Protect honor, dignity and business reputation. Ways to protect honor, dignity and business reputation. The concept of honor, dignity and business reputation

27.04.2020

Every citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to protect his honor, dignity and business reputation. More specifically, about the very concepts of these benefits, as well as about ways to protect them in judicial order or we will talk about the conditions for compensation for moral harm in our article.

Honor in civil society, it is customary to call the social and ethical assessment on the part of society, which determines the measure of the spiritual and social qualities of a person. Dignity of a person is the representation of one's own value as a person, and is recognized by the state for all members of society, without excluding the recognition of the merits of some over others to a greater or lesser extent. Business reputation- there is an objective opinion of society about a particular citizen or legal entity. The business reputation of a person is determined by the level of his professionalism, and legal entity- the level and assessment of its type of activity, taking into account legal status organizations.

Honor, dignity and business reputation are social and legal values that occupy an important place in the life of any state and society. As well as, the concepts of honor, dignity and business reputation are directly related to legal institution, and in case of their loss or limitation, they reduce a certain status in legal relations with other subjects. From a civil law point of view, the concepts of honor, dignity and business reputation are intangible social benefits, the protection of which is an important duty of the state, which establishes a ban on encroachment on these benefits with the provision of judicial protection if they have been violated. An individual or legal entity endowed with certain rights receives from the state a system of guarantees that allows them to exercise these rights on the terms of legality in the Russian Federation, as well as providing for the responsibility of obligated persons. The right to protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is enshrined in Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, according to which every citizen has the right to demand a refutation of information that has discredited his honor, dignity or business reputation, except in cases where the disseminator of information can provide an evidence base for the validity of the information disseminated by him.

Important! The right to refute defamatory information exists, regardless of the method of dissemination of information.

Protection of the honor and dignity of a citizen, at the request of interested parties, may also arise in the event of his death, thereby allowing him to preserve the reputation and good name of the citizen's family and other subjects of legal relations.

In what cases should one go to court to protect honor, dignity and reputation?

All able-bodied citizens and legal entities can apply to the court for the protection of their rights, in the event that a claim is filed by minors or incapacitated persons, their interests in court must be represented by their legal representatives (parents, guardians, etc.). In a number of cases that require the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, perhaps, first of all, it is worth noting the dissemination of information that discredits the honor and dignity of a particular citizen or organization from the point of view of public opinion. The defamatory accusations include:

in illegal receipt of funds;
in nationalistic statements;
in violation of family debt;
in slander;
in committing a crime;
in professional dishonesty;
in insulting the honor of a woman, etc.

All this and other information can be considered false information if the fact of their reliability (presumption of integrity) has not been established.

The current Russian legislation does not currently provide for a complete ban on defamation - the disclosure of reliable information that leads to the oppression of a person (for example, the dissemination of information that a person has AIDS). Accordingly, in the event of any case regarding the dissemination of truthful information that discredits the honor, dignity and reputation of a citizen, the Russian judicial authorities will not be able to hold the distributor liable. The dissemination of information discrediting the honor, dignity and business reputation of a citizen or legal entity through the media can be of two types:

Information that is communicated directly to the person to whom they are directly related is not distribution.
Information disseminated through anonymous letters and statements - the victim has the right to protect his interests in court (Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

When considering a statement of claim, the court establishes: whether there was a dissemination of discrediting information, whether the information is reliable and discredits your honor and dignity.

In accordance with Art. 208 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the limitation period does not apply to claims for the protection of non-property rights, in particular, honor, dignity and business reputation. That is, the protection of these benefits can be carried out even after the death of a citizen, as well as after the termination of the activities of a legal entity.

If the person who disseminated information discrediting honor, dignity and business reputation has not been identified, on the basis of paragraph 8 of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the victim has every right to apply to the court with a claim for recognition of the disseminated information as untrue. Failure to comply with a court decision entails penalties in the amount and in the manner prescribed by law, fines are collected from the violator in income Russian Federation. In addition, paragraph 9 of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for the possibility of compensating the injured person for moral damage and losses that were caused as a result of the dissemination of defamatory information.

Ways to protect honor, dignity and business reputation

The civil law of the Russian Federation (Articles 151 - 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation) provides for two ways to protect honor, dignity and business reputation:

Refutation, that is, bringing relevant information about the recognition by the court of previously disseminated information as untrue.
Compensation for moral damage (compensation), with recognition of the infliction of moral and physical suffering to the injured person.

Untrue information disseminated through the media must be refuted by the same sources. Inaccurate information contained in any document originating from the organization can be removed by replacing, revoking or destroying the document. Other situations regarding the refutation of information that discredits honor, dignity and business reputation are established in court (clause 2 of article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Also, it is worth noting that in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and art. 46 of the Law "On funds mass media”, a citizen whose rights and interests have been infringed through the dissemination of false information, has the right to publish his response to the disseminated information in the same media. In cases where false information was disseminated through book publications, the release of this product may be terminated by a court decision. Compensation for moral damage (compensation) is one of the ways to protect honor, dignity and reputation, and, like, is determined by the court in accordance with the civil procedural legislation of the Russian Federation. Based on Art. 1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the plaintiff has the right to receive satisfaction of his claim for compensation for moral damage. The procedure for compensation is determined by Articles 151 and 1101 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the amount of compensation directly depends on the degree of guilt of the offender, taking into account the moral and physical suffering caused to the injured person. Compensation for non-pecuniary damage is carried out only in cash.

