criminal law 1 jona notes

8/20/2019 Criminal Law 1 Jona Notes

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N o t e s o n C R I M I N A L L A W I ( F i s c a l N e l s o n S a l v a ) | 1

Prepared by: Alcazar, Jona May M. (1st Sem 2012 -2013)

Criminal Law – branch or division of law which defines crimes, treat of their nature, provides for their

punishment.

Crime – act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding or commanding it.

Bill of Attainder - punishes an act without trial or due process.

Ex Post Facto – punishes an act in which there is no law at the time of commission.

Characteristics of Criminal Law.

1. General – Criminal Law is binding on all persons who live or sojourn in Philippine territory,

subject to certain exceptions.

General jurisdiction to punish persons for offenses committed within its territory,

regardless of the nationality of the offender. No foreigner enjoys extra-territorial right

to be exempted from the law and jurisdiction, with the exception of heads of states and

diplomatic representatives.

Civil courts have jurisdiction over murder cases committed by persons subject to

military law. Even in times of war, the civil courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the

military courts or general courts – martial over soldiers of the Philippine Army, providedthat in the place of the commission of the crime no hostilities are in progress and civil

courts are functioning.

A court-martial is a court, and the prosecution of an accused before it is a criminal, not

an administrative case, and therefore it would be, under certain conditions, a bar to

another prosecution of the accused for the same offense, because the latter would

place the accused in double jeopardy.

EO 68, establishing a National War Crimes Office and prescribing the rules and

regulations governing the trial of war criminals is valid and constitutional. The

promulgation of the EO 68 is an exercise by the President as his powers as Commander-

in-Chief of all our armed forces.

EXCEPTION:

Article 2, RPC : provisions of this Code shall be enforced within the Philippine Archipelago

“except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application”.

Article 14, New Civil Code: provides that penal laws and those of public security and safety

shall be obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in Philippine territory, subject to the

principles of public international law and to treaty stipulations.

Treaties or treaty stipulation – example, as an exception to the general application of our

criminal law, is the Bases Agreement between the Philippines and US – stipulating that the

Philippine consents that the US have the right to exercise jurisdiction over some offenses.

Law of preferential application – example is RA 75, in favor of diplomatic representatives

and their domestic servants. (Not applicable when the foreign country adversely affected

does not provide similar protection to our diplomatic representatives.)

*Warrants issued to be executed at the foreign embassies must pass through Department of

Foreign Affairs, if it not, then it will violate the public international law.


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Persons exempt from the operation of our criminal laws by virtue of the principles of public

international law:

1.

Sovereigns and other chiefs of state.

2.

Ambassadors, ministers plenipotentiary, ministers residents and charges d’ affairs.

*Consuls, vice-consuls, and other commercial representatives of foreign nations are not

entitled to the privileges and immunities of an ambassador or minister, but are subject

to the laws and regulations of the country to which he is accredited.

Doctrine of Inviolability – embassy grounds in the Philippines are not extension of the

foreign country, it just enjoys immunity. The Philippines can still have jurisdiction over it.

2. Territorial – Criminal laws undertake to punish crimes committed within the Philippine

territory, subject to some exceptions.

Article 2, RPC : provisions of this Code shall be enforced within the Philippine Archipelago including

its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone.

Article 1, 1987 Constitution: national territory comprises the Philippine Archipelago, with all theislands and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the Philippines has

sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domains, including its

territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The

waters around, between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their

breadth and dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.

EXCEPTIONS: (ARTICLE 2, RPC)

Provisions in the RPC shall be enforced outside the jurisdiction of the Philippines against those

who:

1.

Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship;

2.

Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine or obligations andsecurities issued by the Government of the Philippines;

3.

Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into the Philippines of the

obligations and securities mentioned in the preceding number;

4.

While being a public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of their

functions;

5.

Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations, defined in

Title One of Book Two of the RPC.

Reasons for such exceptions:

1 – Philippine vessel or airship is considered as an extension of Philippine territory.

2 & 3 - To protect the economic and financial stability of the country.

4 - Public officer is a representative of the Philippines, any crime committed by them will

result into humiliation of the country.

5- To protect the very existence of our country or government.

3. PROSPECTIVE – A penal law cannot make an act punishable in a manner in which it was not

punishable when committed.


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Article 366, RPC: crimes are punished under the laws in force at the time of their commission.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE PROSPECTIVE APPLICATION OF CRIMINAL LAWS:

Whenever a new statute dealing with a crime establishes the conditions more lenient or

favorable to the accused, it can be given a retroactive effect. But this exception has no

application:

1.

Where the new law is expressly made inapplicable to pending actions or existing causes of

action.

2.

Where the offender is a habitual criminal under Rule 5, Article 62, RPC.

Different effects of repeal on penal law:

1.

If the repeal makes the penalty lighter in the new law, the new law shall be applied, except

when the offender is a habitual delinquent or when the new law is made not applicable to

pending action or existing causes of action.

2.

If the new law imposes a heavier penalty, the law in force at the time of the commission of

the offense shall be applied.

3.

If the new law totally repeals the existing law so that the act which was penalized under the

old law is no longer punishable, the crime is eliminated / obliterated.

Where the repeal is absolute, the offense ceases to be criminal. The accused must be acquitted.

But repeal of a penal law by its reenactment, even without a saving clause, would not destroy

criminal liability.

When the new law and the old law penalize the same offense, the offender can be tried under

the old law.

The court loses jurisdiction where the repealing law wholly fails to penalize the act defined and

penalized as an offense in the old law. The accused, charged with violations of the old law prior

to the repeal, cannot be legally prosecuted after such repeal.

ARTICLE 3.

Felony – acts and omissions punishable by law.

Elements of a felony:

A.

There must be an act or omission.

B.

Such act or omission must be punishable under RPC.

C.

Act if performed or omitted by means of dolo (with intent to harm other) or culpa (fault).

Act – any bodily movement tending to produce some effect in the external world, it being unnecessary

that the same be actually produced, as the possibility of its production is sufficient.

Nullum Crimen Nulla Poena Sine Lege – There is no crime when there is no law punishing it.

“Punished by law” – punished by RPC, and not by a special law.


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Classification of felonies according to the means by which they are committed. (I and II belongs to

Art.3)

I.

Intentional felonies – act or omission of the offender is malicious.; act is performed with

deliberate intent; offender has the intention to cause harm or injury to another.

II.

Culpable felonies – injury caused by the offender is “unintentional, it being simply the incident

of another act performed without malice’.

III.

Crimes defined and penalized by special laws, includes crimes punished by municipal or city

ordinances. – Intent to commit the crime is not necessary.

Reason for punishing acts of negligence (culpa) - A man must use common sense, and exercise due

reflection in all his acts; it is his duty to be cautious, careful and prudent, if not from instinct, then

through fear of incurring punishment.

*A criminal act is presumed to be voluntary.

Three reasons why the act or omission in felonies must be voluntary.

1.

RPC continues to be based on the Classical Theory, according to which the basis of criminal

liability is human free will.

2.

Acts or omissions punished by law are always deemed voluntary, since man is a rational being. 3.

In felonies by dolo, act is performed with deliberate intent which must necessarily be voluntary;

and in felonies by culpa, the imprudence consists in voluntarily, but without malice, doing or

failing to do an act from which material injury results.

Requisites of felonies committed by DOLO or MALICE:

1.

Freedom – When a person acts without freedom, he is no longer a human being but a tool.

2.

