The decision on recognition as a civil plaintiff is an appropriate procedural document. It is drawn up by an inquiry officer, investigator or judge in the name of a citizen who has been harmed by criminal acts. The decision to determine the individual or legal entity as a victim is made in a judicial proceeding. The decision on recognition as a civil plaintiff gives the victim of a criminal act the constitutional right to justice with judicial protection, the opportunity to compensate for the damage caused.
Procedure
The status of the injured person who has suffered material or moral harm is obtained regardless of the will of the citizen. The decision on recognition as a civil plaintiff indicates:
- The specific action that caused the loss.
- The method of causing damage.
- The amount of losses.
The decision on recognition as a civil plaintiff can be made at a time when the volume of losses caused has not yet been determined, the investigator calculated them only approximately, and the offender is not known. When investigating the commission of a criminal act at the initial stage, the statement may not indicate the defendant and the cost of the claim.
Who is recognized as the victim?
The plaintiff is a citizen who demands in court to compensate him for property loss or to receive compensation for moral damage. He has reason to argue that the damage was caused to him through crime.
After the collapse of the USSR, both civilians and legal entities were considered victims. There was no such definition in the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR. And the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation in article 44 says that citizens, after filing a claim with the requirement to recover the harm done, perform dual procedural functions: victims and civil plaintiffs. Although these related subjects of the criminal process should not be equated.
The legislation emphasizes that civil lawsuits are filed after the case has been instituted, but before the judicial investigation in the trial courts has ended. If the plaintiff is a legal entity, a representative may be appointed to protect his interests. When an individual appears in court as a victim, he can defend himself, participate in legal proceedings with a representative.
What is the interrogator obliged to do?
The law requires the investigator when during the investigation he discovers that people have suffered from criminal acts:
- conduct a conversation with them or their representatives;
- indicate the possibility of a civil lawsuit;
- draw up a protocol and record the facts;
- send a notice.
The ruling that the civil plaintiff is recognized in the criminal case must be communicated to the relevant persons, as well as the refusal, which must be submitted against signature. It should be borne in mind that citizens are recognized as victims regardless of their desire, while they become civil plaintiffs after filing a lawsuit, in which the relevant requirements are presented. Investigators are required to explain these features of jurisprudence to citizens who have suffered material or moral harm.
The nuances of legal proceedings
When a lawsuit is filed with a demand to compensate for non-pecuniary damage, during the execution of the decision indicate:
- causing specific moral and physical suffering;
- the amount in which the claimant has assessed its losses.
Such indicators cannot be without individual characteristics, they are reflected in the document to indicate the gravity of the crime. The applicant may demand compensation for material damage caused by the crime, and if the investigator took as a basis only this condition for recognition by the plaintiff, the judge cannot add moral damage at his own discretion.
Responsibilities of the civil plaintiff
If the basis for recognizing as the civil plaintiff is the infliction of material or moral complications by the criminal, he is obliged to indicate the real facts that they were caused by criminal acts. In the circumstances of the incident, there should be no collateral interference. Perhaps the stolen items were seized from a citizen who bought them without knowing their origin through theft, and also suffered a loss. He is not recognized by the plaintiff, although the material loss is obvious and associated with the theft, but it did not come about because the things were stolen, but were seized by lawful actions, like stolen goods. Claims for damages from a crime may be made by persons if:
- property stolen or damaged;
- harm to health;
- freedom was limited; an insult to honor and dignity was inflicted;
- criminal acts became the cause for the occurrence of diseases, caused the death of breadwinners.
In the event that the civil plaintiff does not know the name of the defendant during the initiation of a criminal case, after determining the identity of the offender, he can rewrite the application as an addition to the first document. This is the difference and feature of two legal proceedings - civil and criminal. Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation in article 131 states that the application must indicate the name of the criminal subject and evaluate the lawsuit.