Introduction to Criminal Law

and the
Philippine Criminal Justice System
DAN PERUELO CALICA
 “Criminal law is that branch or
division of law which defines
crimes, treats of their nature, and
provides for their punishment.”

[Luis B. Reyes, The Revised Penal Code, Book I, Nineteenth

Edition, 2017, p. 1, citing 12 Cyc. 129]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 “Penal laws are those acts of the
Legislature which prohibit certain acts
and establish penalties for their
violations; or those that define crimes,
treat of their nature and provide for
their punishment.
[Lacson v. The Executive Secretary, G.R. No. 128096, 20
January 1999]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Three things Criminal Law does
1. It defines crimes

2. It treats of the nature of crimes

3. It provides for the punishment of crimes

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Criminal law is part of substantive law
“Substantive law is that part of the law which creates, defines and regulates
rights, or which regulates the rights and duties which give rise to a cause of
action; that part of the law which courts are established to administer; as
opposed to adjective or remedial law, which prescribes the method of enforcing
rights or obtains redress for their invasion.”

“As applied to criminal law, substantive law is that which declares what
acts are crimes and prescribes the punishment for committing them, as
distinguished from the procedural law which provides or regulates the steps by
which one who commits a crime is to be punished.” [Bustos v. Lucero, 81 Phil.
640 (1948)]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Crime, Felony and Offense
Crime is an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law
forbidding or commanding it. [Luis B. Reyes, The Revised Penal Code,
Eighteenth Edition, 2012, p. 1, citing I Bouvier’s Law Dictionary,
Rawle’s Third Revision, 729]

Felony is an act or omission punishable by the Revised Penal Code.

[REV. PEN. CODE, art. 3 and People v. Gonzales, 183 SCRA 309
(1990)]

Offense is an act or omission defined and punished in a special

penal law, a general law or an ordinance.

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 What is required in the prosecution of crimes?

Proof of corpus delicti is indispensable in prosecutions

for felonies and offenses. [People v. Quimzon, G.R. No. 133541,
14 April 2004]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Corpus delicti
Corpus delicti has been defined as the body or substance of the
crime and, in its primary sense, refers to the fact that a crime has been
actually committed. As applied to a particular offense, it means the
actual commission by someone of the particular crime charged. The
corpus delicti is a compound fact made up of two (2) things, viz: the
existence of a certain act or result forming the basis of the criminal
charge, and the existence of a criminal agency as the cause of this act or
result. [People v. Roluna, G.R. No. 101797, 24 March 1994]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Two things to prove to convict the accused
Every criminal conviction requires the prosecution to prove two things: (1)
the fact of the crime, i.e., the presence of all the elements of the crime for which
the accused stands charged, and (2) the fact that the accused is the perpetrator of
the crime. When a crime is committed, it is the duty of the prosecution to prove
the identity of the perpetrator of the crime beyond reasonable doubt for there can
be no conviction even if the commission of the crime is established.
Apart from showing the existence and commission of a crime, the State has
the burden to correctly identify the author of such crime. Both facts must be
proved by the State beyond cavil of a doubt on the strength of its evidence and
without solace from the weakness of the defense. [People v. Herminio Vidal, Jr.,
G.R. No. 229678, 20 June 2018]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 THEORIES IN
CRIMINAL LAW
1. CLASSICAL THEORY
2. POSITIVIST THEORY

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 CLASSICAL
THEORY

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Characteristics of Classical Theory

The basis of criminal liability is human free will and

the purpose of the penalty is retribution.
 
That man is essentially a moral creature with an
absolutely free will to choose between good and evil,
thereby placing more stress upon the effect or result of the
felonious act than upon the man, the criminal himself.

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 It has endeavored to establish a mechanical and direct
proportion between crime and penalty.

There is a scant regard to the human element.

[Luis B. Reyes, The Revised Penal Code, Book One, Nineteenth Edition, 2017,
pp. 23-24, citing Basic Principles, Rationale, p. 2 and 3, by the Code of
Commission on Code of Crimes]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 POSITIVIST
THEORY

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Characteristics of Positivist Theory
That man is subdued occasionally by a strange and morbid phenomenon
which constrains him to do wrong, in spite of or contrary to his volition.

