RULE 111 PROSECUTION OF CIVIL ACTION

1. General Rule: The injured party may file a civil action independent of the criminal
proceeding to recover damages from the offender.
 Article 32 is a valid cause of a civil action for damages against public officers
who impair the Constitutional rights of citizens (Aberca vs. Ver)
 Even if the private prosecutor participates in the prosecution, if he is not given
the chance to prove damages, the offended party is not barred from filing a
separate civil action
2. Civil action for recovery of civil liability impliedly instituted, EXCEPT
a. Waiver
b. Reservation of right to institute separate action
c. Institution of civil action prior to criminal action

 NOTE: Under SC Circular 57-97, all criminal actions for violations of BP Blg.
22 shall be deemed to necessarily include the corresponding civil action, and
no reservation to file such civil action separately shall be allowed or
recognized.
 San Ildefonso Lines vs. CA – past pronouncements of the SC that the
requirement in Rule 111 that a reservation be made prior to the institution of an
independent civil action is an “unauthorized amendment” to substantive law is
now no longer controlling. Far from altering substantive rights, the primary
purpose of the reservation requirement is to avoid multiplicity of suits, to prevent
delays, to clear congested dockets, to simplify the work of the trial court, and in
short, the attainment of justice with the least expense and vexation to parties-
litigants.
3. Civil action suspended when criminal action filed, EXCEPT
a. Independent civil action (Arts. 32, 33, 34 and 2176 of NCC)
b. Prejudicial civil action
c. Civil case consolidated with criminal action
d. Civil action not one intended to enforce civil liability arising from the offense (e.g.,
action for legal separation against a spouse who committed concubinage)
4. Prejudicial question arises when
a. The civil action involves an issue similar or intimately related to the issue raised in
the criminal action
b. The resolution of such issue will determine whether the criminal action will
proceed or not
 Requisites for a prejudicial question:
i. The civil action involves an issue similar or intimately related to the issue
raised in the criminal action: and
ii. The resolution of such issue determines whether or not the criminal action
may proceed
 Petition for suspension of criminal action is to be filed at any time before
prosecution rests.
5. Remedies
a. Reservation of right to institute separate civil proceedings to recover civil liability
arising from crime
 Must be made before prosecution presents evidence
 Action instituted only after final judgment in criminal action
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 May be filed upon existence of a prejudicial question in a pending civil

action
  Filed at any time before the prosecution rests

6. Extinction of penal action does not carry with it extinction of the civil unless the
extinction proceeds from a declaration in a final judgment that the fact from which the
civil might arise did not exist.
 Final judgment in civil absolving defendant from civil liability not a bar to
criminal action
7. Filing fees:
a. Actual or compensatory damages – filing fees not required
b. Moral, temperate and exemplary – filing fees required
i. If alleged, fees must be paid by offended party upon filing of complaint or
information
ii. If not alleged, filing fees considered a first lien on the judgment

Rule 111 – Prosecution of Civil Action

1. When a cirminal action is instituted, the civil action for recovery of civil
liablity arising from the offense charge shall be deemed..

- instituted with the criminal action unless the offended party waives the
civil action, reserves the right to institute it separately or institutes the
civil action prior to the criminal action.

2. The reservation of the right to institute separate civil action shall be made...

- before the prosecution starts presenting its evidence and under

circumstances affording the offended party a reasonable opportunity
to make such reservation.

3. When the offended party seeks to enforce civil liability against the accused..

- by way of moral, nominal, temperate, or exemplary damages without

specifying the amount thereof in the complaint or information, the filing
fees thereof shall constitute a first lien on the judgment awarding such
damages.

4. Where the amount of damages other, other than actual, is specified in the
information or complaint, the corresponding filing fees shall

- be paid by the offended party upon the filing thereof in court.

5. Except as otherwise provided in these Rules, no filing fees shall be required

for..

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-actual damages
6. No counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party complaint..

- may be filed by the accused in the criminal case, but any cause of action
which could have been the subject thereof may be litigated in a separate
civil action.

7. Is civil action deemed instituted upon filing of B.P Blg. 22?

- Yes. The criminal action for violation of Batas Pambansa Blg. 22 shall be
deemed to include the corresponding civil action.

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8. May the offended party reserve the right to file civil action separately if the
crime is B.P Blg. 22?

- No. No reservation to file such civil action separately shall be allowed.

9. If the civil action is filed separately and the trial thereof has not yet
commenced, what must the offended party do to consolidate it with the
criminal action?

- It may be consolidated with the criminal action upon application with the court
trying the latter case.

10. If the application to consolidate civil and criminal action is granted, how
shall both actions proceed?

- If the application is granted, the trial of both actions shall proceed in

accordance with section 2 of this Rule governing consolidation of the civil
and criminal actions. (cir. 57-97)

11. When is separate civil action suspended?

- After the criminal action has been commenced, the separate civil action
arising therefrom cannot be instituted until final judgment has been entered
in the criminal action.

12. After the criminal action has been commenced, may separate civil action be
instituted simultaneously?

- No. After the criminal action has been commenced, the separate civil
action arising therefrom cannot be instituted until final judgment has been
entered in the criminal action.

13. What happens to the civil action if criminal action is filed after said civil
action has already been instituted?

- If the criminal action is filed after the said civil action has already been
instituted, the latter shall be suspended in whatever stage it may be found
before judgment on the merits. The suspension shall last until final judgment
is rendered in the criminal action.

14. How long should the suspension last?

- The suspension shall last until final judgment is rendered in the criminal action.

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15. May the accused, upon his motion, file for the consolidation of criminal
and civil case before judgment on the merits in the civil case?

- Yes. Before judgment on the merits is rendered in the civil action, the
same may, upon motion of the offended party, be consolidated with the
criminal action in the court trying the criminal action.

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