Note that moral damage can only be compensated for individuals!

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides grounds for compensation for moral damage, which is recovered in court, in particular:

in cases of violation of personal non-property rights, as well as encroachments on intangible benefits (honor, dignity and business reputation);
in cases of dissemination of information discrediting the honor, dignity and business reputation of a citizen.

Statements of claim demanding compensation for moral damage do not have a statute of limitations, since they are the result of violations of personal non-property rights and other intangible benefits (clause 1, article 208 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Judicial protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

Judicial protection of intangible benefits of citizens and legal entities, in particular, their honor, dignity and business reputation is a system of legislative measures aimed at protecting human rights and freedoms, as well as at eliminating their consequences. The right to judicial protection is considered as a subjective constitutional right of an individual or legal entity, which is realized in civil proceedings by a number of powers.

Based legislative framework RF, any person interested in protecting their rights and interests has the right to apply to the court, including with a claim to refute the disseminated information that does not correspond to reality and discredits honor, dignity and business reputation.

In accordance with Art. 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, all cases on claims for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation are initiated in general order established by law. When considering a statement of claim, the plaintiff, for his part, must prove that the fact of dissemination of discrediting information took place, and the defendant, in turn, must prove the accuracy of the information disseminated by him. It should be noted that a court decision can be executed already during the period of acceptance and consideration of a civil case, including claims for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. Thus, the court may prohibit the further dissemination of information discrediting the honor and dignity of the plaintiff even before the final decision is made. At the same time, the court must take all measures to resolve the dispute, without prejudice to the rights and legitimate interests of all parties.

Irina

Good afternoon! The group was photographed in kindergarten. The children were photographed in various poses. My child is the only one kneeling in the group shot, the rest of the children are sitting or standing. Can I sue for insulting the honor and dignity of a minor child?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Irina! In the fact you voiced, there is no violation of the honor and dignity of the child and there are no judicial prospects for the case, since you will not prove that the child was deliberately put on his knees in order to humiliate.

Anita

Hello. I have a question concerning the protection of honor and dignity. Dog rabies outbreaks have been reported in one locality. A Veterinarian was sent to the neighboring one for a general vaccination, while there were warnings, but the administration did not consider it necessary to post an announcement. An incident has occurred. The drunk Veterinarian went around the yards and broke into houses, caught animals by force. He hit the old man and left. On the street he was met by the son of this man and hit him back. The veterinarian wrote a statement and removed the beatings. He also wrote to the newspaper before the trial about what happened to him, without indicating the names of those who beat him, but gave indications of the place where they live. Will the claim be satisfied if it is filed against a veterinarian for defamatory information before a court decision?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello! There are no grounds for filing a claim for the protection of honor and dignity, since the fact of beating the veterinarian took place and therefore there is no slander or defamatory information in such a newspaper article. This elderly man should have filed a complaint with the police about the beatings himself.

Andrew

Hello. One person receives provocative messages on the phone. This man and his wife believe that I am sending these messages. To file a claim for the protection of honor and dignity, as far as I understand, does not make sense, since statements that I send messages are not public, but occur in private conversations. Is there any way I can initiate an investigation to establish that I am not the one writing the messages? Thanks in advance.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Andrey! There is nothing illegal in writing such messages, at least, forming a crime or an administrative offense. Therefore, start some kind of verification by the authorities state power on this basis will not work. You can privately conduct such an investigation or hire a private detective, subject to strict compliance with applicable law on their part.

Marina

I had a conflict in the store with an individual entrepreneur when trying to return a low-quality product. My request to provide information about the product, give me a complaint book, provide information about the individual entrepreneur, was refused. In addition, the seller said that henceforth I would be denied service in this store. During the conflict, the seller filmed me on camera mobile phone. Later it turned out that the specified individual entrepreneur lives in the house next door to me. Somehow, information about where I live, my place of work, my full name became known to the specified person, and a letter with a description of our conflict came to my work in the name of the manager. At the same time, the letter contained information discrediting me, in particular, that I was in a state of alcoholic intoxication. Does it make sense to go to court?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Marina! If the information contained in the appeal of the IP is true, then there are no grounds for going to court. You have the right to defend your honor and dignity when disseminating defamatory information about you, that is, those that do not correspond to reality. Therefore, you need to analyze the whole situation and determine exactly where is the lie and where is the truth.

Anna

Fellow students in the general chat accused me of "squealing", because. I came to class alone, although we did not agree not to come. In the correspondence, they used obscenities, insults against me, threats of further reprisals. Can this be considered a violation of the rights of honor and dignity?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Anna! These actions are undoubtedly an insult to your honor and dignity if obscene words were used. Therefore, from the point of view of the law, the truth is on your side.

Svetlana

Sergey, thank you very much for your answer! I would also like to clarify - in my actions (I left the voice recorder to record someone else's conversation and left), definitely not illegal actions?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Svetlana! It depends on what the interlocutors were talking about during the conversation. If from the content of the conversation you can see information constituting a personal or family secret, then there are signs of a crime.

