CRIM LAW 2ND EXAM REVIEWER
manners:
1.) Who are criminally liable? Compare and
contrast the types of principals. Distinguish an
accomplice from an accessory.
Article 16 of the Revised Penal Code enumerates
those who are criminally liable.
The following are criminally liable for grave and less
grave felonies:
(1) Principals
(2) Accomplices
(3) Accessories
The following are criminally liable for light felonies:
(1) Principals
(2) Accomplices
Article 17 of the Revised Penal Code enumerates
those who are considered as principals.
(1) Principal by Direct participation – Those who take
part in the execution of the act.
(2) Principal by Inducement – Those who directly force
or induce others to commit it.
(3) Principal by Indispensable cooperation – Those
who cooperate in the commission of the offense by
another act without which it would not have been
accomplished.
In order for 2 or more persons to be classified as
Principals by Direct participation, two requisites must be
present:
(1) That the persons participate in the criminal
resolution wherein there must be conspiracy
between them.
(2) That the persons carried out the resolution by
performing acts which tend to accomplish the
objective.
To be classified as Principal by Inducement, two
requisites must be present:
(1) That the principal by inducement made the
inducement with the intention of procuring the
commission of the crime.
(2) That the inducement was the determining cause of
the commission of the crime without which the
crime could not have been committed.
To be classified as Principal by Indispensable
cooperation, a person must cooperate with the
principal by another act other than the execution of
the crime.
However, regardless of the type of principal, the penalty
imposed is the same because of conspiracy. The act of
one is the act of all and it does not make one any better
than the other.
Under Article 18 of the Revised Penal Code,
Accomplices are persons who, not being included in
Article 17, cooperate in the execution of the offense by
previous or simultaneous acts.
While under Article 19 of the Revised Penal Code,
Accessories are those who, having knowledge of the
commission of the crime, and without having participated
therein, either as principals or accomplices, take part
subsequent to its commission in any of the following
(1) By profiting themselves or assisting the offender to
profit by effects of the crime.
(2) By concealing or destroying the body of the crime,
of the effects or instruments thereof, in order to
prevent its discovery.
(3) By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape
of the principal of the crime, provided the accessory
acts with abuse of his public functions or whenever
the author of the crime 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 crime.
2.) Compare the liability of an accessory with that
under P.D. 1612 (Anti-Fencing Law). How is P.D.
1829 related to the liability of an accessory?
Sec. 5 of P.D 1612 or Anti-Fencing Law provides that
mere possession of any goods, article, item, or anything
of value which has been the subject of robbery or
thievery shall be prima facie evidence of fencing. Hence,
the act of profiting or concealing the crime is considered
as liability of a principal under P.D 1612. While in Article
19, paragraph 1 of the Revised Penal Code, a person is
liable as an accessory because they profit themselves or
assist the offender to profit by the effect of the crime.
The liability under Article 19 is lower compared to the
liability imposed under P.D 1612.
Sec. 1 of P.D 1829 or Law Penalizing Obstruction of
Justice provides that harboring or concealing, or
facilitating the escape of any person he knows, or has
reasonable ground to believe that the suspect has
committed any offense under existing penal laws in order
to prevent his arrest, prosecution and conviction. Hence,
a person may be liable as principal under PD 1829.
While in Article 19, paragraph 3 of the Revised Penal
Code, the act of harboring, concealing, or assisting in the
escape of the principal of the crime makes a person
accessory to the felony.
3.) How are criminal liability extinguished?
Criminal liability is extinguished by total extinction or
partial extinction.
Article 89 of the Revised Penal Code enumerates how
criminal liability is totally extinguished:
(1) By the death of the convict, as to the personal
penalties; and as to pecuniary penalties, liability
therefore is extinguished only when the death of the
accused occurs before final judgment.
(2) By service of the sentence.
(3) By amnesty, which completely extinguishes the
penalty and all its effects.
(4) By absolute pardon.
(5) By prescription of the crime.
(6) By prescription of the penalty.
By the marriage of the offended woman, as provided in
Article 344 of this Code
While Article 94 of the Revised Penal Code
enumerates how criminal liability is extinguished
partially:
(1) By conditional pardon.
(2) By commutation of the sentence.
