Civil liability is understood as a mechanism aimed at compensating for damages caused by a person’s unlawful actions. However, the role of this institution seems to be called into question when it is addressed by the entities responsible for its determination in criminal proceedings, based on the interpretation of the 1991 Criminal Code: not only to satisfy the compensation for damages, but also as a means to sanction and prevent crimes of particular social significance, similar to a concept found in Anglo-Saxon legal systems: punitive damages. There is a need to establish the reasons for this approach to determining civil liability in criminal proceedings. Since, based on this, it will be possible to establish the main causes that have allowed the unconscious application of punitive damages in the Peruvian legal system; and whether the application of this legal concept is a valid option or a possible response to the commission of crimes of special social relevance. It is necessary to indicate that, for this work, the type of research carried out was primarily theoretical, since it not only examined the position of legal doctrine and the pronouncements of the authorities responsible for determining civil damages in criminal proceedings, but also the understanding of punitive damages by foreign legal doctrine and experience.
Author: Fernando Ikehara