Svetlana

Hello! We have one employee at work who spreads rumors discrediting my honor and dignity. She tells everyone that I write reports and reports to the authorities about everyone, that is, I am engaged in denunciations. The situation in the team has developed such that almost everyone shy away from me and does not want to communicate. This gossip herself does not say anything to my face and does not make contact and direct conversation with me. One of our employees told me about this while I was on sick leave for two weeks. When I left the hospital, I decided to make sure of all this and secretly left the recorder in the office where we work together and left for 2 hours at work. When she returned, everyone went to lunch and I took out the recorder and listened to what she was talking about with the second employee. I was convinced that she was telling a lie about me , she also talked about my personal life with mockery. The question is, can I, as evidence, attach this voice recorder to a libel statement, I’m going to file it with the police and the court? And another question is whether my actions are legal, which I decided to achieve the truth in this way? Maybe I also broke the law by secretly using a voice recorder? And if I did, then what punishment could I get for it later? I simply could not imagine any other way. I have only one witness and a voice recorder. Thanks in advance for your reply!

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Svetlana! If you really did not write any reports and memorandums, then you can try to file an application to the libel court. But you will have to prove that this false information discredits honor and dignity. It is also necessary to study the content of the dictaphone recording, whether it will help in substantiating the claim. You can attach a voice recorder. There are no violations in your actions, since you collected information that was not related to the personal or family secret of a person.

Alexander

In one of the groups social network Vkontakte, a certain person, published a record telling that I had committed the theft of money. However, the author of the entry disguised a direct reference to me by replacing the letter in my last name (name, name, birth date and other information about me were not written). Is it possible to go to court in such a situation? If, in fact, the author, replacing the letter in my last name, means me, as I think ... Will the court refuse the claim against the author of the entry?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello, Alexander! In this situation, since other data identifying you are not indicated, it will be very difficult to prove that the information about the theft concerns you. The court will likely dismiss your claim.

Ilya

Hello. Tell me how to be. On my behalf, someone wrote a statement about checking the school to the prosecutor's office. The check passed, the data was confirmed, but only clarifications were given on them. I wrote to the police a complaint under Art. 152. Civil Code of the Russian Federation with a request to find the person who did this and bring to justice. Tell me, did I do everything right? Or is there no point in doing it?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Ilya! There is nothing offensive in the fact that someone on your behalf wrote an application for verification, which humiliated your honor and dignity, business reputation. The courts most likely will not find anything illegal in this. But the grounds for judicial protection may appear depending on the specific content of the application written on your behalf.

Olga

Good evening! Tell me, can I sue and protect honor and dignity against the curator of my son's group, who told the teachers that we had a dysfunctional family, told me that my child was abnormal and that she would gladly expel him from college. At the same time, she specifically provided the child with incorrect information about the dates of offsets, etc. Also in an official letter to me, the curator calls my son first by one name, then by the second and even by the third. And there are two letters. At the same time, the apartment number is incorrectly indicated in them, and it turns out that the letters reached me late.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Olga! There is nothing illegal in these actions of the curator of the group. In one case, she expresses her value judgment, which is not prohibited by law. In another case, an error in the execution of documents may simply have been made, which is also not a violation of the law.

Alyona

Good afternoon. It's a very unfortunate situation at work. The director, my ex-girlfriend, as it turned out today, invited me to work as her deputy. Today, after a year of my work, she directly demands to be released workplace or move to a lower position, motivating her by the fact that she is tired, that I constantly set her up, openly says to my face that I am illiterate, incompetent, do not fulfill official duties. In response, I told her to explain in writing to me my incompetence, illiteracy, and what job duties I do not perform. What did she start doing? I explain, I do not take the whole vacation at once, but I take the days on account of the vacation, since there is also a personal life. So the main reason is that I take days. Weaves intrigues behind my back with girlfriends of teachers that I am not competent, etc.. Encourages teachers to write reports on me in which they directly accuse me of incompetence and failure to fulfill my duties. Creates commissions so that I can sign acts on these reports in front of these witnesses. For my part, I began to write reports on teachers who, throughout my work, did not always fulfill their official duties and are not fulfilling at the moment, to whom I constantly made concessions and postponed the deadlines, did not write reports on them, tried to solve professional planning issues , reporting, student progress logs, etc., so for my memorandum director my friend does not take explanatory notes from those who do not perform and does not collect commissions on familiarization. Such actions are shown only in my direction. Work for every citizen means a lot. For me, this is the main means of existence. this work so it turned out that today it is the basis for ensuring my and my family's normal life activities. The director created such an unbearable environment and atmosphere, my life turned into hell. I do not know what to do!?

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Alena! Legal advice will be of no use to you, since the basis of the problem is not a legal, but a personal conflict. And jurisprudence should be involved in assessing the legitimacy of specific actions of the boss and other employees.

Oksana Ivanova

Good afternoon. In one of the communities on the Internet, a dispute ensued with a girl. There were barbs from both sides. But this girl did not stop there and switched her insults to her family - a child and a spouse. Is there a prospect for my appeal to the court and how to formalize it correctly. The defamatory message itself is attached as a screenshot. I will make a reservation right away - my husband is the father of the child. For this, you don’t even need to conduct a DNA examination, she is a copy of dad and grandfather.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Oksana! In the actions of the second girl, one can see the presence of slander, but for a judicial perspective in court, it will be necessary to examine your family and intimate life in order to make sure that the statement is deliberately false. If you are ready for this, then you can file a lawsuit in court for the protection of honor and dignity and for the refutation of the information published by the second girl. You need to go to a notary and fix the text of the correspondence on the Internet.