(3) For good conduct allowances which the culprit may
earn while he is undergoing preventive
imprisonment or serving his sentence. (As
amended by R.A No. 10592)
4.) Discuss exhaustively the effect of the death of a
convict.
In the case of People vs. Bayotas, the court presented
the effects of the death of a convict:
The death of the accused pending appeal of his
conviction extinguishes his criminal as well as the civil
liability based solely thereon. However, the claim for civil
liability survives regardless of the death of the accused if
the same may also be predicated on a source other than
the crime. Article 1157 of the Civil Code enumerates
these other sources of obligation from which the civil
liability may arise as a result of the same act or
omission:
(a) law;
(b) contracts;
(c) quasi-contracts;
(d) quasi-delicts.
If the civil liability survives, an action for recovery thereof
may be pursued but only by way of filing a separate civil
action pursuant to Sec. 1, Rule 111 of the 1985 Rules on
Criminal Procedure. This separate civil action or claim
may be enforced against the executor or administrator of
the estate of the deceased, depending on the source of
obligation. If the claim is arising from contract, you claim
against the estate. If it is arising from quasi-delict, you
claim by civil action against the executor.
The private offended party need not fear the forfeiture of
his rights to file a separate civil action by prescription. In
such case, the statute of limitations does not run. The
liability is deemed interrupted during the pendency of the
criminal case conformably with Article 1155 of the Civil
Code.
5.) Distinguish pecuniary penalties from pecuniary
liabilities
Pecuniary penalties are those that are measured in
money or which relates to money. This includes fine
under Articles 25, 36 & 39 under the Revised Penal
Code or subsidiary penalty, and Bond to keep the peace
under Articles 25 and 35 of the Revised Penal Code.
Pecuniary liabilities are those that are measured in
money, adjudged against the accused and undeniably ex
delicto. It arises from the crime itself and Article 38 of the
Revised Penal Code prescribes its order of payment.
6.) Discuss the kinds of pardon.
The following are the kinds of pardon:
(1) Absolute pardon under Article 89, paragraph 4 of
the Revised Penal Code which totally extinguishes
the criminal liability.
(2) Conditional pardon under Article 94, paragraph 1 of
the Revised Penal Code which partially
extinguishes the criminal liability. Article 95 of the
Revised Penal Code further provides that any
person who has been granted conditional pardon
shall incur the obligation of complying with the
conditions imposed therein, otherwise, his non-
compliance with any of the conditions specified
shall result in the revocation of the pardon and the
provisions under Article 159 shall be applied to him.
(3) Pardon by the private offended party under Article
344 of the Revised Penal Code provides that the
offenses of seduction, abduction, or acts of
lasciviousness, shall not be prosecuted except
upon a complaint filed by the offended party or her
parents, grandparents, guardian, nor, in any case, if
the offender has been expressly pardoned by the
above named persons, as the case may be.
7.) What is amnesty? Distinguish amnesty from
absolute pardon.
Amnesty commonly denotes a general pardon to rebels
for their treason, or other high political offenses of the
forgiveness of which one sovereign grants to the subject
of another who have offended by some breach the law
of nation. Amnesty looks backward and abolishes and
puts into oblivion the offense itself. It overlooks and
obliterates the offense with which he was charged. That
the person released by amnesty stands before the law
precisely as though he had committed no offense.
Amnesty with the proclamation of the Chief Executive
and concurrence of the congress is a public act which
courts must take judicial notice. However, not all past
offenses are covered by the amnesty proclamation. The
specific declaration of amnesty must be taken into
consideration.
While Pardon on the other hand, is 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. Pardon is granted by the Chief
Executive and it is a private act that must be pleaded
and proved because the courts take no judicial notice
thereof. Pardon looks forward and it is granted after
conviction. The very essence of pardon is forgiveness or
remission of guilt. However, it does not erase the fact of
the commission of the crim and the conviction thereof. It
also does not entitle a person so return to his former
position.
8.) When does a crime prescribe? When does the
period of prescription of penalty begin to run?
Article 90 of the Revised Penal Code provides for the
prescription of crimes:
Crimes punishable by death, reclusion perpetua, or
reclusion temporal shall prescribe in twenty years.
Crimes punishable by other afflictive penalties shall
prescribe in fifteen years.
Those punishable by a correctional penalty shall
prescribe in ten years; with the exception of those
punishable by arresto mayor, which shall prescribe in
five years.
