EXERCISING CIVIL ACTION IN A CRIMINAL TRIAL IN THE LIGHTOF THE PROVISIONS OF THE NEW CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

Civil action is the most important legal means of protection, by judicial coercion, of one’s civil rights or interests under the law. Civil action exercised in a criminal trial is governed by the substantive provisions of civil liability, with some particular aspects arising from and related to committing an illegal deed, hence being adjacent to the criminal action. In order for civil action to be exercised in a criminal trial, all the conditions described hereunder must be met: the law offence must have caused material or moral damage; a chain of causation must exist between the committed offence and the damage; the damage must be certain; the damage must not have been separate; there must be a manifestation of will, in the sense of bringing the civil action in the criminal proceedings. In a criminal trial, civil action is set in motion by its bringing in the criminal proceedings. In accordance with the principle of availability, the aggrieved party is free to decide whether they want to initiate the civil action, or to dispose of this legal instrument during the trial, as they think fit. They may choose the moment of this exercise, while observing, however, the deadline provided by law, just as they may decide on the procedural approaches employed to satisfy their claims, i.e. either by associating their civil action to the criminal procedure, or by referring the matter to a civil court. Neither the prosecutor, nor the court of law can restrict the availability of civil action, just as neither of these two legal bodies can subrogate the aggrieved party in respect of the latter’s rights.