CRIMINAL LAW

DEFINITION: That branch of law which (a) defines crimes; (b) treats of their nature; and (c)
provides for their punishment.

CRIME DEFINED: A crime is an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding
or commanding it.

SOURCES OF PHILIPPINE CRIMINAL LAW:

(1) The Revised Penal Code (Act 3815) as amended;
(2) Special Penal Laws passed by the legislature or a legislative body;
(3) Penal Presidential Decrees issued during Martial Law.

POWER TO DEFINE & PUNISH CRIMES

(a) This is an inherent power of the State;

(b) Emanates from the Police Power: the inherent power of a government to exercise reasonable
control over persons and property within its jurisdiction in the interest of the general security,
health, safety, morals, and welfare.
(c) Police Power is encapsulated in the maxim: Salus Populi est Suprema Lex- The welfare of
the People is the supreme law.
(d) It includes the power to define what is a crime; define the punishment for the crime; and lay
down the rules of procedure to try crimes.
(e) The state has a wide latitude in the use of the Police Power with certain limitations.
(f) This is generally exercised through the legislative branch of government- Philippine
Congress.

LIMITATIONS ON THE POWER OF CONGRESS TO ENACT PENAL LEGISLATION

1) DUE PROCESS CLAUSE- From the Bill of Rights (Section 1, Article III 1987
Constitution):

Section 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law,
nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

TWO COMPONENTS: Substantive Due Process and Procedural Due Process

Substantive Due Process: The law must be intrinsically valid in interfering with the rights of
individuals as to their life, liberty or property- this treats primarily of the legislative process
and adherence to constitutional principles.

Procedural Due Process: This consists of the two basic rights of: Due Notice and Hearing
wherein one can present one’s side; and the guarantee of being heard by an impartial and
competent tribunal.

Due process of law requires that the accused must be heard in court of competent jurisdiction,
proceeded against under the orderly process of law, and only punished after inquiry and

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 investigation, upon notice to him, with an opportunity to be heard, and a judgement awarded
within the authority of constitutional law.

2) EQUAL PROTECTION OF LAW: This requires that all persons or things similarly
situated should be treated alike, both as to rights conferred and responsibilities imposed.
There should be no undue favor or discrimination. The law must apply equally to all.

3) NO EXCESSIVE FINES OR CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT IN

CRIMINAL PROSECUTION

Paragraph 1 Section 19, Article III 1987 Constitution

Section 19. (1) Excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel, degrading or inhuman
punishment inflicted. Neither shall the death penalty be imposed, unless, for compelling
reasons involving heinous crimes, the Congress hereafter provides for it. Any death penalty
already imposed shall be reduced to reclusion perpetua.

Excessive defined: Where the penalty is flagrantly and plainly oppressive or so

disproportionate to the offense committed as to shock the moral sense of all reasonable
persons as to what is right and proper under the circumstances.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Aimed at disallowing a form of character of

punishment that is cruel, degrading, or disproportionate. It also disallows that which is
publicly regarded as cruel or obsolete such as whipping; being pilloried; burnt at the stake;
breaking on the wheel; disemboweling; beheading; and other ancient and medieval
punishments. Mere severity is not sufficient to violate this rule.

4) EX POST FACTO LAW: The Congress may NOT pass retroactive penal laws that are
prejudicial to the accused.

(1) It makes an innocent act done before the passage of the law a crime and punishes
the same- a law may only have prospective application;
(2) aggravates a crime, or makes it greater than it was, when committed;
(3) changes the punishment and inflicts a greater punishment than the law annexed
to the crime when committed;
(4) alters the legal rules of evidence, and authorizes conviction upon less or
different testimony than the law required at the time of the commission of the
offense;
(5) assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies only, in effect imposes penalty or
deprivation of a right for something which when done was lawful; and
(6) deprives a person accused of a crime some lawful protection to which he has
become entitled, such as the protection of a former conviction or acquittal, or a
proclamation of amnesty.

5) BILL OF ATTAINDER: A legislative act that inflicts punishment without a judicial trial.