Intelligence – Without this power, necessary to determine the morality of human acts, no crime

can exist.

3.

Intent – intent to commit the act with malice, being purely a mental process, is presumed and

the presumption arises from the proof of the commission of an unlawful act.

Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea – A crime is not committed if the mind of the person performing

to act complained be innocent. ; Act itself does not make a man guilty unless his intention were so.

Actus me invicte factus non est meus actus – An act done by me against my will is not my act.

Mistake of fact – misapprehension of fact on the part of the person who caused injury to another. He is

not criminally liable, because he did not act with criminal intent.

Requisites of Mistake of Fact as a Defense:

1.

Act done would have been lawful had the facts been as the accused believed them to be.

2.

The intention of the accused in performing the act should be lawful.

3.

Mistake must be without fault or carelessness on the part of the accused.

*In mistake of fact, act done by the accused would have constituted a justifying circumstance under

Article 11, an absolutory cause, and an involuntary act.

Ignorantia legis non excusat – ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith.

Ignorantia facti excusat – ignorance or mistake of fact relieves the accused from criminal liability.


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Requisites of felonies committed by CULPA: (The mind of the accused is not criminal, however, his act is

wrongful.)

1.

Freedom

2.

Intelligence

3.

He is imprudent, negligent, or lacks foresight or skill, while doing the act or omitting to do the

act.

*Committing a suicide – is not a felony, any wrong acts resulting from suicide is and will not be

punishable under the law.

MALA IN SE - Wrongful from their nature. Acts are inherently immoral. Those so serious in their effects

on society as to call for almost unanimous condemnation of its members.

MALA PROHIBITA – Wrong merely because prohibited by statute. Acts made criminal by special laws.

Violations of mere rules of convenience designed to secure a more orderly regulation of the

affairs of society.

Intent – purpose to use a particular means to effect such result. Essential element of a crime. Desired

act of a person.

Discernment – mental ability to understand the morality of one’s act, as well as the consequences of

one’s unlawful act. Relates to the moral significance that a person ascribes to the said act (intent).

Motive – Reason behind the intent. Moving power which impels one to action for a definite result. Not

an essential element of a crime. Immaterial when the accused has been positively identified. However, if

evidence is merely circumstantial, proof of motive is essential. Established by the testimony of

witness(es) on the acts or statements of the accused before or immediately after the commission of an

offense.

ARTICLE 4. CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

Rationale: El que es causa de la causa es causa del mal causado – He who is the cause of the cause is

the cause of the evil caused.

Paragraph 1: By any person committing a felony (delito) although the wrongful act done be

different from that which he intended.

Requisites:

1.

Intentional felony has been committed.

2.

Wrong done to the aggrieved party to be the direct, natural, and logical consequence of the

felony committed by the offender.

No felony is committed when:

1. The act or omission is not punishable by RPC.

2. The act is covered by any of the justifying circumstance enumerated in Article 11.


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Doctrines of committing a felony:

1.

Aberratio ictus – mistake in the blow; constitute a complex crime, there must be always 3

person present.

2.

Error in personae - mistake in the identity of the victim

3.

Praeter intentionem – injurious result is greater than that intended; a person even without the

intention to kill but had resulted to the death of the victim, the person is still liable for the said

death.

Any person who creates in another’s mind an immediate sense of danger, which causes the

latter to do something resulting in the latter’s injuries, is liable for the resulting injuries.

If a person against whom a criminal assault is directed reasonably believes himself to be in

danger of death or great bodily harm and in order to escape, impelled by the instinct of self-

preservation, the assailant is responsible for the death or injury arising from such act of the

defendant.

Wrong done must be the direct, natural, and logical consequence of felonious act. [Felony

committed must be the proximate cause of the resulting injury.]

Proximate cause- cause, which in natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficientintervening cause, produces the injury, and without the result would not have occurred.

Natural – an occurrence in the ordinary course of human life or events.

Logical – there is a rational connection between the act of the accused and the resulting injury or

damage.

The felony committed is not the proximate cause of the resulting injury when:

1.

There is an active force (distinct act or fact absolutely foreign from the felonious act of the

accused), that intervened between the felony committed and the resulting injury.

2.

The resulting injury is due to the intentional act of the victim.

When death of the victim is presumed to be the natural consequence of the physical injury inflicted:1.

When the victim at the time of the physical injuries were inflicted was in normal health.

2.

Death may be expected from the physical injuries inflicted.

3.

Death ensued within a reasonable time.

IMPOSSIBLE CRIMES - commission of impossible crime is an indicative of criminal propensity or

tendency on the part of the offender. Punished in order to suppress such criminal propensity.

Requisites of Impossible Crimes:

1.

Act performed would be an offense against persons or property.

2.

Act was done with evil intent.

3.

Its accomplishment is inherently impossible, or that means employed is either inadequate or

ineffectual.

4.

Act performed should not constitute a violation of another provision of the RPC.


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Essential element which distinguishes attempted from frustrated:

Frustrated : there is no intervention of a foreign cause between the beginning of the consummation of

the crime and the moment when all the acts have been performed which should have resulted

in the consummated crime.

Attempted: there is such intervention or he is stopped by some cause apart from his own voluntary

desistance, and the offender does not arrive at performing all of the acts which should have

produced the felony.

Subjective and Objective Phase:

If between these two points, the offender is stopped by any cause outside of his own voluntary

desistance, the subjective phase has not been passed and it is an attempt. If he is not so stopped but

continues until he performs the last act , it is frustrated, provided the crime is not produced. The acts

then of the offender reached the objective phase of the crime.

The offender has reached the objective phase in the frustrated felony; the offender has not

passed the subjective phase in an attempted felony.

Development of crime:

1.

Internal acts – mere ideas in the mind of a person; not punishable. 2.

External acts –

a.

Preparatory act – ordinarily not punishable, except as stated by the law.

b. Acts of execution – punishable under Penal Laws.

Determining the stages of acts of execution.

1.

Nature of Crime

2.

Elements constituting a felony

3.

Manner of committing the crime:

1.

Formal Crime – consummated in one instant or single act because between the thought

and the deed, there is no chain of acts that can be severed in any link. [Example –

slander : mere act of selling or acting as broker of marijuana and other prohibiteddrugs.]

2.

Crimes consummated by mere attempt or proposal or by overt act. [Example – flight to

enemy’s country, corruption of minors, treason.]

3.

Crimes requiring the intervention of 2 persons to commit them are consummated by

mere agreement. [Example – corruption of public officer : offer made of one party

constitute an attempted felony, if such offer was rejected]

4. Material crimes – there are 3 stages of execution [Example – homicide, rape]

5.

Felony by omission - omits to perform an act which the law requires to do.

*No crime of frustrated rape and frustrated theft.

Indeterminate offense – where the purpose of the offender in performing an act is not certain. Its

nature in relation to its objective is ambiguous.

*Acts susceptible for double interpretation must not and cannot furnish grounds by themselves for

attempted crime. The overt acts leading to the commission of the offense are not punishable except

when they are aimed directly at its execution, and therefore they must have an immediate and

necessary relation to the offense.


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ARTICLE 8. CONSPIRACY AND PROPOSAL TO COMMIT FELONY.

Conspiracy – when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission of a felony

and decided to commit it. There must be unity of purpose and unity in the execution of the unlawful

objective.

Proposal - when the person who has decided to commit a felony proposes its execution to some other

person or persons.

*Unless there is a specific provision in RPC providing a penalty for conspiracy or proposal to commit a

felony, mere conspiracy or proposal is not a felony.

