Circumstances where an incidental civil action can be filed

According to relevant laws of China, not for all criminal activities can an incidental civil action be filed, and it can only be filed under the circumstances where the personal rights have been infringed by the crime and material damage is suffered as a result, or property is damaged by a criminal and material damage is suffered as a result. Other damage should be recovered through methods of returning or compensation. If it still cannot be solved, the party concerned can file a civil case separately before a civil adjudicating organization of the people’s court.

The following people have the right to file an incidental civil action: the victim including natural persons, legal persons and other organizations who suffered material losses as a result of criminal activity, the near relatives of the dead victim, and the legal agent of the victim without the capacity of civil conduct or with limited capacity of civil conduct, shall have the right to file an incidental civil action. If the victim did not suffer material damage, or the material damage is not directly caused by the defendants’ criminal activities, an incidental civil action cannot be filed. An incidental civil action shall be heard together with the criminal case; if hearing the incidental civil action together with the criminal case will affect the proceeding of the criminal case, the criminal case may be heard first, and after that the same adjudicating organization shall continue to hear the incidental civil action.