of this category within legislation and court practice, determines the need for its conceptual research within housing law due to its special significance for being a judicial remedy to housing rights, which is important not only for legal science in general, but also for regulatory enforcement, as well as for further improvement of housing legislation. Insufficient regulatory regulation of compensation for moral harm taking into account the specifics of housing law and the lack of a deep scientific theory has caused law enforcement difficulties in implementing this method of protecting housing rights. Theoretical Basis. Methods. The purpose of this paper is a comprehensive study of conceptual and practical challenges towards moral harm compensation as a remedy to housing rights, the study is based on the analysis of its scope and justification of universality for the protection of housing rights diverse in legal nature. The methodological basis of the paper consists of both general scientific methods (dialectical method, induction, deduction, analogy, analysis, synthesis) and special methods of scientific research – system and complex methods of scientific knowledge. System method allowed to consider the scope of moral harm compensation, it has made possible to determine the internal links of this method of housing rights protection with other elements of housing law system (other methods of remedy, contractual and non-contractual obligations, rights in rem, etc.). Complex methods allowed to make a comprehensive assessment and identify features of the application of moral harm compensation as a remedy to housing rights in different areas of housing relations, and also to determine its interdisciplinary nature. Results. The result of the study reflects the conclusion that industry characteristics of housing rights, due to the specificity of the object of housing rights, distinguish in most cases the derived nature of demands on moral harm compensation from claims for property damage caused to residential premises, and determine the suitability of the application of moral harm compensation to protect the property rights of parties within housing relations only in cases provided for in a law. Moral harm is an independent consequence of violation of housing rights of citizens, that is why it can be compensated independently, regardless of the presence of property damage or along with property damage. Discussion and Conclusion. Court practice reveals a small number of independent claims for moral harm compensation when housing rights are violated. The complex nature of subjective housing rights has revealed a close connection of some property rights of subjects of housing relations with personal non-property rights and intangible benefits, and thus creates the basis for claims for moral harm compensation. Considering the fact that the concept of “housing rights” is a collective notion combining subjective rights various by legal nature (constitutional, civil, social security rights, etc.), the object of which is a dwelling premise, then at that point the possibility to apply for their protection a moral harm compensation proves the interbranch nature of moral harm compensation as a remedy and the universality of its application for the purpose to restore violated housing rights.