Two concepts of Conspiracy:

1.

Concept as a crime (felony) itself. – if there is a law providing punishment for mere conspiracy.

Example: treason, rebellion.

2.

Concept as a mode of incurring liability. – Conspiracy and proposal are merely preparatory acts,

will only constitute a crime if committed or consummated. Conspiracy is not a separate offense.

Two kinds of Conspiracy:

1.

Conspiracy by pre-agreement (Expressed Conspiracy) - proven by independent witness, that

the persons involved in conspiracy actually meet and conspire with each other.

2. Implied Conspiracy – individual acts are in unity with the acts and purpose of the other person

involved in the conspiracy. Direct proof is not essential to establish the conspiracy, and may be

inferred from the collective acts of the accused before, during, and after the commission of a

felony.

ARTICLE 9. FELONIES ACCORDING TO THEIR GRAVITY

Grave felonies - those which the law attaches the capital punishment or penalties which in any of their

periods are afflictive, in accordance with Article 25 (Penalties which may be imposed) of this Code.

Less grave felonies – those which the law punishes with penalties which in their maximum period are

correctional, in accordance with the above-mentioned article.

Light felonies - infractions of law for the commission of which the penalty is arresto menor or a fine not

exceeding 200pesos, or both.

Article 10. Offenses not subject to the provisions of this Code.

*First clause – Penal Code is not intended to supersede special penal laws.

*Second clause – soul of the article; Code shall be supplementary to special laws, unless otherwise

provided.

Special law - statute enacted by the Legislative branch, a penal law which punishes acts not defined and

penalized by the Penal Code.


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*Article 6, RPC, cannot be applied to offenses punished by special laws.

*Article 10 is not applicable to punish an accomplice under the special law. – If appellant is conceded to

have performed acts which would make of him an accomplice, it would nevertheless be impossible to

impose any penalty upon him because of the demonstrated inapplicability of the principles of the RPC

on accomplices.

*Suppletory effect of the RPC to special laws cannot be invoked when there is a legal impossibility of

application, either by express provision or by necessary implication.

CLASSIFICATION OF CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECTING CRIMINAL LIABILITY

I. JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCE – those where the act of a person is said to be in accordance with law, so

that such person is deemed not to have transgressed the law and Is free from both criminal and civil

liability, except in Par. 4 Art 11, where the civil liability is borne by the persons benefited by the act.

Basis: The law recognizes the non-existence of a crime by expressly stating in the opening sentence of

Article 11 that the person therein mentioned “do not incur criminal liability”. Burden of proof, as matter

of defense, is incumbent to the accused in order to avoid criminal liability.

Law on Self-defense: finds justification in the man’s natural instinct to protect, repel, and save

his person or rights from impeding danger or peril; based on the impulse of self-preservation.

Requisites of Self-defense:

1.

There is an unlawful aggression.

2.

Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it. – It does not depend upon

the harm done but rests upon the imminent danger of such injury.

3.

Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself.

Unlawful aggression - assault or at least threatened assault of an immediate and imminent kind.

It presupposes actual, sudden, and unexpected attack, or imminent danger thereof, and notmerely a threatening or intimidating attitude.

It must be: actual – danger must be present, and imminent – danger is at the point of

happening.

Reasonableness of the necessity depends upon the circumstances: Instinct of self

preservation. “Human nature does not act upon processes of formal reason but in obedience of

the instinct of self preservation”

1.

Necessity of the course of action taken.

a.

Place and occasion of the assault

b.

Darkness of the night and surprise which characterized the assault.

*A person defending himself cannot be expected to think clearly as to control his blow.

2.

Necessity of the means used.

a.

Nature and quality of the weapons

b.

Physical condition, character, and size of both parties

c.

Other circumstances considered

*Slap on the face is an unlawful aggression for the face represents a person and his dignity.

*Mere threatening or intimidating attitude, not preceded by an outward and material

aggression, is not an unlawful aggression.


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Retaliation - the aggression that was begun by the injured party already ceased to exist when

the accused attacked him.

II. EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCE – those grounds for exemption from punishment because there is

wanting in the agent of then crime any of the conditions which make the act voluntary or negligent.

Based on the complete absence of intelligence, freedom or action, or intent, or on the absence of

negligence on the part of the accused. Burden of proof as a matter of defense must be proved by the

defendant.

Imbecile – one who, while advanced in age, has a mental development comparable to that of

children between two and seven years of age.

Periods of Criminal Responsibility

1.

Age of absolute irresponsibility – 15 years and below (infancy)

2.

Age of conditional responsibility - 15 years and 1 day to 18 years

3.

Age of full responsibility – 18 years or over (adolescence) to 70 (maturity)

4.

Age of mitigated responsibility – 15 years and 1 day to 18 years, offender acting with

discernment, and over 70 years.

RA 9344 – JUVENILE JUSTICE AND WELFARE ACT OF 2006

Diversion - alternative, child appropriate process of determining the responsibility and

treatment of a child in conflict with the law on the basis of his/her social, cultural, economic,

psychological, or educational background without resorting to formal court proceedings.

Diversion Program – program that the child in conflict with the law is required to undergo after

he/she is found responsible for an offense without resorting to formal court proceedings.

Intervention – series of activities which are designed to address issues that caused the child to

commit an offense. It may take form of an individualized treatment program which may includecounseling, skills, training, education, and other activities that will enhance his/her

psychological, emotional, and psycho-social well being.

Restorative Justice - principle which requires a process of resolving conflicts with the maximum

involvement of the victim, the offender, and the community.

Accident – something that happens outside the sway of our will, and although it comes about

through some act of our will, lies beyond the bounds of humanly foreseeable consequences.

Irresistible force – must consist of an extraneous force coming from a third person. Offender

uses violence or physical force to compel another person to commit a crime.

Uncontrollable fear – offender employs intimidation or threat in compelling another to commit

a crime.

Absolutory cause – where the act committed is a crime but for reasons of public policy and

sentiment, there is no penalty imposed.


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Instigation – the instigator practically induces the would-be accused into the commission of the

offense and himself becomes a co-principal. Here, the accused must be acquitted.

Entrapment – ways and means are resorted to for the purposes of trapping and capturing the

lawbreaker in the execution of his criminal plan.

III. MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE – those which, if present in the commission of the crime, do not

entirely free the actor from criminal liability, but only serve to reduce the penalty; based on the

diminution of either freedom of action, intelligence, or intent, or on the lesser perversity of the

offender.

Ordinary Mitigating Circumstance – can be offset by any aggravating circumstance, if not, it

produces the effect of applying the penalty provided by law for the crime in its minimum

period.

Privileged Mitigating Circumstance - cannot be offset by an aggravating circumstance,

produces the effect of imposing upon the offender the penalty lower by one or two degrees

than that provided by the law for the crime.

Intention – an internal act, judged not only by the proportion of the means employed by him to

the evil produced by his act, but also by the fact that the blow was or was not aimed at a vital

part of the body.

Provocation - any unjust or improper conduct or act of the offended party, capable of exciting,

inciting, or irritating any one, must be sufficient and immediately preceding the act. It is made

directly to the person committing the felony / comes from the offended party.

Vindication - grave offense may be committed also against the offender’s relatives, vindication

of the grave offense may be proximate, and admits of an interval of time between the graveoffense done by the offended party and the commission of the crime of the accused. It concerns

the honor of a person, an offense which is more worthy of consideration than mere spite against

the one giving the provocation or threat.

