Compensation for Moral Damage to Individual Entrepreneurs in Russian law: Past, Present, Future

The article analyses the history, current state and projected future of compensation for moral harm to individual entrepreneurs in Russian law. At first, the author notes that during the discussion of the draft of Part One of the Civil Code and its adoption, the issue of the right of individual entrepreneurs to compensation for moral harm was not raised or discussed by anyone, and this right itself was not challenged. The article further demonstrates the initial and subsequent (2013–2022) court practice on compensation for moral harm to individual entrepreneurs: some arbitrazh courts denied such compensation, while others collected it. Then the latest legal views of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the compensation of moral harm to the designated subjects of law are examined in detail and in a critical manner. It follows from the explanations of the higher courts that such compensation in the defence of business reputation in the sphere of entrepreneurial activity is impossible. The study of modern judicial practice has shown that lower courts take into account this interpretation. The author is of the opinion that within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Article 151 of the Civil Code, individual entrepreneurs are entitled to compensation for moral damage in case of violation of their personal non-property rights, in case of infringement of any intangible benefits belonging to them (including business reputation), as well as in other cases provided for by law. The conclusion describes the expected future of compensation of moral harm to individual entrepreneurs in Russian law.