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6) CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED

1. All persons shall have the right to a speedy disposition of their cases before all judicial,
quasi-judicial, or administrative bodies. (Sec. 16)

2. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law. (Sec.
14[11)

3. All persons, except those charged with offenses punishable by reclusion perpetua when
evidence of guilt is strong, shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, or be
released on recognizance as may be provided by law. The right to bail shall not be impaired
even when the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended. Excessive bail shall not
be required. (Sec. 13)

4. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall be presumed innocent until the contrary is
proved, and shall enjoy the right to be heard by himself and counsel, to be informed of
the nature and cause of the accusation against him, to have speedy, impartial, and public
trial, to meet the witnesses face to face, and to have compulsory process to secure the
attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence in his behalf. However, after
arraignment, trial may proceed notwithstanding the absence of the accused provided that
he has been duly notified and his failure to appear is unjustifiable. (Sec. 14[2])

5. No person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself. (Sec. 17)

6. Any person under investigation for the commission of an offense shall have the right to
be informed of his right ail no to remain silent and to have competent and independent
counsel preferably of his own choice. If the person cannot afford the services of counsel,
he must be provided with one. These rights cannot be waived except in writing and in the
presence of counsel. (Sec. 12[1])

7. No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means which vitiate the free
will shall be used against him. Secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado, or other
similar forms of detention are prohibited. (Sec. 12[2]) Any confession or admission
obtained in violation of this or Section 17 hereof shall be inadmissible in evidence against
him. (Sec. 12[3])

8. Excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment
inflicted. (Sec. 19[1])

9. No person shall be twice put in jeopardy of punishment for the same offense. If an act is
punished by a law an an ordinance, conviction or acquittal under either shall constitute a
bar to another prosecution for the same ac (Sec. 21)

10. Free access to the courts and quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal assistance shall not
be denied to any pers by reason of poverty. (Sec. 11)

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 CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIMINAL LAW

Three main characteristics of Criminal Law: 1) GENERAL; 2) TERRITORIAL and 3)

PROSPECTIVE

I. GENERAL APPLICATION: Criminal law is binding on all persons who live or sojourn in
Philippine Territory. (Article 14, New Civil Code) subject to the principles of public international law and to
treaty stipulations.

a) This includes foreign citizens for so long as they are resident in the Philippines or staying
here, or travelling here in the Philippines.
b) As a general rule, jurisdiction of the civil courts is not affected by the military character
of the accused.
c) Public International Law- It is a well-established principle of public international law that
diplomatic representatives, such as ambassadors, public ministers, and their official retinue
possess diplomatic immunity from criminal jurisdiction of the country of their sojourn and
cannot be sued, arrested or punished by the law of that country.
d) Only the Heads of Missions and members of the Diplomatic Staff have blanket
diplomatic immunity: Only those who are considered as “Diplomatic Agents” under the
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations have diplomatic immunity.
e) Government officials in the conduct of their official duties cannot be sued. A generally
accepted principle of international law and even domestic law is the “The State cannot be sued
without its consent.” Hence, this protection extends to government officials so long as their acts
are towards some official function or state objective. They lose their protection if their acts
fall under their private or personal status only.
f) Treaties or Treaty Stipulations: The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) signed on 10
February 1998 provides that generally US Forces shall be subject to Philippine laws except
where their acts are acts against the United States or its security;
g) Employees and Officers of Asian Development Bank: Agreement between ADB and the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines exempts ADB officers and staff of the bank
from legal process with respect to acts performed by them in an official capacity except when
the Bank waives the immunity.
h) Presidential Immunity from suit. The President enjoys complete immunity form suit during
the presidential tenure or actual incumbency. But this immunity cannot be invoked after the term is
done even for acts committed during the tenure.

II. WITHIN THE PHILIPPINE TERRITORY

(a) Article 2 of the RPC states that the code shall be enforced within the Philippine Archipelago,
including its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone.
(b) Article I of the 1987 Constitution states that the national territory comprises of the
Philippine Archipelago with all the islands 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.

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EXCEPTIONS to TERRITORIAL APPLICATION

Article 2 of the R.P.C. provides that its provisions shall be enforced outside of the jurisdiction of the
Philippines against those who:

1. Commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship;

2. forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippines or obligations and securities
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 public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of their
functions; or
5. should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations, defined in
Title One of Book Two of the R.P.C.

III. PROSPECTIVE APPLICATION OF CRIMINAL LAW

As a general rule, penal laws shall have no retroactive application, lest they acquire the character
of an ex post facto law.
ARTICLE 21, RPC: No felony shall be punishable by any penalty not prescribed by law prior to its commission.

ALWAYS REMEMBER: The law is interpreted in favor of the accused and against the state.

See Ex Post Facto Law

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