Premeditation - execution of the criminal act must be preceded by calm thought and reflection

upon the resolution to carry out the criminal intent during the space of time sufficient to arrive

at a composed judgment. Must be based upon external acts and not presumed from mere lapse

of time

Voluntary surrender - offender had voluntarily surrendered himself to a person in authority or

his agents, or that he had voluntarily confessed his guilt before the court prior to the

presentation of the evidence for the prosecution.

*Although this circumstances are considered mitigating in the same subsection, when both are

present, they should have the effect of mitigating as two independent circumstances.

Requisites of Voluntary surrender:

Offender had not been actually arrested

Offender surrendered himself to a person in authority or to the latter’s agents

Surrender was voluntary.


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Requisite of voluntariness: it must be spontaneous, that it shows the interest of the accused to

surrender unconditionally to the authorities, either because he acknowledged his guilt or he

wishes to save them the trouble and expenses necessarily incurred in his search and capture.

Requisites of plea of guilty:

o

Offender spontaneously confessed his guilt

o Confession of guilt was made in open court

o Confession of guilt was made prior to the presentation of the evidence for the prosecution

*Circumstances which are neither EXEMPTING or MITIGATING:

Mistake in the blow or aberration ictus

Mistake in the identity of the victim or error in personae

Entrapment of the accused

Performance of a righteous act.

IV.AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE – which, if attendant in the commission of a crime, serve to increase

the penalty without exceeding the maximum of the penalty provided by law for the offense.

Four Kinds of Aggravating Circumstance

1.

Generic – can generally apply to all crimes; to increase penalty to the maximum period; may be

compensated by mitigating circumstance

2. Specific - apply to particular crimes

3. Qualifying - those that changes the nature of the crime, places the author of the crime in a

situation as to deserve no other penalty than that specially provided by the law for the said

crime. It cannot be offset by a mitigating circumstance, and it must be alleged in the

information.

4. Inherent - those that must of necessity accompany the commission of crime. ( evident

premeditation is inherent in robbery, theft, estafa, adultery, concubinage)

Generic Specific

Par. 1 – advantage be taken by the offender of his

public position

Par. 3 – act be committed with insult or in

disregard of the respect due the offended party on

account of his rank, age, or sex

Par. 2 – Crime be committed in contempt of or

with insult to the public authorities

Par. 15 – advantage be taken of superior strength,

or means be employed to weaken the defense

Par. 3 – that it be committed in the dwelling of the

offended party, if the latter has not given

provocation

Par. 16 – act be committed with treachery

(aleviosa)

Par. 4 – the act be committed with abuse of

confidence or obvious ungratefulness

Par. 17 – means be employed or circumstances

brought about which add ignominy to the natural

effects of the act


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Par. 5 – the crime be committed in the palace of

the Chief Executive, or in his presence, or where

public authorities are engaged in the discharge of

their duties or in a place dedicated to religious

worship

Par. 21 – the wrong done in the commission of the

crime be deliberately augmented by causing other

wrong not necessary for its commission

Par. 6 – crime be committed in the nighttime, or in

an uninhabited place, or by a band, whenever such

circumstance may facilitate the commission of the

offense

Par. 9 – that the accused is a recidivist

Par. 10 – the offender has been previously

punished for an offense to which the law attaches

an equal or greater penalty or for two or more

crimes to which it attaches a lighter penalty

Par. 14 –that craft, fraud, or disguise be employed

Par. 18 –crime be committed after an unlawful

entry

Par. 19 –that as a means to the commission of a

crime a wall, roof, floor, door, or window be

broken

Par. 20 –crime be committed with the aid of

persons under 15 years of age

Recidivist – one, who at the time of the trial for one crime, shall have been previously convicted

by final judgment of another crime embraced in the same title of this Code.

Reiteracion or Habituality - it is necessary that the offender shall have served out his sentence

for the first offense, previous and subsequent offenses must not be embraced within the same

title of this Code.

Habitual delinquency - a person, within a period of ten years from the date of his release or last

conviction of the crimes of FLERTS (Falsification, Less serious physical injuries, Estafa, Robbery,

Theft, Serious physical injuries) is found guilty of the said crimes a third time or oftener. The

offender is a recidivist or one who has been previously punished for two or more offenses.

Four forms of repetition:

1.

Recidivism

2.

Reiteracion or habituality

3. Multi – recidivism or habitual delinquency : extraordinary aggravating circumstance

4.

Quasi – recidivism : special aggravating circumstance

Craft - use of intellectual trickery or cunning on the part of the accused. Employed as a scheme

in the execution of a plan. Act of the accused was done in order not to arouse suspicion of the

victim.

Fraud – insidious words or machinations used to directly induce the victim to act in a manner

which would enable the offender to carry out his design.


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Disguise – resorting to any device to conceal identity.

Treachery - offended party was not given an opportunity to make a defense. There is treachery

when the offender commits any of the crimes against person, employing means, methods, or

forms in the execution thereof which tend to directly or specially insure its execution, without

risk to himself arising from the defense which the offended party might make. Deliberate,

sudden, and unexpected attack of the victim from behind, without any warning and without

giving him an opportunity to defend himself or repel the initial assault.

o Applies only to crimes against person

o

Means, methods, or forms need not insure accomplishment of crime – as the law says “to

insure its execution only”

o Mode of attack must be consciously adopted

Accused must make some preparations to kill the deceased

Mode of attack must be thought of by the offender

Characteristic and unmistakable manifestation of treachery: DELIBERATE, SUDDEN,

UNEXPECTED

Requisites of treachery:

At the time of the attack, the victim was not in a position to defend himself

Offender consciously adopted the particular means, method, or form of attack employed by

him.

*killing a child is characterized by treachery, since the weakness of the victim due to his tender

age results in the absence of any danger to the accused.

Ignominy - circumstance pertaining to the moral order, which adds disgrace to the material

injury caused by the crime. Applicable when the crime committed is against chastity. Means

employed must tend to make the effects of a crime more humiliating or to put the offended party to shame. Involves moral suffering. *Applicable when the crime committed is against

chastity.

Nighttime, Uninhabited place, Band

Nighttime - period of darkness beginning at the end of dusk and ending at dawn

*When the place of the crime is illuminated by light, nighttime is not aggravating

When aggravating

When it facilitated the commission of the crime

When especially sought for by the offender to insure the commission of the crime or for the

purpose of impunity

When offender took advantage thereof for the purpose of impunity

Uninhabited place - there are no houses at all, a place at a considerable distance from town

Band - more than three armed malefactors shall have acted together in the commission of the

offense

*it is considered aggravating in crimes against property and in robbery with homicide.

*it does not apply to crimes against chastity


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Cruelty

There is cruelty when: the culprit enjoys and delights in making his victim suffer slowly and

gradually, causing him unnecessary physical pain in the consummation of the criminal act;

prolonging the suffering of the victim; refers to physical suffering

Requisites of cruelty

o

The injury caused be deliberately increased by causing other wrong

o The other wrong be unnecessary for the execution of the purpose of the offender

*Number of wounds does not show cruelty.

*For it to be appreciated, wounds should be inflicted while the victim was still alive

*Applies only to crime against persons

V.ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCE - those which must be taken into consideration as an aggravating or

mitigating circumstance according to the nature and effects if the crime, and the other conditions

attending its commission.

Relationship -

o Mitigating circumstance in crimes against property

o

Aggravating circumstance in crimes against person in which the offended party is arelative of a higher degree than the offender, or when the offended party and the

offender are relatives of the same level.

o

Aggravating circumstance in crimes against chastity, regardless of whether the offender

is a relative of a higher or lower degree of the offended party.

