EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCES (ARTICLE 12)

Exempting Circumstances are defenses where the accused committed a crime but is not criminally
liable. There is a crime, and there is civil liability, but no criminal.

A. The basis is the lack of any of the elements which makes the act/omission voluntary, i.e.
freedom, intelligence, intent or due care.

B. These defenses pertain to the actor and not the act. They are personal to the accused in
whom they are present and the effects do not extend to the other participants. Thus, if a
principal is acquitted, the other principals, accessories and accomplices are still liable.

C. They apply to both intentional and culpable felonies and they may be available in
violations of special laws.

D. They are limited to the following, as enumerated in Article 12.

1. An imbecile or an insane person, unless the latter has acted during a lucid interval

When the imbecile or an insane person has committed an act which the law
defines as a felony (delito), the court shall order his confinement in one of the
hospitals or asylums established for persons thus afflicted, which he shall not
be permitted to leave without first obtaining the permission of the same court.

2. A person under nine years of age

R.A 9344 Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act: 15 years old

3. A person over nine years of age and under fifteen, unless he has acted with
discernment in which case, such minor shall be proceeded against in accordance
with the provisions of Article 80

R.A 9344 Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act: above 15 but below 18 years old

When such minor is adjudged to be criminally irresponsible, the court shall
commit him to the care and custody of his family who shall be charged with
his surveillance and education otherwise, he shall be committed to the care
of some institution or person mentioned in Article 80.

4. Any person who, while performing a lawful act with due care, causes an injury by
mere accident without fault or intention of causing it

5. Any person who act under the compulsion of irresistible force

(1) that the compulsion is by means of physical force

(2) that the physical force must be irresistible

(3) that the physical force must come from a third person

6. Any person who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear of an equal or
greater injury

(1) That the threat which causes the fearis of an evil greater than, or at
least equal to, that which h is required to commit
EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCES (ARTICLE 12)
(2) That it promises an evil of such gravity and imminence that the
ordinary man would have succumbed to it

7. Any person who fails to perform an act required by law, when prevented
by some lawful insuperable cause.

(1) That an act is required by law to be done

(2) That a person fails to perform such act

(3) That his failure to perform such act is due to some lawful or
insuperable cause