NON-PECUNIARY DAMAGES FOR BREACH OF ENGAGEMENT CONTRACT IN LIGHT OF THE COURT OF CASSATION JURISPRUDENCE

Consequences of the dissolution of the engagement contract which is concluded upon mutual promises to marry are provided in the articles of 120, 121 and 122 of the Turkish Civil Code (TCC) numbered 4721. These consequences are return of gifts, pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages. When the engagement is-for whatever reason-ended, unordinary gifts exchanged between the parties or given by the parents of other party and others pretend to be parents to the fiancées can be claimed back. In the TCC the requirements to claim pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages are different from those for reclaiming gifts. First, in order to claim damages, there must be a breach of engagement contract. If engagement is terminated for reasons other than the breach, damages cannot be claimed. Moreover, the party must terminate the engagement without good cause or by fault. Although the TCC clearly states that the party from whom non-pecuniary damages are sought must be at fault, it has been debated in the literature whether the claimant must be without fault, or it suffices that the claimant is less faulty. In addition to these requirements, in order to claim non-pecuniary damages, the fiancée’s personality rights must be violated due to the breach of the engagement. In this context, this study seeks to examine the requirements and scope for a claim for non-pecuniary damages in light of the decisions of the Turkish Court of Cassation.