CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW

(18 August 2021)
 

Probation
- Appeal and probation are inconsistent because you acknowledge your guilt
- Once granted, you are allowed to serve your sentence outside of jail
When to Apply for Probation
- Within the same period to file an appeal (15 days)
- Appeal OR Probation
o One excludes the other
Manifest Remorse
- Probation will not be granted if the defendant has perfected an appeal
o In practice, there are instances where courts would allow an appeal to be revoked
for the accused to apply for probation instead
- It should be availed of at the first opportunity
First Opportunity
- First time of imposition of a probationable penalty in the RTC would be allowed since
the accused was not properly afforded the same in the MTC
Disqualified from Probation
- Imprisonment of more than 6 years
- Previously convicted and punished by
o Imprisonment of more than 6 months and 1 day and/or;
o A fine not more than P1,000
- Have once availed of probation
Periods of Probation
- Sentence is not more than 1 or 2 years depending on the sentence
Extinction of Criminal Liability
- May be through:
o Death
o Service of Sentence
o Amnesty
o Absolute Pardon
 o Prescription of the Crime
o Prescription of the Penalty
o Marriage (Art. 344 or 266-C)

Death
- Personal Penalties extinguished by death whether before or after conviction
- Pecuniary Penalties are extinguished before judgment becomes final
o Only limited to those based on crime; Does not affect those from civil or torts
Death Before Final Judgment
- Criminal liability based solely on the offense committed
o Civil liability persists when it can be predicated on some other source of
obligation
 i.e. law, contract or quasi-delict
- Death pending appeal follows the same rule
Amnesty and Pardon
- Usually granted to a group of people before or after conviction
- Amnesty completely extinguishes the offense, the penalty and the effects thereof
o Does not affect civil liability
- Pardon merely exempts the convict from the punishment the law imposes for a crime
committed
Prescription of the Crime/Penalty
- Crime - State loses the right to prosecute
- Penalty - State loses the right to execute final sentence
- The unnecessary delay will result in prescription
Marriage Must be in Good Faith
- Jurisprudence has held that the treatment of the wife after marriage shows that he had no
intention of making her his wife
- This may be akin to a form of pardon
Prescriptive Period for Crimes
- The state loses the right to prosecute:
o Death, RP, RT – 20 years
o Libel and other similar offenses – 1 year
o Oral Defamation and Slander by Deed – 6 months
o Light Offenses – 2 months
- Special Laws by Act No. 3763:
o Fine/Imprisonment not more than 1 month – 1 year
o Imprisonment more than 1 month but less than 2 years – 4 years
o Imprisonment more than 2 years, less than 6 years – 8 years
o Imprisonment of 6 years or more – 12 years
o Internal Revenue Law – 5 years
o Municipal Ordinances – 2 months
Computation
- Begins from date of commission or date of discovery;
o If RPC by offended party, authorities or agents
 SPL does not specify
- Interrupted when proceedings are instituted against guilty person and begins to run again
once dismissed;
o RPC or SPL interrupted by filing with the public prosecutor
o Ordinance interrupted by filing of information in court
- Cannot be convicted of a lesser offense if the lesser offense has already prescribed at the
time the information was filed;
Prescription of Penalties
- State loses the right to execute final sentence:
o Death and RP – 20 years
o Other Afflictive Penalties – 15 years
o Correctional Penalties – 10 years
 Except: Arresto Mayor – 5 years
o Light Penalties – 1 year
- The period is interrupted when the offender leaves the Philippines
Computation
- Begins from the moment evades service of sentence
- Interrupted by
o Surrender
o Commits another crime

Partial Extinction
 - Conditional Pardon
- Commutation
- Good Conduct allowance
Good Conduct Allowance
- For every month of goo behavior, entitled to a month deduction of sentence
- Except for:
o Recidivist
o Convicted twice or more of heinous crime
o Failed to surrender voluntarily to the Court
o Habitual Delinquents
o Escapees
o PDL charged with Heinous Crimes
Special Time Allowance for Loyalty
- 1/5 period of the sentence if:
o based on disorders, conflagrations, earthquakes or other calamities; and
o surrenders within 48 hours
- 2/5 of the period for prisoners who choose to stay
Civil Liability
- A person who is criminally liable is also civilly liable
- The principle is based on the dual character of a crime
- A crime is an offense against the state and injures a private individual unless the crime
does not involve private individual
- Acquittal does not carry with it the extinction of the civil liability
o Except: The finding that the act from which the civil liability arises does not exist

Prejudicial Question
- A previously instituted civil action
- The civil case must be decided first because:
o It raises an issue intimately related to the criminal action
o The resolution determines whether the criminal action may proceed
Damages that Arise from Death due to Crime
- Damages when death occurs due to a crime may be awarded:
o Civil indemnity ex delicto for death of the victim;
o Actual or Compensatory Damages;
o Moral Damages;
o Exemplary Damages; and
o Temperate Damages.
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