Intoxication –

o Mitigating - if not habitual, or if not subsequent to the commission of the crime

o

Aggravating - if habitual, or if it is intentional.

Degree of instruction and education of the offender

o Mere illiteracy is not sufficient to constitute a mitigating circumstance. There must also

be lack of intelligence.

o

Not mitigating in crimes against property and chastity.o Aggravating when the offender availed himself or took advantage of it in committing the

crime.

PERSONS CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR FELONIES

Active subject - the criminal; only natural persons can be the active subject because of the highly

personal nature of the criminal responsibility. He alone by his act can set in motion a cause or by his

inaction can make possible the completion of a developing modification in the external world.

o RPC requires that culprit should have acted with personal malice or negligence.

o

A juridical person cannot commit a crime in which a willful purpose or malicious intent isrequired.

o There is a substitution of deprivation of liberty for pecuniary penalties in case of

insolvency of the accused.

o

Other penalties consisting in imprisonment and other deprivation of liberty can be

executed only against individuals.


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*A corporation can act only through its officers, and a violation of the law committed by an officer, the

exercise of his duties, he answers criminally for his acts, and not the corporation to which he belongs.

Criminal actions are restricted or limited to the officials of the corporation and never directed against

the corporation.

Passive subject - the injured party.

*Dead and animals have no rights that may be injured; except in the crime of defamation, if the

imputation tends to blacken the memory of one who is dead.

Principals - Those who take a direct part in the execution of the act (principal by direct participation),

those who directly force or induce others to commit it (principal by inducement), and those who

cooperate in the execution of the offense by another act without which it would not have been

accomplished (principal by indispensable cooperation).

Accomplices - persons who, not being included in Article 17, cooperate in the execution of the offense

by previous or simultaneous acts.

Similarity between accomplice and conspirator: both know and agree with the criminal design

Difference between accomplice and conspirator:

o Conspirator –

1.

know the criminal intentions because they themselves have decided such course of

action.

2.

They decide that a crime should be committed.

3.

They are the authors of the crime.

o

Accomplice –

1.

came to know about the criminal intentions after the principals have reached the

decision, and only when they do agree to cooperate in its execution.

2.

They merely concur with the decision of the conspirators and cooperate in itsaccomplishment.

3.

Merely instruments who perform the acts not essential to the perpetration of the

offense.

4.

Does not enter into a conspiracy with the principal by direct participation, and its act is

not indispensable as on the case of the principal by cooperation.

Accomplice acquires knowledge of criminal design when:

a)

The principal informs the accomplice of the former’s criminal plan.

b)

When the accomplice saw the criminal acts of the principal.

Degree of cooperation of the accomplice:

Moral - through advice, encouragement, agreement

Material - through external acts

Accessories - Must have knowledge of the commission of the crime, and having knowledge, he took no

part subsequent to its commission. Took part after the commission of the crime.


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Accessories distinguished from principals and accomplices

1.

Accessory does not take direct part or cooperate in, or induce, the commission of the crime

2.

Does not cooperate in the commission of the offense by acts either prior to or simultaneous

therewith.

3.

Participation of the accessory takes place after the commission of the crime.

Corpus delicti – “body of the crime”

Two parts of the corpus delicti:

- a crime was committed

-that there was the author of the crime

Article 16

The following are criminally liable for grave or less grave felonies:

o Principals

o Accomplices

o Accessories

The following are criminally liable for light felonies

o

Principals o Accomplices

Rules relative to light felonies:

1.

Light felonies are punishable only when they have been consummated.

2.

But when light felonies are committed against persons or property, they are punishable even if

they are only in the attempted or frustrated stage.

3.

Only principals and accomplices are liable for light felonies.

4.

Accessories are not liable for light felonies, even if they are committed against persons or

property.

Article 17. Principals

Principal by direct participation – those who take a direct part in the execution of the act.

o Requisites:

o They participated in the criminal resolution

o They carried out their plan and personally took part in its execution by acts which

directly tended to the same end.

Principal by induction – those who directly force or induce others to commit it. (autores por

induccion)

o Requisites:

o Inducement be made directly with the intention of procuring the commission of the

crime o Such inducement be the determining cause of the commission of the crime by the

material executor.

Two ways of becoming principal by induction

1.

By directly forcing another to commit a crime

-

Using irresistible force

-

Causing uncontrollable fear


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2.

By directly inducing another to commit a crime

-

By giving price, or offering reward or promise

-

By using words of command

Principal by indispensable cooperation - who cooperated in the commission of the offense by

another act without which it would not have been accomplished.

o Requisites:

o

Participation in the criminal resolution, there is either anterior conspiracy or unity of

criminal purpose and intention immediately before the commission of the crime

charged

o Cooperation in the commission of the offense by performing another act, without which

it would not have been accomplished.

Collective criminal responsibility:

Principals by direct participation have collective criminal responsibility.

Principal by induction, except that who directly forced another to commit a crime, and principal by

direct participation have collective criminal responsibility.

Principal by indispensable cooperation has collective criminal responsibility with principal by directparticipation

Article 18. Accomplice- the persons who, not being included in Art. 17, cooperate in the execution of

the offense by previous or simultaneous acts.

*An accomplice does not enter into a conspiracy with the principal by direct participation. He does not

have a previous agreement with the principal to commit a crime. But he participates to a certain point in

the common criminal design.

Requisites:

That there be community of design (When the principal informs the accomplice of the former’s

criminal purpose or when the accomplice saw the criminal acts of the principal) – Absenceknowledge of the criminal purpose of the principal does not make one an accomplice.

He cooperates in the execution of the offense by previous or simultaneous acts, with the

intention of supplying material or moral aid in the execution of the crime in an efficacious ways

There is relation between the acts done by the principal and those attributed to the person

charged as accomplice.

Article 19. Accessories.

He does not participate in the criminal design, nor cooperate in the commission of the felony, but takes

part in three ways:

By profiting from the effects of the crimeConcealing the body, effects, instruments of the crime in order to prevents its discovery

Assisting in the escape or concealment of the principal of the crime, provided he acts with abuse

of his public functions or the principal is guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or an attempt to

take the life of the Chief Executive, or is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime.

*An accused cannot be held liable as accessory if the principal charged with murder died before the

trial.


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*Arraignment, trial and conviction of an accessory after the fact without the principal of the crime

having first been tried and convicted in the separate case is not proper and violates the legal system of

procedural orderliness.

PD 1612. ANTI-FENCING LAW OF 1979

Fencing - act of any person who, with intent to gain for himself or for another, shall buy, receive,

possess, keep, acquire, conceal, sell or dispose of, or shall buy and sell, or in any manner deal in any

article, item, object, or anything of value which he knows, or should have known to him, to have been

derived from the proceeds of the crime of robbery or theft.

Penalties:

o Prision mayor, if the value of the property involved is more than P12,000.00 but not exceeding

P22,000.00; adding 1year for each additional P10k, but not exceeding to 20years.

o Prision correccional in its medium to maximum period, more than P6k, but less than P12k

o Prision correccional, in its minimum to medium, more then P200, but less than P6k

o Arresto mayor, in its medium to prision correccional, over P50.00 but less than P200

o Arresto mayor in medium, over P5.00 but less than P50.00

o

Arresto mayor minimum, less than P5.00

PD 1829 – OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

*Any person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes, frustrates, or delays the apprehension of

suspects and the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases.