Olga

Good day. Such situation. From a fake page, my photo was posted in a group of sex services. They also posted a link to my account. As a result, men began to write to me. How can I hold this person accountable. And what should be the order of my actions. Where do I go to write a statement and, accordingly, to the court. I left a complaint about the fake page and the post in the group on VK. Zero reactions. thanks in advance

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Olga! You first need to determine who exactly performed these actions. Without contacting the police, his identity cannot be established. Only the police can request from the administrator of the group or the VK network itself information about the IP addresses of the fake page.

Alexander Yakovlevich

Good day! In 2016, he participated in the elections to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg on the regional list from one of the parties. A conviction under Article 159, part 1-2, has long been removed, but I submitted the information. At the same time, in the ballot opposite my name it was indicated that I committed a crime as part of a group of persons, which does not comply with the articles. three years earlier I had been elected a municipal deputy and there the articles were simply listed in the ballot. Question: what is the prospect of the case if I sue the City Council for publishing false slanderous information in the ballot that negatively affected my honor, dignity and business reputation, and even the voting results. The prospect of compensation for non-pecuniary damage. Thank you

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Alexander Yakovlevich! The prospect of a successful resolution of the case is small, since the court will first of all pay attention to the fact that information about the existence of a criminal record was actually indicated and, therefore, there is no fact of dissemination of discrediting information that does not correspond to reality. It is possible to consider the option of bringing election commission employees to administrative responsibility for violating the electoral legislation, but in this case, you need to carefully look at the deadlines, since it is possible that the limitation period for bringing to responsibility has already passed.

Oksana

Good afternoon! The situation is rather banal. Relationships between children were discussed at the parents' meeting. I’ll make a reservation right away that an unfavorable situation has been developing for several years. Parents were urged to pay attention to this, several cases were cited that required increased attention. As a result of the meeting, a complaint was filed against the parent committee to the school administration that such conversations caused irreparable moral damage to the children; the children were not present at the meeting, and there was no personal contact of the parent committee with them. At the moment, the parents of the children that the behavior was discussed are threatening to sue. Tell me how to act in this situation. Thank you in advance for your response.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Oksana! If truthful information was reported and without insults and humiliation of the dignity of children and their parents, then the claim will be denied. Yes, and touchy parents will have to prove the fact of humiliation of honor and dignity, which will be quite problematic to do.

Nikolai Glotov

Does my appeal to the court with a claim for the protection of my honor, dignity and business reputation have any judicial prospect if a citizen applies to a higher state authority in this form. Given the fact that everything she wrote about is not true.

Sergey (senior lawyer)

Hello Nikolay! Judicial prospects are unfavorable, since there is no main sign of honor and dignity protected in court: publicity. The appeal of a citizen became known only to employees of a higher body of state power. In addition, the places you underlined can be regarded as value judgments of a citizen, in other words, her own opinion.

Citizens, entrepreneurs and legal entities have the right to defend their honor or business reputation only in court. The injured party does not have to present exculpatory arguments. However, she is obliged to show that the information discredits her good name and is distributed by a specific person / company. The detailed procedure is described in the article.

The legislation of the Russian Federation does not provide specific definitions of any of these concepts. However, in practice it is generally accepted that:

Honour- this is a public assessment of a particular person, a characteristic of his traits as a personality, behavior, qualities of character, worldview attitudes.
Dignity- This is a person's self-esteem of these same qualities. At the same time, dignity is recognized both by society and the state.
Business reputation- this is an assessment by society of the professional qualities of a person, his knowledge and skills as an employee.

The concept of business reputation in equally applies to both individuals and companies, individual entrepreneurs. It is assumed that a legal entity can only have a business reputation, while individuals have both a business reputation and a personal one. As for honor and dignity, they can only characterize a specific person, not an organization.

Thus, the above concepts describe the spiritual and moral characteristics of people and indicators of the company's professionalism. Together they form spiritual rights, which are not directly related to material ones, but have many connections with them.

Expert opinion

Sobolev Dmitry

For example, a person has the right to a good name. If this norm is violated, he risks facing problems in the field of professional development, relationships with creditors. This makes it worse in the long run. financial position, i.e. violates substantive rights.

The legislative framework

Every citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to protect his own honor, dignity and good name, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.

Other legislative acts specify the methods and procedure for the protection of honor.

The Civil Code defines the described concepts as the intangible benefits of a person, which he acquires by birthright. That is, "by default" every person and company has a good name, are considered "good" unless proven otherwise. The described intangible benefits cannot be alienated and are not inherited or realized in any other way. However, they can be violated in various ways by individuals, entrepreneurs or companies.

What can be the harm to honor, dignity and business reputation

Non-material (spiritual) rights can only be inflicted with non-material harm, which, however, does not exclude material and financial consequences. The damage to the honor of a person or the reputation of a company or individual entrepreneur is that the person concerned disseminates defamatory information about him, i.e. deliberately false information of a negative nature.

Such information is transmitted to a large circle of people, which creates a negative perception of a person or company in society, a certain group, in front of relatives, clients, in the region or the state as a whole. At the same time, such data is distributed precisely in the media (TV, newspapers, the Internet, etc.).

