Criminal Law Book 1

1. What is due process?

Due process is a requirement that legal matters be resolved according to
established rules and principles and that individuals be treated fairly. Due process
applies to both civil and criminal matters.

2. What is substantive due process?

Substantive due process is a constitutional principle that protects certain
fundamental rights from government interference. These rights are not explicitly
mentioned in the Constitution, but are derived from the due process clauses of the
Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Substantive due process requires the
government to have a valid cause and a lawful procedure to deprive any person of
“life, liberty, property”.

3. What is procedural due process?

Procedural due process is divided into just cause procedure or authorized
cause procedure. Just cause procedure refers to the process for termination of
employment due to just causes. Authorized cause procedure refers to the process
for separation of employment due to authorized causes. If there is no procedural
due process, the employer may be held liable.
Procedural due process consists of the two basic rights of notice and hearing,
as well as the guarantee of being heard by an impartial and competent tribunal.

4. What is equal protection?

Equal protection under the law means no one is denied legal rights based on
their status or group.
Equal protection of law is a constitutional guarantee that the law should be
applied equally and fairly to all people. It is a part of the right to due process of
law, but it specifically focuses on equal treatment as an element of fundamental
fairness. It means that no group or individual would be denied protection or face
exemption from duties more than others in the same situation

5. What is ex post facto law?

A law that would allow a person to be punished for an action that was not
illegal when it was committed.
It is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences of actions that
were committed before the law was enacted. It can make criminal conduct that was
not criminal when performed, increase the punishment for crimes already
committed, or change the rules of procedure in a way that is disadvantageous to the
accused. The Latin translation of ex post facto is “from a thing done afterward”.
6. What is bill of attainder?
A bill of attainder is a legislative act which inflicts punishment without trial.
Its essence is a substitution of a legislative act for a judicial determination of guilt.
For example, Congress passes a law which authorizes the arrest and imprisonment
of communist without the benefit of a judicial trial.

7. Three characteristics of criminal law, discuss each.

1. General
Criminal law is binding on all persons who live or sojourn in Philippine
territory.
The Philippines is a sovereign state with the obligation and the right of every
government to uphold its laws and maintain order within its domain, and with the
general jurisdiction to punish persons for offenses committed within its territory,
regardless of the nationality of the offender.
Exceptions to the general application of Criminal Law:
There are cases where our Criminal Law does not apply even if the crime is
committed by a person residing or sojourning in the Philippines. These constitute
the exceptions.
The opening sentence of Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code says that the
provisions of this Code shall be enforced within the Philippine Archipelago,
“except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application.”
Article 14 of the new Civil Code provides the penal laws and those of public
security and safety shall be obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in the
Philippines territory, subject to the principles of public international law and to
treaty stipulations.
2. Territorial
Criminal laws undertake to punish crimes committed within Philippine
territory.
The principle of territoriality means that as a rule, penal laws of the
Philippines are enforceable only within its territory.
Exceptions of the territorial application of criminal law:
The same Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code provides that its provisions
shall be enforced outside of the jurisdiction of the Philippines against those who:
1. Should commit and offense while on the Philippine ship or airship;
2. Should 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 that 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 the Title One of Book Two of the Revised Penal Code.
3. Prospective
A penal law cannot make an act punishable as provided in Article 366 of the
Revised Penal Code, crimes are punished under the laws in force at the time of
their commission.
Exceptions to the prospective application of criminal laws:
Whenever a new statute dealing with crime establishes conditions more
lenient or favorable to the accused, it can be a given a retroactive effect.
But this exception has no application:
1. Where the new law is expressly made inapplicable to pending actions or
existing causes of action.
2. Where the offender is habitual criminal under Rule 5, Article 62, Revised
Penal Code.

8. What is law of preferential application, discuss the president’s immunity from

suit?
Example of a law of preferential application.
Republic Act no. 75 may be considered a law of preferential application in
favor of diplomatic representatives and their domestic servants.
It is a law to penalize acts which would impair the proper observance by the
Republic and inhabitants of the Philippines of the immunities, rights, and
privileges of duly accredited foreign diplomatic representatives in the Philippines.
Its pertinent provisions are:
“SEC. 4. Any writ or process issued out or prosecuted by any person in any
court of the Republic of the Philippines, or by any judge or justice, whereby the
person of any ambassador or public minister of any foreign state, authorized and
received as such by the President, or any domestic or domestic servant or any such
ambassador or minister is arrested or imprisoned, or his goods or chattels are
distrained, seized or attached, shall be deemed void, and every person by whom the
same is obtained or prosecuted, whether as party or as attorney, and every officer
concerned in executing it, shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment for
not more than three years and a fine of not exceeding two hundred pesos in the
discretion of the court.”

9. Who are the other persons immune by suits?

* Sovereigns and other chief of state
* Ambassadors, ministers plenipotentiary, minister’s resident, and charges
d’affaires.
10. What is an amendment and effect of an amendment?
An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract,
constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which
means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these
agreements. They are often used when it is better to change the document than to
write a new one. Only the legislative branch is involved in the amendment process.
An amendment includes basic changes that will not affect the Constitution’s
structure.
The effect of amendment is to change for example the provision of an specific
law to correct and reform it for the better.

11. Differentiate amendment from repeal.

Repeal is an act or instance of repealing, to cancel, invalidate or annul
while amendment is an alteration or change for the better; correction of a fault or
of faults; reformation of life by quitting vices.

12. What are the different effects of repeal by criminal laws?

1. If the repeal makes the penalty lighter in the new law, the new law shall
be applied, except when the offender is a habitual delinquent or when the new law
is made not applicable to pending action or existing causes of action.
2. If the new law imposes a heavier penalty, the law in force at the time of
the commission of the offense shall be applied.
3. If the new law totally repeals the existing law so that the act which was
penalized under the old law is no longer punishable, the crime is obliterated.

13. What is self-repealing law?

Deemed repealed upon the expiration of the date specified by the law. The
law dies like a natural death.

14. Discuss the construction of penal laws.

* Penal laws are strictly construed against the Government and liberally in
favor of the accused. The rule that penal statutes should be strictly construed
against the State may be invoked only where the law is ambiguous and there is no
doubt as to its interpretation. Where the law is clear and unambiguous there is no
room for the application of the rule.
* In the construction or the interpretation of the provisions of the Revised
Penal Code, the Spanish text is controlling, because it was approved by the
Philippine Legislature in its Spanish text.