EX POST FACTO LAWS AND BILL OF ATTAINDER

Section 22, Art. III. No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted.

• Ex post facto law is one that would make a previous act criminal although it was not so at the time it was
committed.
o Kinds of Ex Post Facto Laws
(1) One which makes an action done before the passing of the law, and which was innocent
when done, criminal, and punishes such action.
(2) One which aggravates the crime or makes it greater than when it was committed.
(3) One which changes the punishment and inflicts a greater punishment than that which the
law annexed to the crime when it was committed.
(4) One which alters the legal rules of evidence and receives less testimony than the law
required at the time of the commission of the offense in order to convict the accused.
(5) One which assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies only BUT, in effect, imposes a
penalty or deprivation of a right, which, when done, was lawful.
(6) One which deprives a person accused of a crime of some lawful protection to which he has
become entitled such as the protection of a former conviction or acquittal, or a
proclamation of amnesty
o To be ex post facto, the law must:
▪ refer to criminal matters; and
▪ be retroactive in its application;
▪ to the prejudice of the accused.
o Penal laws that favor a guilty person. Who is not habitual criminal, shall be given retroactive
effect.
o Republic of the Phils v Fernandez
▪ Imposition of tax that has retroactive effect is not considered as ex-post facto law because
payment of tax is not a penalty.
o Preventive suspension is not a penalty, therefore not ex-post facto law.
• Bill of attainder refers to a legislative act which inflicts punishment without trial.
o Elements of Bill of Attainder
(1) There must be a law.
(2) The law imposes a penal burden on a named individual or easily ascertainable members
of a group.
(3) There is a direct imposition of penal burden without judicial trial
o RA 1700, Anti-Subversion Law - This law outlawed, among others, subversive activities
specifically in connection with the Communist Party of the Philippines. It was assailed as ex post
facto and as a bill of attainder
NON-IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT
Section 20, Art. III. No person shall be imprisoned for debt or non-payment of a poll tax.

• Debt – any civil obligation arising from a contract, expressed or implied, resulting in any liability to pay
in money.
• BP 22 is penalized because of issuance of worthless check
• A fraudulent debt may result in the imprisonment of the debtor if:
o 1. The fraudulent debt constitutes a crime such as estafa; and
o 2. The accused has been duly convicted.
• Tax is not contractual obligation. Nonpayment is tantamount to tax evasion.
• Imposition of fine is not contractual debt.
RIGHT AGAINST INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE
Section 18 (2), Art. III. No involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as a punishment for a crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.

• Involuntary Servitude – the condition of one who is compelled by force, coercion, or imprisonment, and
against his will, to labor for another, whether he is paid or not.
• Involuntary Servitude Includes
(1) Slavery –civil relation in which one man has absolute power over the life, fortune and liberty of
another;
(2) Peonage – a condition of enforced servitude by which the servitor is restrained of his liberty and
compelled to labor in liquidation of some debt or obligation, real or pretended, against his will
• General Rule: No involuntary service in any form shall exist.
• Exceptions
1. Punishment for a crime for which the party shall have been duly convicted (Sec. 18, Art. III) ;
2. Personal military or civil service in the interest of national defense (Sec. 4, Art. II);
3. Naval enlistment – remain in service until the end of voyage so that the crew would not desert the
ship, making it difficult for the owners to recruit new hands to continue the voyage;
4. Posse comitatus – in pursuit of persons who might have violated the law, the authorities might
command all male inhabitants of a certain age to assist them;
5. Return to work order in industries affected with public interest;
6. Patria Potestas – unemancipated minors are obliged to obey their parents so long as they are under
parental power and to observe respect and reverence to them always
HABEAS CORPUS
Section 15, Art. III. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except in cases of invasion
or rebellion, when the public safety requires it.

• Writ of Habeas Corpus – is a written order issued by a court, directed to a person detaining another,
commanding him to produce the body of the prisoner at a designated time and place with the day and
cause of his caption and detention.
• Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus – the right to have an immediate determination of the legality of
the deprivation of physical liberty.
• The President may suspend the privilege: (1) in cases of invasion or rebellion (2) when public safety
requires it.
SPEEDY DISPOSITION OF CASES
Section 16, Art. III. All persons shall have the right to a speedy disposition of their cases before all judicial,
quasi-judicial, or administrative bodies.

• Periods for decision for courts (Sec. 15, Art. VIII)

o SC: 24 months from submission
o All lower collegiate courts: 12 months unless reduced by SC
o All other lower courts: 3 months
• Periods for decision for Constitutional Commissions (Sec 7, Art. IX-A) - 60 days from date of submission
for decision or resolution
• Factors considered in determining whether the right is violated
o Length of delay
o Reason of delay
o Assertion of the right or failure to assert it
o Prejudice caused by delay