As a result, the injured party receives or risks receiving both moral and material damage:

job loss;
detention;
loss of reputation
breaking ties with business partners;
damage to a trademark, brand;
decline in sales and much more.

When determining harm caused by defamatory information, generally accepted legal principles apply:

presumption of good faith.
Presumption of innocence.

These principles mean that each person and each company is not obliged to prove their good name and reputation, which originally belongs to them. When certain negative information is received, only the party that disseminated such information is obliged to prove its veracity. The subject himself is not obliged to justify himself and prove the falsity of the received data, although he has the right to do this at his own discretion.

Expert opinion

Sobolev Dmitry

Lawyer for administrative offenses, site expert

The buyer insists that the store sells expired products. He disseminated the data through a publication in a local newspaper. In this case, the store is not required to prove that the information is false. However, the company has the right to apply to the court and demand a refutation of this information.

Methods and procedure for protecting honor, dignity and business reputation: a sample statement of claim

The Civil Code provides judicial restoration violated rights by:

refutation of false information in the same way that it was originally spread;
(for individuals only).

Both measures can be applied both jointly and separately - the final decision remains with the court. Thus, the only way to restore one's honor or reputation is to go to court with a demand to refute the widespread negative information. The parties can also come to the same agreement in a pre-trial procedure by concluding a settlement agreement, which has full legal force.

Protection is implemented in courts of general jurisdiction (for citizens) and in arbitration courts(for individual entrepreneurs and legal entities). as a plaintiff both a private citizen and a representative of a company, organization, community or entrepreneur can speak. It is important to understand that a person has the right to protect a good name both during life and after death. Therefore, the heirs of deceased citizens whose good name has been damaged (including after death) can also apply to the court.

As a defendant are:

the authors themselves, who compiled false materials, denunciations, photos, videos, etc.;
persons disseminating this information (for example, citizens or newspapers, owners of websites and other media).

The statement of claim has a standard structure and contains the following sections:

"Hat" with the name of the court, full name, address, contact details of the plaintiff and defendant.
Detailed description of the situation.
Claims - refutation of false information and compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
Applications.
Date, signature, transcript of the signature.

When drawing up an application, you can focus on such a sample.

It is important to understand that the plaintiff can also demand the restoration of his good name in cases where it is impossible to establish the author of false rumors due to objective reasons (or this author has died, gone missing, etc.). In this case, the party is also not obliged to prove its good faith, i.e. there is no need to provide documents that confirm its positive business reputation.

The statute of limitations for such cases is 3 years. If the plaintiff claims damages in connection with the publication of false information in the media, the limitation period is 1 year. This period begins from the moment when the victim learned about the dissemination of defamatory information or should have known about it. If there are good reasons (illness, other emergency circumstances), the terms can be restored: only the court has the right to make the appropriate decision.

Review of jurisprudence: 10 conclusions

Arbitrage practice in such cases is quite varied. Statistics show that claims are heard annually on 5,000 lawsuits from citizens and 800 lawsuits from individual entrepreneurs and legal entities. At the same time, judges tend to be guided by the explanations of the highest authority.

When resolving disputes, it is necessary to pay attention not only to Russian legislation, but also to the rulings of the European Court and other international documents.
Claims should also be considered in cases where the author cannot be identified (anonymous notes, negative information on the Internet, etc.).
If an entrepreneur or a company is a participant in the process, but the case is not related to economic activity, it is considered in the courts of general jurisdiction.
A preliminary requirement for the author to refute false data is not necessary - each person has the right to immediately go to court.
If defamatory information is disseminated by an employee of the company (in connection with his performance professional duties), then this company as a legal entity will be the defendant. At the same time, the employee himself can act as a third party, provided that he does not have a personal interest in the case.
If there are signs of a crime in the actions of the author of the false information, the victim may demand the initiation of a criminal case. Refusal to initiate does not deprive him of the right to appeal to a civil court.
The court must be convinced of the fact of dissemination of information by a specific person. The injured party must prove this fact. She must also prove the fact that this information is defamatory.
False information is information that has not been proven to exist. They cannot include information contained in court documents (determinations, decisions, sentences).
Discrediting is information not only about a violation of the law by a person, but about the commission of an unethical, immoral act by him, which is not formally prohibited by law.
In some cases, the media are released from liability for the dissemination of such data. All these cases are prescribed in the relevant law, and their list is exhaustive.

The constitutional rights of every citizen are guaranteed the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, they are protected by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is reflected in Article 23, in the Civil Code in Article 152, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in Article 128.1 slander. In case of violation of the human right to the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, everyone has the right to apply to the court and law enforcement to restore the violated right.
The legislation itself does not give a clear definition of what the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is. But from practice, one can draw conclusions from what it is, honor, dignity and business reputation, and accordingly draw a conclusion how to protect and what to protect.

Dignity is, first of all, a person's self-esteem

Honor is an assessment on the part of the society of the person himself

business reputation is business qualities person or legal entity

Violation of human rights to protect honor, dignity and business reputation can be expressed for various reasons:

Civil Code of the Russian Federation Article 152. Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

1. A citizen has the right to demand in court a refutation of information discrediting his honor, dignity or business reputation, if the person who disseminated such information does not prove that it is true. The refutation must be made in the same way that information about the citizen was disseminated, or in another similar way.
At the request of interested persons, the protection of the honor, dignity and business reputation of a citizen is allowed even after his death.
2. Information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen and disseminated in the media must be refuted in the same media. A citizen, in respect of whom the said information has been disseminated in the media, has the right to demand, along with a refutation, also the publication of his answer in the same media.

