A compromise agreement is a contract where parties make reciprocal concessions to either avoid a potential lawsuit or end one that has already begun. (Hector De Leon & Jurado, Civil Law Luminaries)
Key aspects of a compromise agreement
- It is a contract requiring the consent of the parties, a definite object, and a valid cause.
- It aims to achieve an amicable settlement of a controversy.
- While a compromise agreement is valid even without court approval6 , if a court approves it, it becomes a judgment with the force of res judicata (a matter already decided) upon the parties.
- There are certain matters that cannot be validly compromised, such as questions regarding civil status, the validity of marriage or legal separation (often coined as “collusion”), grounds for legal separation, future support, the jurisdiction of courts, and future legitime.
- A compromise between a creditor and a principal debtor benefits a guarantor but does not harm them. Similarly, a compromise between a guarantor and a creditor benefits the principal debtor without prejudice.
- A compromise agreement can lead to a novation (substitution) of a previous obligation, such as a judgment.
- If one party doesn’t fulfill their obligations under the compromise, the other party can either enforce the agreement or consider it rescinded and pursue their original claim.
In criminal cases, what can be compromised?
- Quasi-offenses (criminal negligence)
- In drug cases, plea bargaining must conform to the Plea Bargaining Framework issued by the Supreme Court
- The civil aspect of liability in some crimes, like estafa, might be affected by compromise or novation, but the criminal liability for estafa already committed is not.
- Offenses allowed by law to be compromised
- In adultery and concubinage, pardon or consent, whether express or implied, by the offended spouse is a bar to criminal prosecution.
- In seduction, abduction, or acts of lasciviousness, express pardon by the offended party is a bar to prosecution. If the offended party is a minor, the pardon of parents, grandparents, or guardians may also be required. Marriage of the offended woman to the offender can also bar prosecution in these cases, including rape.
- In rape cases, a subsequent valid marriage between the offender and the offended party can extinguish the criminal action or remit the penalty already imposed. The marriage must be valid and entered into voluntarily or in good faith.. A marriage entered into solely to escape punishment will not extinguish criminal liability (People v. Velasco, 1974). If the marriage is void ab initio (from the beginning), the criminal action or penalty is not extinguished or abated.
- In cases of marital rape (where the legal husband is the offender), subsequent forgiveness by the wife as the offended party shall extinguish the criminal action or the penalty. Marriage as a mode of extinction is not applicable here since they are already married.
- Generally, the rule on marriage extinguishing criminal liability in rape applies only to the principal offender and not to co-principals, accomplices, or accessories
- Generally, offers of compromise by the accused in criminal cases (except in quasi-offenses or those allowed by law to be compromised) may be received in evidence as an implied admission of guilt.
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