The Authority of Criminal Judgments in Civil Cases
Subject Areas : Criminal law and criminology
1 - Graduate of Master’s in Criminal Law and Criminology, Judicial Intern, Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran
Keywords: Res Judicata, Conflicting Judgments, Criminal Judgments, Civil Disputes,
Abstract :
The rule regarding the authority of a final criminal judgment in a civil dispute is reflected in Article 18 of the Criminal Procedure Code. According to this rule: if the facts relevant to a civil dispute have been examined in a criminal proceeding, and the contents of the final criminal judgment indicate the affirmation or negation of those facts, the civil court must follow the final criminal judgment regarding the matter. Examples of the application of this rule were previously outlined in Article 227 of the Civil Procedure Code, concerning the forgery of documents, and now, Article 18 of the Criminal Procedure Code introduces this rule as a general principle, making a final criminal judgment that is relevant to the substance of the civil case binding for the civil court. It appears that a criminal judgment that affects the substance of a civil case can either be a ruling or a substantive final decision. The impact on the substance of the civil case means that the presence or absence of factual matters that serve as the basis for the civil lawsuit has already been established in the criminal proceedings, and the contents of the final criminal judgment are sufficient to prove or disprove the claimant's entitlement in the civil case. The basis for this rule can be found in general principles such as the authority of res judicata, the preservation of public order, the necessity to avoid conflicting judgments, and the extensive powers of the criminal authority in matters of proof.