The crime of libel, or other similar offenses shall
prescribe in one year.
The offenses of oral defamation and slander by deed
shall prescribe in six months.
Light offenses prescribe in two months.
When the penalty fixed by law is compound one, the
highest penalty shall be made the basis of the
application of the rules contained in the first, second and
third paragraphs of this article.
Article 91 of the Revised Penal Code provides for the
computation of prescription of offenses.
The period of prescription shall commence to run from
the day on which the crime is discovered by the offended
party, the authorities, or their agents, and shall be
interrupted by the filing of the complaint or information,
and shall commence 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. The term of
prescription shall not run when the offender is absent
from the Philippine Archipelago.
9.) When and how do penalties prescribe? When
does the period of prescription of crime begin
to run?
Article 92 of the Revised Penal Code enumerates
when and how penalties prescribe. The penalties
imposed by final sentence prescribe as follows:
(1) Death and reclusion perpetua, in twenty years.
(2) Other afflictive penalties, in fifteen years.
(3) Correctional penalties, in ten years, with the
exception of the penalty of arresto mayor, which
prescribes in five years.
(4) Light penalties, in one year.
Under Article 93 of the Revised Penal Code, The
period of prescription of penalties shall commence to run
from the date when the culprit should evade the service
of his sentence, and it shall be interrupted if the
defendant should give himself up, be captured, should
go to some foreign country with which this Government
has no extradition treaty, or should commit another crime
before the expiration of the period of prescription.
10.) What is the special time allowance for loyalty?
Article 98 of the Revised Penal Code defines special
time allowance for loyalty. A deduction of one fifth of the
period of his sentence shall be granted to any prisoner
who, having evaded his preventive imprisonment or the
service of his sentence under the circumstances
mentioned in Article 158 of this Code, gives himself up to
the authorities within 48 hours following the issuance of
a proclamation announcing the passing away of the
calamity or catastrophe referred to in said article. A
deduction of two-fifths of the period of his sentence shall
be granted in case said prisoner chose to stay in the
place of his confinement notwithstanding the existence
of a calamity or catastrophe enumerated in Article 158 of
this Code. This article shall apply to any prisoner
whether undergoing preventive imprisonment or serving
sentence. (As amended by R.A No. 10592)
11.) What is included in civil liabilities? Briefly
explain each of them.
Under Article 104 of the Revised Penal Code, The civil
liability established in articles 100, 101, 102, and 103 of
this Code includes:
(1) Restitution under Article 105 of the Revised Penal
Code - The restitution of the things itself must be
made whenever possible, with allowance for any
deterioration, or diminution of value as determined
by the court.
The thing itself shall be restored, even though it be
found in the possession of a third person who has
acquired it by lawful means, saving to the latter his
action against the proper person who may be liable
to him.
 
This provision is not applicable in a case in which
the thing has been acquired by the third person in
the manner and under the requirements which, by
law, bar an action for its recovery.
 
(2) Reparation of damage caused under Article 106 of
the Revised Penal Code - The court shall
determine the amount of damage, taking into
consideration the price of the thing, whenever
possible, and its special sentimental value to the
injured party, and reparation shall be made
accordingly.
 
(3) Indemnification for consequential damages under
Article 107 of the Revised Penal Code -
Indemnification for consequential damages shall
include not only those caused by the injured party,
but also those suffered by his family or by a third
person by reason of the crime.
12.) What is the subsidiary civil liability of other
persons? How is that civil liability
extinguished?
Article 103 of the Revised Penal Code explains the
subsidiary civil liability of other persons. The subsidiary
liability established in Article 102 shall also apply to
employers, teachers, persons, and corporations
engaged in any kind of industry for felonies committed by
their servants, pupils, workmen, apprentices, or
employees in the discharge of their duties.
The word “committed” as used in Article 103, implies that
the employee was convicted of the felony with which he
was charged in the criminal case. There can be no
automatic subsidiary liability of the defendant-employer
under Article 103 of the Revised Penal Code, where his
employee has not been previously convicted. There
having no conviction of the employee wherein his civil
liability was determined and fixed, no subsidiary liability
under Article 103 can be claimed. Hence, such
subsidiary liability can be extinguished upon acquittal of
the employee or when the employee was not convicted
in the criminal case.