The civil responsibility derived from a crime in Spain

The civil responsibility derived from the crime is the obligation according to which the person criminally responsible for a crime or misdemeanor must also respond for the damages caused by or derived from the infraction committed, through restitution, repair of the damage and compensation for material and moral damages.

For its part, article 109.1 of the Criminal Code (CP, hereinafter), establishes that “The execution of an act described by law as a crime requires repair, in the terms provided by law, for the damages caused by it. ”, while article 116.1 CP states that “Any person criminally responsible for a crime is also civilly responsible if damages or losses are derived from the act.”

Article 100 of the Law of Criminal Procedure (LECrim, hereinafter) also expresses that “From every crime or misdemeanor criminal action is born for the punishment of the guilty party, and civil action can also be raised for the restitution of the thing, the reparation of the damage and the compensation of damages caused by the punishable act.”

Civil liability is declared in the judgment and is enforceable and it is intended to repair or compensate for the effects that the crime has had on the victim or those harmed by it.

The criminally responsible for a crime is imposed the fulfillment of a sentence proportionate to it and intended for collective and state purposes, as a preventive-general and special purpose.

In civil liability does not govern the principle of personality of the sentence. While criminal liability is extinguished with the death of the accused, in the absence of an express declaration, it must be understood that civil liability derived from a crime is extinguished like civil obligations; and, therefore, that the obligation to compensate the victim is transmitted to the heirs of the person responsible for the crime.