Short answer. Yes. Under Rule 111, Section 5 of the Rules of Court, a final judgment absolving a defendant of civil liability does not bar a criminal action against him for the same act or omission. The civil and criminal cases answer different questions, so losing one does not close the other.
What the law says
A final judgment rendered in a civil action absolving the defendant from civil liability is not a bar to a criminal action against the defendant for the same act or omission subject of the civil action.
Rule 111, Section 5 — Judgment in civil action not a bar. Read the full provision →
What the rule actually says
The provision is short and absolute: a final judgment rendered in a civil action absolving the defendant from civil liability is not a bar to a criminal action against the defendant for the same act or omission. The two proceedings live separate lives. A civil court may find that the defendant owes the plaintiff nothing, and the prosecutor may still pursue a criminal case built on the very same incident — a collision, a bounced cheque, a botched transaction. The civil result does not erase the criminal charge, and the criminal court is not bound to follow it.
Why absolution in one is not acquittal in the other
The cases ask different questions and demand different degrees of proof. A civil action for damages is decided on a preponderance of evidence — whichever side's account is more probably true. A criminal conviction requires proof beyond reasonable doubt, a far heavier burden, and the finding it produces is different in kind: it is the State, not the private plaintiff, that prosecutes, and the interest vindicated is public. Because the civil judgment settles only the private claim between the parties, it cannot dispose of the State's separate right to prosecute the offence.
What the criminal case still requires
None of this means the prosecution wins by default. The criminal action must stand entirely on its own: the prosecution must establish every element of the offence beyond reasonable doubt, and the accused keeps the presumption of innocence and every defence available in a criminal trial. The evidence that failed to establish civil liability may fail again — or the prosecution may build a stronger record, since the civil case's findings of fact do not bind the criminal court. Absolution in the civil case is simply not a defence in itself; it does not operate as res judicata against the State.
What to check if you now face a criminal complaint
If you were absolved civilly and a criminal complaint over the same act follows, gather the civil decision and the records of both cases and have counsel compare them. The civil judgment is not a bar, but it can still matter practically — the testimony given, the admissions made and the documents marked in the civil case can shape the defence in the criminal one. What actually measures your exposure is the criminal complaint itself: which offence is charged, what its elements are, and what evidence the prosecution holds.