Penalty: prision correccional in its maximum period, or a fine ranging from P1000 to P6000 pesos, or

both

Penalty – suffering inflicted by the State for the transgression of the law.

Theories justifying penalty:Prevention - to prevent or suppress the danger to the State arising from criminal acts

Self defense - as a measure of self defense to protect society from threat and wrong inflicted by

the criminal

Reformation – to correct or reform the offender

Exemplarity - to serve as an example to deter others from committing a crime

Justice - an act of retributive justice

Three-fold purpose of the penalty under this Code:

1.

Retribution – penalty is commensurate with the gravity of the offense

2.

Correction or Reformation - regulate the execution of penalties

3.

Social Defense - inflexible severity to recidivists and habitual delinquents.

Classes of Social Injury:

Social injury - produced by the disturbance and alarm which are the outcome of offense, can be

repaired through the imposition of corresponding penalty

Personal injury - suffered damage to his person, property, honor or chastity, can be repaired through

indemnity and it can be waived.


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Classification of Penalties:

Principal penalties – expressly imposed by the court in the judgment of conviction

Accessory penalties - deemed included in the imposition of the principal penalties

Nature of penalties:

Deprivation of liberty - death, reclusion, prision , arresto

Restriction of liberty – destierro – not executed by confinement in a penal institution, however,

restricted to enter 25kilometers to 250 kilometers within the vicinity prescribed by the Court

Deprivation of rights - suspension, disqualification

Two types of pardon:

1.

Pardon of the offended party – does not extinguish criminal liability, must come before the

institution of the criminal prosecution.

2.

Pardon of the President – extinguish criminal liability in all crimes.

Two kinds of crime:

1. Public – against the State or country

2.

Private – against private party

Article 22. Retroactive application of penal law:

Penal Law must be favorable to the accused

Accused is not a habitual delinquent

Penal law does not prohibit retroactive application

Article 23. Effect of pardon by the offended party

-it does not extinguish criminal action, except as provided in art. 344

-there may be compromise upon civil liability, but such compromise shall not extinguish the publicaction for the imposition of the legal penalty

*In the crimes of seduction, abduction, rape or acts of lasciviousness, there shall be no criminal

prosecution if the offender has been expressly pardoned by the offended party, but the pardon must

come before the institution of the criminal prosecution. The only act that extinguishes the penal action

after the institution of criminal action is the marriage between the offender and the offended party.

Article 29. Preventive Imprisonment – detention of a person charged with a crime that is non-bailable

or even when the crime is bailable but the accused has no means to bail to attain temporary or

probational liberty.

Pre-Sentence Benefit:

o When the accused had undergone preventive imprisonment for a period equal to or more than

the possible maximum imprisonment of the offense charged to which he may be sentenced and

his case is not yet terminated, he shall be released immediately without prejudice to the

continuation of the trial or the proceeding of the appeal, if the same is under review.

o When maximum penalty to which the accused may be sentenced is destierro, he shall be

released after 30 days of preventive imprisonment.


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o Section 16, Rule 114 , Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure – when the accused had undergone

preventive imprisonment equal or more than the minimum possible imprisonment to be

charged, the accused may request for reduction of bail or release on recognizance (accused will

be released even without bail, but wil be under the supervision of a person or character with

good probity)

Post-Sentence Benefit:

o Full-time preventive imprisonment credited on the service of sentence / full deduction of the

preventive imprisonment from the sentence imposed upon the conditions:

1. Had voluntarily signified in writing that he will abide by the same disciplinary rules

imposed upon convicted prisoners

2.

When summoned for the execution of the sentence, he does not fail to surrender

voluntarily

3.

He is not a recidivist, or has not been convicted previously twice or more times of a

crime.

o Four-fifths preventive imprisonment credited on the service of the sentence if the prisoner does

not abide with the disciplinary rules.

Article 34. Civil Interdiction - It shall deprive the offender during the time of his sentence of the rights

of parental authority, or guardianship, either as to person or property of any ward, marital authority,

and the right to manage his property and of his rights to dispose such property by any act or any

conveyance inter vivos.

Deemed to be deprived in cases of principal penalty for:

- death penalty when not executed

- reclusion perpetua

- Reclusion temporal

Article 36. Pardon by the President – shall not work the restoration of the right to hold public office, orthe right of suffrage, unless such rights be expressly restored by the terms of the pardon. It shall not

exempt the culprit from payment of civil indemnity imposed upon him by the sentence.

Limitations: such pardon can only be exercised after the conviction, and does not extend to cases of

impeachment.

*When the principal penalty is remitted by pardon, only the effect of the principal penalty is

extinguished, but not the accessory penalties attached to it. When an absolute pardon is granted after

the term of imprisonment, it removes what is left of the consequences of conviction.

Article 38. Pecuniary Liabilities – in case the property of the offender should not be sufficient for thepayment of all his pecuniary liabilities, the same shall be met in the following order:

1.

Reparation of the damage caused

*No reparation of damages for crime of murder or homicide. Generally, also no

reparation of damage for crime of rape, however, if there are clothing torn, there may

be reparation of damages.

2.

Indemnification of consequential damages

3.

Fine


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4.

Cost of proceedings

Article 39. Subsidiary Penalty – what is suffered by the convict who has no property with which to meet

the fine. It is not an accessory penalty; it is a penalty by itself.

If imposed is prision correctional or arresto and fine – must be expressly included in thesentence imposed upon the convict, otherwise cannot be imposed upon the convict. Subsidiary

imprisonment, not to exceed 1/3 of the term of sentence, and in no case shall continue for more

than one year.

Imposed id fine only – not exceed 6months if culprit is prosecuted for grave or less grave felony,

15 days if for light felony.

Imposed is higher than prision correccional – no subsidiary imprisonment

No confinement in penal institution, but of fixed duration – shall suffer the same deprivation as

those of the principal penalty. Computation follows: subsidiary imprisonment, not to exceed 1/3

of the term of sentence, and in no case shall continue for more than one year.

If financial circumstance of the convict shall improve, he shall still pay the fine. Culprit is not

relieved from paying the fine.

*Determination of the jurisdiction of the Court in criminal cases depends in the extent of the penalty

which the law imposes for the crime charged in the information or complaint. Subsidiary imprisonment

is not essential in the determination of the criminal jurisdiction of a court.

Article 48. Penalty for complex crimes - When a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave

felonies, or when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other, the penalty for the most

serious crime shall be imposed, and the same must be applied in its maximum period.

Compound crime / Delito Compuesto – single act but constitute two or more offense which should be

grave or less grave felonies. [Art.1, paragraph 1, in case of aberration ictus.]

Principle of absorption of penalty – lesser penalty is absorbed by the more or most serious penalty.

Single impulse doctrine - if the act or acts complained of resulted from a single criminal impulse, it

constitutes a single offense, for if there is no absolute evidence as to the number of persons killed by

each and every one of the appellants, even if the Court is induced to hold each appellant responsible for

each and every death caused by him, it is impossible to carry the desire into effect. [People v. Lawas

(1955)]

*In case of use of armalite rifle, cannot be considered as complex crime, due to the advance mechanism

of the rifle. It will be determined by the number of bullets produced.

Complex crime [proper] / Delito Complejo – an act or felony is a necessary means for committing the

other.

Requisites: at least two offenses are committed, one or some of the offenses are necessary

means for committing the other, and both or all offenses must be punished under the same

statute.

