Abu Dhabi Man Ordered to Pay Dh20,000 for Online Impersonation of Minor Girl
An Abu Dhabi court awarded Dh20,000 in moral compensation to a minor girl whose identity was stolen online. The defendant had already been criminally convicted.
Abu Dhabi Civil Court Awards Dh20,000 to Girl Whose Identity Was Stolen Online
An Abu Dhabi court has ordered a young man to pay Dh20,000 in moral compensation to the guardian of a minor girl, after he created a fake electronic account in her name, posted her photographs, and used the profile to chat with young men while impersonating her. Emirates247.com reports that the Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Court issued the ruling following the defendant's earlier criminal conviction for the same conduct.
The girl's father, acting in his capacity as her natural guardian, had filed a civil lawsuit demanding Dh51,000 in total compensation for all damages sustained, plus court fees and attorney's fees. He told the court that the defendant built the fraudulent account using his daughter's picture, then published and circulated her images through information technology platforms — conduct that prompted him to file a criminal complaint with the authorities.
The defendant had already been convicted in criminal proceedings and sentenced to two months' imprisonment with a suspended sentence, fined Dh20,000, and ordered to delete the photographs and close both the account and the associated email address.
In the civil case, the plaintiff argued that his daughter suffered material and moral damages, including harm to her reputation, a violation of her privacy, and significant psychological distress — manifesting as fear, anxiety, embarrassment, and emotional pain. The defendant filed a defence memorandum requesting that the lawsuit be dismissed.
Criminal ruling binding on civil proceedings
The court, in its reasoning, explained that an established principle of jurisprudence holds that a ruling issued in criminal proceedings carries binding authority in a related civil case, provided it addresses the occurrence of the act, its legal characterisation, and its attribution to the perpetrator — elements common to both proceedings.
The civil court referenced the criminal judgment records, in which the defendant confessed to copying the girl's photographs from social media platforms, storing them, creating an electronic account falsely attributed to her, and populating that account with her pictures for the purpose of chatting with young men while posing as her.
Because the act underlying the criminal conviction formed the same factual basis as the civil claim, the court found the defendant's civil liability for a compensable error to be established. The element of wrongdoing, it stated, was proven through the binding force of the criminal ruling.
Psychological and moral harm confirmed
The court identified the harm warranting compensation as the abuse of the plaintiff's daughter and the reputational damage suffered by her family, alongside the negative social and psychological consequences flowing from the defendant's conduct. It noted that the behaviour demonstrated a clear disregard for the harm it could cause to others.
The court concluded that moral and ethical damage had been inflicted on the minor, characterised by pain, sorrow, and sadness resulting from the violation of her privacy and the impersonation of her identity — damage it classified as warranting compensation for the psychological harm caused.
The ruling ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff Dh20,000 as moral compensation on behalf of his daughter, and to bear all fees and expenses of the civil lawsuit. The court did not award the full Dh51,000 originally sought by the father.
Source: Google News AE