Right to Compensation

Few people know, but a criminal conviction sentence constitutes an executive, judicial title, which confirms the offender’s obligation to compensate the crime victim. However, it’s ideal that the victim indicates the damages suffered before the process begins to avoid preliminarily liquidating the sentence to obtain the amount due as compensation. The offender is usually required to compensate the victim for material damages and may also have to pay compensation for moral or psychological damages. A compensation action means the offender must restore the situation that would exist if the crime hadn't been committed. This might include, for instance, expenses for repairing a damaged item, compensation for wage losses, or the cost of hospital treatment. The victim might also be entitled to financial compensation for pain and suffering if they have suffered physical or psychological damages, loss of freedom, or loss of the right to sexual self-determination.

There are hypotheses where the offender has the right to benefits, such as a non-prosecution agreement, a penal transaction, or conditional suspension of the process or sentence, to name a few examples. In these cases, if there are elements, damage repair is set as one of the conditions for granting the benefit, and, if complied with, extinguishes punishability. Therefore, it is crucial that, from the police phase, the victim provides all evidence elements, allowing a thorough assessment of the damage caused.

For minor offensive potential crimes of conditioned or private-public penal action, there is a hearing specifically designated for the attempt of composition between the victim and the offender. Minor offensive potential crimes are those whose maximum penalty doesn’t exceed two years. If an agreement is reached, the penal action is extinguished. If not, there’s still the possibility for the offender to benefit from a penal transaction, and jurisprudence has consolidated the understanding that it’s a subjective public right of the investigated under penalty of nullity.