*Light felonies can never be combined with grave or less grave felonies to constitute complex crime.


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Special complex crime / Composite Crime – made up of more than one crime but under the law, it is

considered as a single indivisible crime. [Robbery with homicide, robbery with rape, and rape with

homicide]

Kinds of plurality of crimes:

1. Formal or ideal plurality – there is one criminal liability in this plurality. Different acts constitute

only one crime because all of the acts performed arioso from one criminal resolution (Delito

Continuado)

Continued or continuous crime / Delito Continuado - offender performs a series of acts violating one

and the same provision of the penal code which is committed at the same place and about the same

time for the same criminal intent or purpose, then these series of acts are taken as one count under the

law. Single offense consisting of several acts, those acts constitutes separate crime, but considering they

are violation of the same provision of the law committed almost at the same time, impelled by the same

criminal intent, only one penalty will be imposed.

*Can be applicable to Male in se (example, estafa). However, separate counts for Mala prohibita

(example, ten counts of violation of BP 22 – Bouncing Checks)

Continuing or Transitory Crime - used in criminal procedure to denote that a certain crime may be

prosecuted and tried not only before the court of the place where it was originally committed or began,

but also before the court of the place where the crime was continued.

2.

Real or material plurality – different crimes in law as well as in the conscience of the offender.

The offender shall be punished for each and every offense that he committed.

Article 49. Penalties to be imposed upon the principals when the crime committed is different from

that intended.

-applies only to cases of mistake of identity.

-lesser penalty is always to be impose, only that it shell be imposed in the maximum period.

-applies only when the intended crime and the crime committed are punished with different penalties.

-if the intended crime and the crime actually committed are punished with the same or equal

penalties, Art. 49 is not applicable.

Articles 50 -57.

Diagram of Application. Consummated Frustrated Attempted

Principals 0 1 2

Accomplices 1 2 3

Accessories 2 3 4

0 – represents the penalty prescribed by law in defining a crime, to be imposed on the principal in a

consummated offense


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*the other figures represent the degrees to which the penalty must be lowered, to meet the different

situations anticipated by law

Exception: Article 60 – The provisions in Arts. 50 -57 shall not be applicable to a case in which the law

expressly prescribes the penalty provided for a frustrated, or attempted felony, or to be imposed upon

accomplices or accessories.

Bases for determination of the extent of penalty to be imposed under the Revised Penal Code:

1.

Stage reached by the crime (attempted, frustrated, consummated)

2.

Participation of the persons liable

3.

Aggravating or Mitigating circumstances attendant to the commission of the crime.

Degree - one entire penalty

Period – one of the three equal portion, called minimum, medium, maximum

Article 59. Penalty imposed upon impossible crimes

-

Arresto mayor or fine ranging from 200 to 500 pesos.

Basis for imposition of proper penalty: 1. Social danger, 2. Degree of criminality shown by the offender

*Art. 59 – limited to cases where the act performed would be grave or less grave felonies.

Article 64.

Outline of the rules:

No aggravating nor mitigating – medium period

Only mitigating – minimum

Only aggravating – maximum When there are 2 aggravating circumstances and no mitigating, penalty prescribed should be

imposed in its maximum.

o

Whatever may be the number and nature of the aggravating circumstance, the courts

may not impose a greater penalty than that prescribed by law in its maximum period.

*Mitigating circumstance must be ordinary, not privilege.

*Aggravating circumstance must be generic or specific, not qualifying or inherent.

*Qualifying Circumstance cannot be offset by a generic mitigating circumstance.

When mitigating and aggravating circumstances not considered in the imposition of the penalty:

1.

When penalty is single and indivisible (Indivisible penalties are: Death, Reclusion Perpetua,Public Censure)

2.

In felonies through negligence

3. Penalty to be imposed upon a Moro or other non-Christian inhabitants.

4. When penalty is only a fine imposed by an ordinance

5. When the penalties are prescribed by special law.


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Privilege Mitigating Circumstances:

Article 68: Minority

Article 69: Incomplete Justifying/Exempting Circumstance

*Unlawful aggression must always be present; without it, the two other requisite cannot apply.

*Not all the requisite to justify/exempt, provided that the majority are present, offender is privilege to a

penalty lower or 2 degree lower than the penalty stated in the law

*If only two requisites are required, the presence of the first requisite is already a majority.

Article 89. Total extinction of criminal liability

1.

By death of the convict

2.

By service of sentence

3.

By amnesty

4.

By absolute pardon

5.

By prescription of the crime

6.

By prescription of penalty

7.

By marriage of the offended woman (Art. 344, RPC)

*Extinction of criminal liability does not necessarily mean that the civil liability is also extinguished.

Causes of extinction of criminal liability arise after the commission of the offense

Causes of justification or exemption from criminal liability arise from the circumstance existing before

the commission of the crime or at the moment of its commission.

Amnesty – sovereign act granting oblivion or general pardon for past acts, granted by a government

generally to a class of persons who are subject to trial and have not been convicted, usually of political

offenses.

*Amnesty wipes out all traces and vestiges of the crime, it does not extinguish the civil liability of theoffender.

Pardon – an act of grace proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of laws which

exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for the crime he

has committed.

Amnesty Pardon

Blanket pardon to classes of persons or

communities who may be guilty of political

offenses.

Includes any crime and is exercised individually by

the President.

May be exercised even before trial orinvestigation.

Exercised when the person is already convicted.

Looks backward and abolishes and puts into

oblivion the offense itself.

Looks forward and relieves the offender from the

consequences of an offense of which he has been

convicted.

Amnesty makes an ex-convict no longer a

recidivist; it obliterates the last vestige of the

crime.

Pardon does not alter the fact that the accused is a

recidivist; it produces the extinction only of the

personal effects of penalty.


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Proclamation of the President with the

concurrence of Congress, is a public act of which

the courts should take judicial notice.

A private act of the President, must be pleaded

and proved by the person pardoned.

Article 90. Prescription of crimes.

Prescription of the crime – loss or forfeiture of the right of the State to prosecute the offender after the

lapse of a certain time.

Punishment for the crime: Prescription of crime :

Death, reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal 20 years

By other afflictive penalties (Prision mayor,

Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification,

Perpetual or temporary special disqualification)

15 years

By correctional penalty, except arresto mayor

(Prision correccional, Suspension, Destierro)

10 years

By arresto mayor 5 years

Libel or other similar offenses 1 year

Oral defamation and slander by deed 6 months

Light offenses (Arresto menor, Public censure) 2 months

*Grave slander prescribes in 6 months. Simple slander prescribes in 2 months.

*Where the penalty fixed by law is a compound one, the highest penalty shall be made the basis of the

application of the rules contained therein.

Crimes punishable by Fine: Prescription of the crime:

Afflictive (exceeds 6,000 pesos) 15 years

Correctional ( does not exceed 6,000 pesos but isnot less than 200 pesos)

10 years

Light (less than 200 pesos) 2 months

Offenses punished under

special laws and municipal ordinances:

Prescription:

By fine, or by imprisonment for not more than 1

month

1 year

By imprisonment for more than 1 month, but less

than 2 years

4 years

By imprisonment for 2 years or more but lessthan 6 years

8 years

By imprisonment for 6 years or more 12 years

Offenses under Internal Revenue Law 5 years

Violations of Municipal Ordinances 2 months

Violations of the regulations or conditions of

certificate of convenience by the Public Service

2 months


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Commission

*Prescription shall begin to run from the day of the commission of the violation of the law, and if the

same be not known at the time, from the discovery thereof and the institution of judicial proceedings

for its investigation and punishment.*Where an accused has been found to have committed a lesser offense includible within the offense

charged, he cannot be convicted of the lesser offense, if it has already been prescribed.

