Practice question
An injured person properly brings an Article 33 civil action for damages arising from fraud while a criminal prosecution is pending. Must the civil case automatically await the criminal judgment merely because the acts overlap?
- Yes, every civil case must stop.
- Yes, unless the prosecutor permits trial.
- No; a qualifying Article 33 action proceeds independently under the civil standard.
- No; the civil court must convict the defendant.
- Yes, fraud can never support an independent action.
Legal references
- https://lawphil.net/courts/rules/rc_110-127_crim.html — Rule 111 sections 1–3: ex delicto action and independent civil actions.
- https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1949/ra_386_1949.html — Civil Code articles 32, 33, 34, 2176 and 2177.
- https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2002/aug2002/gr_145391_2002.html — Casupanan v. Laroya, G.R. 145391, August 26, 2002, main opinion: no reservation and independent quasi-delict.
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