3. If information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen is contained in a document emanating from an organization, such a document is subject to replacement or revocation.
4. In cases where information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen has become widely known and in connection with this the refutation cannot be brought to everyone's attention. general information, a citizen has the right to demand the removal of the relevant information, as well as the suppression or prohibition of the further dissemination of the specified information by seizing and destroying, without any compensation, copies of material media containing the specified information, made for the purpose of introducing into civil circulation, if without the destruction of such copies of material media deletion of the relevant information is not possible.
5. If information that discredits the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen becomes available on the Internet after their dissemination, the citizen has the right to demand the removal of the relevant information, as well as the refutation of the specified information in a way that ensures that the refutation is brought to the attention of Internet users.
6. The procedure for refuting information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen, in other cases, except for those specified in paragraphs 2-5 of this article, is established by the court.
7. The application to the violator of measures of responsibility for non-execution of a court decision does not relieve him of the obligation to perform the action provided for by the court decision.
8. If it is impossible to identify the person who has disseminated information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen, the citizen in respect of whom such information has been disseminated has the right to apply to the court for recognition of the disseminated information as untrue.
9. A citizen in respect of whom information is disseminated that discredits his honor, dignity or business reputation, along with the refutation of such information or the publication of his answer, has the right to demand compensation for losses and compensation for moral damage caused by the dissemination of such information.
10. The rules of paragraphs 1 - 9 of this article, with the exception of the provisions on compensation for moral damage, may also be applied by the court to cases of dissemination of any information about a citizen that does not correspond to reality, if such a citizen proves that the indicated information does not correspond to reality. The limitation period for claims made in connection with the dissemination of the said information in the mass media is one year from the date of publication of such information in the relevant mass media.
11. The rules of this article on the protection of the business reputation of a citizen, with the exception of the provisions on compensation for moral damage, respectively apply to the protection of the business reputation of a legal entity.
The main concept for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is the dissemination of information about a person or company that does not correspond to reality.

To restore honor, dignity and business reputation, a person and a company have several ways to restore their right:

Civil law relations (court, claim, etc.)

Public refutation of information that discredits honor, dignity and business reputation

Moral injury

Criminal liability

Compensation or payment of non-pecuniary damage is made in court under Articles 151, 1099, 1101 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. To compensate for damage to protect the honor of dignity and business reputation, both a citizen and a legal entity can apply to the court at any time, since on the basis of Article 208 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, there are no deadlines for these actions.

Civil Code Article 208. Claims to which the limitation period does not apply

The limitation period does not apply to:
requirements for the protection of personal non-property rights and other intangible benefits, except as provided by law;
requirements of depositors to the bank for the issuance of deposits;
claims for compensation for harm caused to the life or health of a citizen. However, claims filed after the expiration of three years from the date of the emergence of the right to compensation for such damage shall be satisfied for the past time no more than three years preceding the filing of a claim, with the exception of cases provided for in federal law dated March 6, 2006 N 35-FZ "On Counteracting Terrorism";
the demands of the owner or other possessor for the elimination of any violations of his right, even if these violations were not connected with deprivation of possession (Article 304);
other requirements in cases established by law.
The victim may also claim lost profits in connection with information that discredits honor, dignity and business reputation, under Article 15 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Civil Code of the Russian Federation Article 15. Compensation for damages
1. A person whose right has been violated may demand full compensation for the losses caused to him, unless the law or the contract provides for compensation for losses in a smaller amount.
2. Losses are understood as expenses that a person whose right has been violated has made or will have to make to restore the violated right, loss or damage to his property (actual damage), as well as lost income that this person would have received under normal conditions of civil circulation, if his right had not been violated (lost profit).
If the person who violated the right received income as a result of this, the person whose right was violated has the right to demand compensation, along with other losses, for lost profits in an amount not less than such income.
In order to restore his violated right in honor, dignity and business reputation, a citizen has the right to apply to law enforcement agencies to initiate a criminal case under Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and bring the perpetrators to criminal liability due to slander.

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation article 128.1. Slander

1. Libel, that is, the dissemination of deliberately false information that discredits the honor and dignity of another person or undermines his reputation, is punishable by a fine in the amount of up to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to six months, or by compulsory works for a period of up to one hundred and sixty hours.
2. Libel contained in a public speech, publicly demonstrated work or mass media, - shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to one million rubles, or in the amount of the wage or salary, or any other income of the convicted person for a period of up to one year, or by compulsory works for a term of up to two hundred and forty hours.
3. Libel committed with the use of one's official position, - shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to 2 million rubles, or in the amount of the wage or salary, or any other income of the convicted person for a period of up to two years, or by compulsory labor for a term of up to 320 hours.

4. Slander that a person suffers from a disease that poses a danger to others, as well as slander combined with accusing a person of committing a crime of a sexual nature - up to three years or compulsory works for up to four hundred hours.
5. Libel combined with accusing a person of committing a grave or especially grave crime, Shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to five million rubles, or in the amount of the wage or salary, or any other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three years, or by compulsory labor for a term of up to 480 hours.
From the above norms it can be seen that the legislator clearly regulates the responsibility and rights to protect honor, dignity and business reputation.

Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation — a procedure aimed at restoring a person's good name. Everyone has such a right in the event of harm as a result of the disclosure of discrediting information that does not correspond to reality. Read more about ways to protect honor and dignity in this article.

Protection of the honor and dignity of a citizen

Protection of honor and good name is the constitutional right of every Russian, regardless of age, gender, nationality, official position and other characteristics. This provision is enshrined in article 23 of the country's basic law and is duplicated by many regulatory legal acts. In particular, Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation guarantees citizens judicial protection of honor, dignity and business reputation.

What is honor, dignity and business reputation?

honor - an assessment of a person from the point of view of its perception by society, based on the social and spiritual qualities of a person;
dignity, on the contrary, means self-esteem, that is, a person's idea of himself as a person and an assessment of his own value;
business reputation is a category that applies mainly to legal entities, but is also fair for citizens in terms of recognizing professional and personal qualities person in the aggregate.

How can damage to the honor and dignity of a citizen be expressed?

As follows from the provision of Article 152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, harm to honor, dignity or business reputation consists in the dissemination of discrediting information about a person. How such information is disseminated is irrelevant.

The main condition for the emergence of the right to protect honor, dignity and business reputation is the discrepancy between the disclosed information and reality.

Important: the obligation to prove the accuracy of the information lies with the person who disseminated it. At the same time, in this case, the principle of the presumption of innocence is fully in effect, that is, discrediting information is considered a priori false until the opposite is proven in a judicial or other manner prescribed by law.

A typical example is the disclosure of information that reveals a person to have committed a crime. In such a situation, despite the obviousness of the correctness of the disseminator of information, without a court conviction that has entered into force, it is regarded as untrue.

Ways to protect honor, dignity and business reputation

Civil law protection of honor (as well as dignity and business reputation) implies 2 types of consequences of its application:

public refutation of discrediting information;
compensation for moral harm caused to a citizen as a result of the dissemination of false information about him.

At the same time, one does not exclude the other, that is, the court, depending on the specific circumstances, has the right to apply both sanctions to the violator.

How to ensure compensation for moral damage?

If in order to achieve a refutation of discrediting information, it is enough to prove their falsity, then compensation for moral harm is allowed only if the victim is inflicted with physical or moral suffering.

In the case of infringements on honor and dignity, we can only talk about moral suffering, which is very difficult to confirm and even more so evaluate. The wording of the legislation on this matter is very vague and does not answer the question of how exactly the existence of suffering should be proved.

Don't know your rights?

In particular, article 1101 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation names as criteria for assessing moral damage:

the nature of moral suffering;
the degree of guilt of the person who caused them;
circumstances of violation of rights;
personality traits of the affected person.

A certain clarity is introduced by the resolution of the plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation “Some questions of the application of legislation on compensation for moral damage” No. 10 of 20.12.1994. The document indicates that moral harm may include, among other things, feelings associated with the loss of a job, the inability to continue the previous lifestyle, etc.

As judicial practice shows, various circumstances can be regarded as the loss of the opportunity to continue the usual way of life, such as: exclusion from any public associations; refusal of the environment of the victim to communicate with him, etc. - all this often takes place as a result of the spread of false defamatory information.

As for the compensation itself, according to Article 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it can be expressed exclusively in monetary form. The amount depends on the degree of harm caused and is determined by the court based on the requirements of the victim. There are no restrictions, as well as a single position of the courts on this matter.

In other words, the victim has the right to claim any amount in the claim, but this does not mean that the court will appoint it for payment in full.

Important: you can apply to the court for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation in terms of compensation for moral damage at any time: by virtue of Article 208 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the statute of limitations does not apply to claims relating to the protection of personal non-property rights.

The procedure for refuting false information

In accordance with Article 151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, false information must be refuted in the same way in which it was disseminated. In addition, the norm contains several clarifying provisions:

in case of disclosure of discrediting information in the media, in addition to a refutation, the victim has the right to demand the publication of his opinion or response there;
documents containing defamatory information are subject to revocation or cancellation (the provision applies to documents from specific organizations, for example, orders, instructions, etc.);
if it is impossible to bring a refutation to the public due to the widespread dissemination of false information, the victim can count on its removal from all sources and blocking further distribution by any means, including the destruction of material media;
when defamatory information is disseminated on the Internet, at the request of the victim, they are subject to removal, followed by the publication of a refutation.

Important: the inability to identify the person who disseminated false information does not deprive the victim of the right to defend his honor, dignity and business reputation. In such situations, he may apply to the court with a demand to recognize such information as untrue and to stop the publication of refuting materials in the public domain.

Unlike claims for damages, claims to retract defamatory information are subject to general terms prescription, which is 3 years from the moment when the victim became aware of the violation of his rights.

The exceptions are lawsuits related to the publication of false information in the media - here interested parties should hurry, because the limitation period in this case is limited to 1 year from the date of publication of discrediting information.

Other forms of protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation, in addition to civil, is guaranteed by the norms of criminal and administrative law.

Thus, humiliation of the honor and dignity of a person, if these actions are expressed in an indecent form, are qualified as an insult and punished in accordance with Article 5.61 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

The amount of fines provided for by the norm, vary from 1,000 to 5,000 rubles - depending on the circumstances of the insult.

