Can civil liability ex delicto fulfill a preventive function against crime related to public corruption? Reflections from the Paraguayan criminal system

Abstract

This essay seeks to support the position that the crime-based civil liability can and actually must fulfill a preventive function that supplements other political and criminal instruments with which the State faces criminality related to public corruption. Since its beginnings, the normative system of crime-based civil liability has fulfilled the role of restorative criminal justice by granting to those harmed by the crime, an effective possibility to obtain the compensation for damages affecting their interests. Nonetheless, it is believed that the effective strengthening of these legal instruments by the State against public officials who have been convicted for corruption or crimes against the State property serves as a deterrent to future dishonest behavior, since anyone who wants to use or abuse of his position to the detriment of the public assets would be obliged to compensate for the damages caused with his own assets. This strategy is based on the premise that the corrupt act is not profitable for its author, and thus aims to avoid its commission.