The Wrongdoer’s Financial Situation Will Rarely Reduce Compensation for the Death of a Loved One
The judgment of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, file no. 4Cdo/144/2023 of 25.09.2025, concerns the determination of the amount of compensation for non-pecuniary damage suffered by surviving relatives following the death of a close person in a traffic accident. The core issue in the appeal on points of law was whether, and to what extent, a court should take into account the personal and financial circumstances of the person responsible for the interference, particularly where that person argues that the awarded amount may have ruinous financial consequences.
The dispute arose from a traffic accident on 29.10.2012, in which the driver of a motor vehicle failed to pay sufficient attention to the traffic situation and struck a pedestrian, the claimants’ mother, who died from her injuries on 31.10.2012. By judgment of 18.12.2020, file no. 8C/495/2015-302, the District Court Trnava awarded each claimant, as an adult child of the deceased, compensation for non-pecuniary damage in the amount of EUR 8,000. The court started from the amount of EUR 10,000 per person and reduced it by 20% due to the contributory fault of the deceased under § 441 of Act No. 40/1964 Coll., the Civil Code. The Regional Court in Trnava confirmed the judgment on the merits by judgment of 19.10.2022, file no. 10Co/77/2021.
The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic recalled that protection of personality under § 11 and § 13 of Act No. 40/1964 Coll., the Civil Code, also protects surviving relatives against interference with their private and family life caused by the death of a close person. The purpose of monetary compensation for non-pecuniary damage is not to replace the loss in the full sense of the word, since harm in the personal sphere cannot be restored or precisely quantified. Its primary function is satisfaction, namely the fair mitigation of the consequences of an unlawful interference. A preventive or punitive dimension may exist only in a supporting role and cannot serve as an independent basis for a substantial increase in compensation.
The key legal conclusion of the judgment is that, when determining the amount of compensation under § 13(3) of Act No. 40/1964 Coll., the Civil Code, two statutory criteria are decisive: the seriousness of the harm suffered and the circumstances in which the right was violated. The financial situation of the wrongdoer and alleged financial hardship cannot be treated as criteria equivalent to these statutory factors. Nor can they, by themselves, justify a reduction of compensation, because financial burden is a natural consequence of tortious liability.
The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic expressly stated that taking into account potentially ruinous consequences for the person liable to compensate non-pecuniary damage is possible only exceptionally, for reasons worthy of special consideration. Even then, the court must examine whether reducing the compensation would undermine its primary satisfaction function. In the case at hand, no such extraordinary circumstances were established. The defendant’s arguments concerning a change of employer, inability to obtain a loan, and pregnancy were not capable, according to the Supreme Court, of affecting the proportionality of the compensation awarded.
The judgment is also significant because the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic rejected the idea of a fixed “base amount” for compensation for non-pecuniary damage. Slovak law does not recognise such a fixed sum. The amount of compensation is the result of an individual assessment of the specific case, while courts may refer to amounts awarded in comparable cases only as an indicative guide, not as a binding tariff. In this case, the amount awarded, after taking into account the intensity of family ties, the circumstances of the accident, the driver’s fault and the 20% contributory fault of the deceased, was considered proportionate.
The practical significance of the judgment lies in confirming that effective protection of the personality rights of surviving relatives must take priority when awarding compensation for non-pecuniary damage following the death of a close person. The wrongdoer’s financial circumstances may be considered only exceptionally and must not weaken the very purpose of monetary satisfaction. The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic therefore dismissed the defendant’s appeal on points of law pursuant to § 448 of Act No. 160/2015 Coll., the Civil Dispute Procedure Code, as amended.