That crime is essentially a social and natural phenomenon, and as such, it

cannot be treated and checked by the application of abstract principles of law
and jurisprudence nor by the imposition of a punishment, fixed and determine
a priori; but rather through the enforcement of individual measures in each
particular case after a thorough personal and individual investigation
conducted by a competent body of psychiatrists and social scientists. [Luis B.
Reyes, The Revised Penal Code, Eighteenth Edition, 2012, pp. 23-24, citing Basic
Principles, Rationale, p. 2 and 3, by the Code of Commission on Code of Crimes]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 CLASSICAL vs.
POSITIVIST
THEORY

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Classical or Juristic School (retributive and
deterrent)
v.
Positivist School (reformative)
The retributive and deterrent objects of penology have their
concentrated focus mainly upon the crime itself. Their concern is to
predetermine the proper relation between the gravity of an offense and the
corresponding penalty in order on the one hand, to satisfy the victim’s
desire for revenge and his sense of penalty appropriateness, and on the
other hand, to deter others from committing similar offenses. This, in the
main, is the position of the Classical or Juristic School of crime analysis.

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 A shift in focus and emphasis – from the crime as an objective act or
conduct to the subjective person of the criminal – is sought to be made by
the Positivist School founded by Dr. Cesare Lombroso, often referred to as
the father of modern criminology. The shift in focus would also seek an
accompanying shift in penologic object – from retributive punishment to
reformative aim. Punishment is to be justified solely by its reformative
effect upon the criminal. Individualization of penalty to suit the particular
character of an offender, rather than a pre-fixed and mechanical relation
between crime and penalty, is the instrument by which this rehabilitative
object is sought to be attained. [A Philosophy of a Penal Code, Alfredo Tadiar]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Which theory has Philippine
Criminal Law adopted?

Overview of Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Controlling human conduct
Law, religion and morality converge upon one point of
common or shared concern, to wit, the control and
channeling of human conduct and behavior away from
destructive expression and into desirable ends.
 
To attain this joint objective, these institutions utilize
“human conditioning” by a system of rewards and
punishments. [A Philosophy of a Penal Code, Alfredo F. Tadiar]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Institution Act prescribed Sanction Reward

Religion Sin Threat of hell Heaven

 
Morality Immorality Social disapproval Social approval
and the pangs of
conscience and
remorse

Law Crime Penalties Indirectly,

punishment of
offender

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Factors required for law to operate effectively as
a guide to conduct

1. Law must be widely disseminated

2. Law must be clear and unambiguous
3. Law must operate prospectively
[A Philosophy of a Penal Code, Alfredo F. Tadiar]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Basic aim of criminal law

The primordial aim of criminal law is the prevention

and control of crime so that men may live and feel secure
“in the free enjoyment and development of their capacities
for happiness.” [A Philosophy of a Penal Code, Alfredo F. Tadiar]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Penological objectives

1. Retributive punishment
2. Prevention or restriction
3. Rehabilitation or reformation
4. Deterrence
[A Philosophy of a Penal Code, Alfredo F. Tadiar]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Assumptions underlying deterrent objective

1. Free will
2. Awareness of criminal sanctions
3. Fear and avoidance of punishment

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Factors affecting deterrent objective

1. Celerity
2. Severity
3. Certainty

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 PHILIPPINE
CRIMINAL
JUSTICE SYSTEM

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Philippine criminal justice system

The criminal justice system is “the system or process in

the community in which crimes are investigated, and the
persons suspected thereof are taken into custody,
prosecuted in court and punished if found guilty, provision
being made for their correction and rehabilitation.” [Narvasa,
A.R., Handbook on the Courts and the Criminal Justice System. Metro-Manila:
Supreme Court Press, 1996.]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 Five pillars of the Philippine criminal
justice system
1. The Law Enforcement
2. The Prosecution
3. The Judiciary
4. The Correctional Institutions
5. The Community

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica

 What is the role of Congress?
Congress exercises the police power, an inherent power
of the State, to enact criminal laws.

“Criminalization” is the term now used to described the

legislative process of choosing what acts are to be
prohibited, making legal definitions for them and
determining what punishments shall be prescribed for their
violation. [A Philosophy of a Penal Code, Alfredo F. Tadiar]

Introduction to Criminal Law Dan P. Calica