philippine criminal law -

8/12/2019 Philippine Criminal Law -

1/3

Philippine criminal law

Philippine Criminal Lawsis the body of laws defining crimesand defining the penalties thereofin the Philippines.

History

The Philippineswas a colony of Spainfor more than 300 years, beginning in 1565 until 1!.

"ecause of this, many fields of law in the Philippines such as #i$il %awand#riminal %awfollow a ci$il lawtradition, as opposed to #ommercial %awand #onstitutional %awwhich

follow a common lawtradition.

&hen the Spanish #oloni'erscon(uered the Philippines, the Spanish #odigo Penal was made

applicable and e)tended to the Philippines by *oyal +ecree of 10. This was replaced with theold Penal #ode which was put in place by Spanish authorities, and too- effect in the Philippines

on uly 1/, 16. This law was effecti$e in the Philippines until the mericancoloni'ation of thePhilippines. t was only on +ecember , 1!30, when it was amended, under ct. 2o. 315, withthe enactment of the*e$ised Penal #ode of the Philippinesthe 4*e$ised Penal #ode.

The Revised Penal Code

7ain article8 *e$ised Penal #ode of the Philippines

The *e$ised Penal #ode too- effect on anuary 1, 1!39. t is composed of two parts : "oo- ;ne

of the *e$ised Penal #ode pro$ides the general pro$isions on the application of the law, and the

general principles of criminal law. t defines feloniesand circumstances which affect criminalliability,


2/3

Degree of Consummation of Crimes

=elonies can be consummated, frustrated, and attempted. felony is consummated when all the

elements necessary for its e)ecution and accomplishment are present. t is frustrated when the

offender performs all the acts of e)ecution which would produce the felony as a conse(uence but

which, ne$ertheless, do not produce it by reason of causes independent of the will of theperpetrator. There is an attempt when the offender commences the commission of a felony

directly or o$er acts, and does not perform all the acts of e)ecution which should produce thefelony by reason of some cause or accident other than this own spontaneous desistance.

#onspiracye)ists when two or more persons come to an agreement concerning the commission

of a felony and decide to commit it. #onspiracy can also be pro$en based on the idea of @unity of

purpose@ and acts leading to a common design. There is proposal when the person who hasdecided to commit a felony proposes its e)ecution to some other person or persons. #onspiracy

and proposal to commit a felony are generally not punishable, e)cept for conspiracy and

proposal to commit treason, coup d>etat, and rebellion. &hilst not generally punishable,

conspiracy can determine the degree of participation in criminal offenses in order to determinecriminal liability.

Circumstances that Affect Criminal Liability

The presence of certain circumstances ha$e the effect of remo$ing, mitigating or aggra$ating

criminal liability of persons. Persons who commit crimes when


3/3

%astly, accessories are those who, ha$ing -nowledge of the commission of the crime, and

without ha$ing participated therein, either as principals or accomplices, ta-e part subse(uent to

its commission by8 a profiting themsel$es or assisting the offender toprofitby the effects of thecrime, b concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects or instruments thereof, in

order to pre$ent its disco$ery, or c harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the

principals of the crime.

Principals are punished more se$erely than accomplices, who are punished more se$erely thanaccessories. Bowe$er, when there is conspiracy, there will no longer be a distinction as to

whether a person acted as a principal, accomplice or accessory, because when there is

conspiracy, the criminal liability of all will be the same, because the act of one is the act of all.

Special Penal Laws

part from the crimes penali'ed in the *e$ised Penal #ode, se$eral other pieces of criminal

legislation ha$e been passed, penali'ing acts such as illegal possession and traffic-ing of

dangerous drugs, money laundering, and illegal possession offirearms. These laws are called4Special Penal %aws and they form part ofPhilippine #riminal %aws. There are certain

differences between crimes punished under the *e$ised Penal #ode and Special Penal %aws.

Ciolations of the crimes listed in the *e$ised Penal #ode are referred to as mala in se, which

literally means, that the act is inherently e$il or bad or wrongful in itself. ;n the other hand,$iolations of Special Penal %aws are generally referred to as malum prohibitum or an act that is

wrong because it is prohibited. Thus, no criminal intent is needed in order to find a person liable

for crimes punished under Special Penal %aws. s long as the act is committed, then it ispunishable as a crime under law.

2ote, howe$er, that not all $iolations of Special Penal %aws are mala prohibita. &hileintentional felonies are always mala in se, it does not follow that prohibited acts done in $iolation

of special laws are always mala prohibita.

There are some important distinctions between crimes punishable under the *e$ised Penal #ode

and Special Penal %aws. ;ne of them is that in crimes punished under the *e$ised Penal #ode,

the moral trait of the offender is considered. This is why liability would only arise when there is

criminal intent or negligence in the commission of the punishable act. n crimes punished underSpecial Penal %aws, the moral trait of the offender is not consideredD it is enough that the

prohibited act was $oluntarily done.

References

1. *epublic ct 2o. 36, the #i$il #ode of the Philippines 1!/!.9. ct 2o. 315, the *e$ised Penal #ode of the Philippines 1!30.

3. The 1! #onstitution of the *epublic of the Philippines./. %uis ". *eyes, The *e$ised Penal #ode8 #riminal %aw 90 1!!, 1/th ed..5. ntonio %. Eregorio, =undamentals of #riminal %aw *e$iew 50A51 1!!.

*etrie$ed from @http8FFen.wi-ipedia.orgFwFinde).phpGtitleHPhilippineIcriminalIlawJoldidH/61/6!516@
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drugshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_launderinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearmshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearmshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Criminal_Lawshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Criminal_Lawshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mala_in_sehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mala_prohibitahttp://www.filipiniana.net/ArtifactView.do?artifactID=C00000000002http://www.filipiniana.net/ArtifactView.do?artifactID=C00000000002http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philippine_criminal_law&oldid=461469516http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drugshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_launderinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearmshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Criminal_Lawshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mala_in_sehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mala_prohibitahttp://www.filipiniana.net/ArtifactView.do?artifactID=C00000000002http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philippine_criminal_law&oldid=461469516

philippine criminal law -

Documents