Outline of the provisions:

1.

Period of prescription commences to run from the day on which the crime is discovered by the

offended party, the authorities or their agents.

2.

It is interrupted by the filing of the complaint.

3.

It commences to run again when such proceedings terminate without the accused being

convicted or acquitted or are unjustifiably stopped for any reason not imputable to him.

4.

The term of prescription shall not run when the offender is absent from the Philippines.

*Prescriptive period of continuing crime, cannot begin to run because there could be no termination ofcontinuity and the crime does not end.

*The act of testifying falsely against the defendant does not constitute an actionable offense until the

principal case is finally decided.

*False Testimony in favor of the defendant, there is a specific penalty which does not depend on the

conviction or acquittal of the defendant.

Article 92. When and how penalties prescribed:

Prescription of the penalty – loss or forfeiture of the right of the government to execute the final

sentence after the lapse of a certain time.

Two conditions necessary in prescription of penalty:1.

That there be final judgment

2.

The period of time prescribed by law for its enforcement has elapsed.

Penalties imposed: Prescription of penalty

Death and reclusion perpetua 20 years

Other afflictive penalty (reclusion temporal,

absolute/special disqualification, prision mayor)

15 years

Correctional penalties, except arresto mayor

(prision correccional, suspension, destierro)

10 years

Arresto mayor 5 years

Light penalties (Arresto menor, public censure) 1 year

Article 93. Prescription of penalties.

Elements:

1.

Penalty imposed by final sentence;

2.

The convict evaded the service of the sentence by escaping during the term of his sentence;


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3.

Convict who escaped from prison has not given himself up, or been captured, or gone to a

foreign country with which Philippines have no extradition treaty, or committed another crime;

4.

Penalty has prescribed, because of the lapse of the time from the date of the evasion of the

service of the sentence by the convict.

*Art. 93 applies only to those who are convicted by final judgment and are serving the sentence which

consists in deprivation of liberty.

*Period for prescription of penalties begins only when the convict evades service of sentence by

escaping during the term of his sentence.

*Acceptance of conditional pardon also interrupts the prescriptive period.

Article 94. Partial extinction of criminal liability

1.

By conditional pardon;

2.

By commutation of the sentence;

3.

For good conduct allowances which the culprit may earn while he is serving his sentence.

Conditional Pardon - when delivered and accepted is considered a contract between the sovereign

power of the executive and the convict that the former will release the latter upon compliance with thecondition.

Commutation of sentence – change in the decision of the court made by the President by reducing the

degree of the penalty inflicted upon the convict, or by decreasing the length of the imprisonment or the

amount of the fine.

When commutation is provided:

Convict sentenced to death is over 70 years old

When 8 justices of SC failed to reach a decision for the affirmance of the death penalty.

For good conduct allowances - a prisoner is entitled to special time allowance for loyalty. A deduction

of 1/5 period of his sentence is granted to a loyal prisoner.

Parole - consists in the suspension of the sentence of a convict after serving the minimum term of the

indeterminate penalty, without granting a pardon, prescribing the terms upon which the sentence shall

be suspended.

INDETERMINATE SENTENCE LAW (Act No. 413)

- applies only to penalty of imprisonment; there must be conviction through final judgment.

- does not apply to non-divisible penalties.

- application of ISLAW is mandatory where imprisonment would exceed one year.

Purpose of ISLAW: To uplift and redeem valuable human material, and prevent unnecessary and

excessive deprivation of personal liberty and economic freedom

This Act shall not apply to persons: (Categories)

A. As to Penalty actually imposed upon the offender

- offenses punished with death penalty or life imprisonment

- those whose maximum term of imprisonment does not exceed one year

- penalty served outside prison : suspension, destierro

B. As to Nature of crime the accused if convicted of


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- those convicted of treason, conspiracy, or proposal to commit treason

- those convicted of misprision of treason, rebellion, sedition or espionage

- those convicted of piracy

*PREMPTS: Piracy, Rebellion, Espionage, Misprision of treason, Proposal and conspiracy to

commit treason, Treason, Sedition

C. As to Nature of the Offender

- those who are habitual delinquents

- who shall have escaped from confinement or evaded sentence

- who violated the terms of the conditional pardon granted by the President

- those already sentenced by a final judgment at the time of the approval of this Act

- supposed to be sentenced of Death, but due to RA9346, penalty is commuted to Reclusion

Perpetua

Minimum of IsLaw:

- One degree next lower to the penalty prescribed for the offense. It is determined without considering

the attending circumstances to the penalty prescribed, and is left to the discretion of the court.

- To give convict the grace period by which while serving the sentence, the Board of Pardon and Parole

will determine whether he is morally, physically, mentally fit to be released subject to certain conditions.

Maximum of IsLaw:

- Penalty imposed as provided by law, depending upon the attending circumstances.

- To make the offender serve the maximum term if he violates the terms and conditions attached to the

parole, if he violates it, or if he is determined not to be fit for release on parole.

NOTE:

* If penalty will not exceed Prision correccional, no need to apply for IsLaw, rather apply for Probation.

* If the penalty imposed is Reclusion Perpetua, IsLaw cannot be granted.

PROBATION LAW (PD 968)

Purpose:- promote the correction and rehabilitation of an offender by providing him with individualized

treatment

- provide an opportunity for the reformation of a penitent offender which might be less

probable if he were to

serve as prison sentence

- prevent the commission of the crime

Probation - disposition under which a defendant, after conviction and sentence, is released subject to

conditions

imposed by the court and to the supervision of a probation officer; only affects the criminal

aspect of the case.

Grant of Probation: Categories: No application for probation must be entertained if there was an appeal

filed by the said accused.

*Must be filed with 15 days from the promulgation of judgement

Probation shall not be extended to:


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1. those sentenced to serve a maximum term of imprisonment of more than 6 years

2. those convicted of subversion or any crime against the national security or public order, even not

exceeding more

than 6years of imprisonment

3. were previously convicted by final judgment of an offense punished by not less than one month and

one day, and

fine not more than 200pesos

4. who have been once on probation

5. who are already serving sentence at the time the provision of the decree became applicable

How long a convict may be placed on probation:

- term of imprisonment of not more than 1 year – probation shall not exceed 2 years

- term of imprisonment of more than 1 year – probation shall not exceed 6 years

- Fine only and to offender made to serve subsidiary imprisonment – shall be twice the total number of

days of subsidiary imprisonment.

Conditions of Pardon:

-Mandatorya. present himself to the probation officer designated to undertake his supervision at

such place as may

be specified in the order within 72 hours from receipt of said order

b. report to the probation officer at least once a month at such time and place as

specified by the order

-Discretionary - refer to p.819 (RPC, Reyes) or p.221(Codal)

Article 100. Civil liability of a person guilty of felony. – EVERY PERSON CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR A

FELONY IS ALSO CIVILLY LIABLE

When there are victims of the crime Under the Civil Code, crime is one of the sources of obligation

Two classes of injuries.

Social injury - produced by the disturbance and alarm which are the outcome of the offense,

sought to be repaired through the imposition of the corresponding penalty.

Personal injury – caused to the victim of the crime who may have suffered damage. Sought to

be reoaired through indemnity.

Basis of civil liability: obligation of everyone to repair or to make whole

criminal law 1 jona notes

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