Some Ethical Landmarks Regarding the Settlement of the Civil Action by the Prosecutor

Abstract

Article 20 para. 2 thesis 11 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides that, in addition to specifying the nature and amount of the claims, the declaration of civil party must contain the applicable reasons and evidence. This provision must be regarded in conjunction with art. 20 para. 1 thesis I I of the Criminal Procedure Code, as regards the final moment until the party must fulfill the essential conditions iprovided by law, which are absolutely necessary for a valid legal claim. In addition, the obligations of the civil party regarding the conditions for filing the declaration  of civil party must be cumulatively met. The need for the act of constitution as a civil party to indicate the evidence that the claim resides on results not only from the general form that a civil action must fulfill (as it is regulated in the civil procedure legislation, according to art. 194 letter e of the Civil Procedure Code], but also from the obligation stipulated by art. 99 para. 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code, in the sense that, in the civil action, the burden of proof falls on the civil party, unless the prosecutor exercises the civil action for the persons protected by art. 19 para. 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code, in which case the burden of proof falls on the prosecutor. The settlement of the civil action exercised in the criminal trials falls within the prerogative of the criminal court, which may admit it, dismiss it or leave the civil action unresolved.