Do aggravating circumstances in a criminal case raise the civil damages awarded to the victim?

“May”, and it runs in both directions

The verb is permissive and the movement is symmetrical: damages may be respectively increased or lessened according to the aggravating or mitigating circumstances. So an aggravating circumstance is a reason a court can give for a larger award, not a multiplier that produces one. The article supplies no figures, no percentages and no schedule, and anyone who quotes you a rate is not reading it. The same sentence works for the accused, because a mitigating circumstance is equally a reason the award may come down.

It is confined to crimes

The article opens with in crimes, and that limit matters. A claim pursued as a quasi-delict, or one founded on a contract, is not governed by this provision, because aggravating and mitigating circumstances are creatures of the criminal law and travel with a prosecution. If your incident is being pursued only as a civil action for damages, the levers on the amount are different ones. Where both a prosecution and a civil claim exist, be clear about which of them your damages are being assessed in, since the answer changes what arguments are open to you.

What it adjusts, and what it does not

The article adjusts the damages to be adjudicated. It does not create a head of damages and it does not dispense with proving the loss, so actual or compensatory damages still rest on pecuniary loss duly proved under Article 2199. Exemplary damages are handled separately again: Article 2230 provides that in criminal offences exemplary damages as part of the civil liability may be imposed when the crime was committed with one or more aggravating circumstances, and that such damages are separate and distinct from fines and are paid to the offended party.

The circumstances have to be in the case

They cannot influence an award if they never surface in the prosecution. That is the prosecutor's responsibility, but a private complainant who knows the facts should get them across early and in writing, with whatever evidence supports them. Meanwhile, do not let the argument about circumstances displace the ordinary work of proving loss. Receipts, medical bills, funeral expenses, income records and repair invoices are what most of an award is built from, whatever the circumstances may add on top of it.

Cases citing this provision

These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.

• People of the Philippines vs. Richard O. Sarcia, G.R. No. 169641, September 10, 2009 — read the decision on LawPhil →

Related provisions

• Civil Code, Article 2230 — Exemplary Damages in Criminal Offenses
• Civil Code, Article 2199 — Actual Damages Must Be Proved