- Petitioner
- China Banking Corporation
- Respondent
- Court of Appeals
- Citation
- G.R. No. 94182
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Division
- First Division
- Ponente
- Quiason, J.
- Decided
- March 28, 1994
Summary
China Banking Corporation and its officer Orwill Ong filed criminal complaints for trust receipt violations against several individuals including Claro Ben Lim. Due to inadvertence in preparing the complaint, Lim was charged under the wrong trust receipt agreement. When this error was discovered, the criminal case against Lim was dismissed, and he subsequently filed a civil action for damages claiming malicious prosecution and abuse of rights under Articles 19, 20, and 21 of the Civil Code. The trial court and Court of Appeals awarded damages to Lim. However, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that petitioners acted in good faith without malice. The Court found that there was prima facie evidence against Lim based on the trust receipt he actually signed, and the name interchange was due to oversight, not deliberate misconduct. Since malicious prosecution requires both malice and absence of probable cause, and petitioners acted without bad faith, they could not be held liable for damages.