Father deprived of seeing his children... case ends with compensation of 1,000 dinars

The Court of Appeal, Sixth Civil Commercial Division, amended the first-instance judgment that had ordered a female citizen to pay 2,000 dinars in moral damages to her ex-husband for depriving him of the right to see their children, reducing the compensation to 1,000 dinars while upholding the rest of the judgment.

According to the judgment issued under the presidency of Counselor Fahad Fadel Al-Fahad and the membership of Counselors Fikri Awad and Amr Ragai Isa, the facts of the case are as follows: The plaintiff, represented by lawyer Fahad Muhammad Al-Shammari, filed a lawsuit seeking to compel his ex-wife and the Minister of Interior, in his official capacity, to pay compensation, on the grounds that he was prevented from enforcing his right to visit his children.

The judgment noted that the plaintiff had previously obtained a court ruling affirming his right to see his children, as well as a court order on a petition allowing him to visit them every Friday. However, he was surprised to find that his ex-wife repeatedly traveled with the children, despite court orders on petitions denying their travel requests.

The plaintiff submitted to the court a record of his children’s entry and exit movements, which showed that they left the country during periods including from May 24 to June 28, 2024, and again from December 20, 2025.

The first-instance court had ordered the first defendant to pay 2,000 dinars in moral damages, plus 50 dinars in attorney’s fees, after finding her liable for repeatedly refusing to enforce the visitation order and failing to bring the children to the visitation center, as well as for leaving the country with them despite orders denying their travel.

The court held that these actions deprived the father of enforcing his visitation rights and caused him moral harm and psychological distress due to his inability to see his children. The court rejected his claim for compensation for material damages, finding no basis for it.

On appeal, the female citizen argued that she traveled to the Arab Republic of Egypt to sit for her law school exams, and that she was forced to take the two children with her because there was no one else with whom she could leave them, thereby negating the element of fault. She also argued that her ex-husband had not fulfilled his own obligations under the visitation order and had failed to appear on several occasions.

However, the Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance court’s finding of fault, confirming that the appellant had not submitted any evidence that would alter the court’s view of the case.

Conversely, the court found that the awarded compensation of 2,000 dinars was “excessive” and disproportionate to the moral harm suffered by the father. It emphasized that compensation for moral damages must be commensurate with the harm and must not serve as a means of unjust enrichment or harassment.

The court concluded by reducing the compensation to 1,000 dinars, upholding the rest of the judgment, and ordering the respondent to pay the costs and 20 dinars in attorney’s fees.