The dissemination of defamatory information is completely covered by the Criminal Code - Article 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation establishes liability for slander. And although the perpetrator does not face imprisonment, the consequences are nonetheless very serious - a large (up to 5,000,000 rubles) fine or compulsory work for a long time.

If desired, the victim of slander may use any method of protecting honor, dignity and business reputation, or apply them all at once. All that is needed for this is to apply to the magistrate with a statement on bringing the perpetrator to criminal liability. Compensation for non-pecuniary damage and the refutation of false information can be achieved within the framework of a criminal case - the judge will make an appropriate decision simultaneously with the decision of the verdict.

Important: the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is a right guaranteed not only during the life of a citizen, but also after his death. In this case, the relatives of the deceased victim or other interested persons. Some difficulties may arise only if the descendants wish to receive compensation for moral harm - it is allowed only in relation to persons who have directly suffered suffering.

Article 153 of the Civil Code establishes a special civil law method for protecting the honor, dignity and business reputation of a citizen and the business reputation of a legal entity. The right to part, dignity and business reputation is the right to self-esteem and socially significant assessment of the moral, business and other traits and properties of the subject civil law on which their position in society depends.

The concept of honor, dignity is not disclosed in the legislation. The literature has developed the following definitions:

Honor - a reflection of the qualities of a person in the public consciousness, accompanied by a positive assessment of society; social assessment of moral and other qualities of a person.

Dignity - a reflection of his qualities in one's own mind, accompanied by a positive assessment of a person; self-assessment of the personality of his personal qualities, abilities, worldview, duty performed and his social significance.

The business reputation of a citizen who is not an individual entrepreneur is understood as a public assessment of his business and professional qualities acquired by a citizen in the performance of his labor, official and public duties.

Under the business reputation of a legal entity and individual entrepreneur is understood as an assessment of their economic (economic) activities as participants in economic (economic) legal relations with other participants in property turnover and citizens who are not such (paragraph 6 of the Decree of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus dated December 23, 1999 No. 15 “On the practice of consideration by courts of civil cases on the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation).

According to paragraph 1 of article 153 of the Civil Code, a citizen has the right to demand in court a refutation of information discrediting his honor, dignity or business reputation, if the person who disseminated such information does not prove that they are true.

Therefore, for the right to protection to arise, three conditions must be present:

a) information must be disseminated;

b) the information must be discrediting;

c) information must be false.

What is meant by each of these conditions is explained in the relevant Decisions of the Plenums of the Supreme Court

and the Supreme Economic Court of the Republic of Belarus.

Responsibility for the dissemination of such information arises regardless of the fault of the person who disseminated it.

The main way to protect honor, dignity and business reputation is the refutation of discrediting information.

An authorized subject (plaintiff) under the requirements for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is a person about whom defamatory information is disseminated. Judicial practice proceeds from the fact that relatives of this person can also make such demands if the specified information directly or indirectly discredits their honor and dignity (paragraph 10 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of December 23, 1999 No. 15).

The obligated subject (respondent) under the requirements for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is the person who has disseminated defamatory information. According to the requirements for refutation of information disseminated through the media (published in the press, reported on radio, television), both the author himself and the mass media body (for example, the editorial office of a newspaper, magazine, news agency, publishing house) are involved as defendants . When such information is published (or distributed in any other way) without indicating the name of the author (for example, in an editorial), the corresponding mass media body is recognized as the defendant. If the information was reproduced by him from official communications, broadcast speeches, or received from news agencies, then in relation to Article 63 of the Code of Civil Procedure and, accordingly, Article 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the body or person that served as the source of such information should also be involved as defendants. It is they who are responsible for proving the validity of the disseminated information.

The Civil Code does not contain general list ways to refute information discrediting a person. It refers to only two situations: a) if information is disseminated in the media, it must be refuted in the same media; b) if the information is contained in a document emanating from the organization, such a document is subject to replacement or withdrawal. The order of refutation in other cases is established by the court. Since the essence of the civil law protection of honor, dignity and business reputation is the rehabilitation, restoration of the good name of a person, the method of refutation must be chosen so that it becomes known to all persons among whom the defamatory information was disseminated.

When determining the method of refutation, the court, in accordance with Article 37 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On the Press and Other Mass Media”, may oblige the editorial office (publisher) to publish a refutation in a special heading or in the same place on the page as the refuted message or material, in the same volume and in the same font.

On radio and television, a refutation must be broadcast at the same time of day and in the same program as the refuted reports or material.

1) in the media that are published

(broadcast) at least once a week - no later than ten days from the date of receipt of the request for refutation or its text;

2) in other mass media - in the next issue.

Editing by a mass media body of the text of the decision or commentary to it, which dispute the decision by content, is not allowed (paragraph 16 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of December 23, 1999 No. 15).

By virtue of clause 5 of article 153 of the Civil Code, a citizen in respect of whom information is disseminated that discredits his honor, dignity or business reputation, has the right, along with the requirement to refute such information, to demand compensation for moral damage.

In accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 969 of the Civil Code, compensation for moral damage caused by the dissemination of information discrediting the honor, dignity or business reputation of a citizen is carried out regardless of the fault of the harm-doer in monetary form (paragraph 1 of Article 970 of the Civil Code).