CRIMINAL LAW

By: Judge Dorcas P. Ferriols-Perez

SOURCES: THE REVISED PENAL CODE; THE 1987 PHILIPPINE

CONSTITUTION; THE REVISED PENAL CODE BY LUIS B. REYES;
NOTES AND CASES ON THE REVISED PENAL CODE BY LEONOR
D. BOADO
https://image.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/justice-gavel-red-background-600w-92864200.jpg
What is criminal law?

 Criminal Law is that branch or division of municipal law which defines crimes,
treats of their nature, and provides for their punishment.
 A branch of municipal law
 Defines crimes
Crime is an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding or
commanding it.
 Treats of their nature
 Provides for their punishment
 1. No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be
enacted. (Article III, Sec. 22, 1987 Constitution)

Limitations on the  Ex post facto law – a penal law which is given

retroactive application to the prejudice of the
power of the accused.
lawmaking body to Article 21 of the RPC provides that “No felony
shall be punishable by any penalty not prescribed
enact penal by law prior to its commission.”
legislation  Bill of attainder – a legislative act which inflicts
punishment without judicial trial.
A law is ex post facto if:

1. It makes an act or omission a crime when it was not so when committed.

2. It imposes a penalty higher than the penalty provided when it was committed or aggravates a crime or makes
it greater than when it was committed.
3. It requires a lesser degree or quantum of evidence to prove the guilt of the accused than when it was
committed; or receives less or different testimony than what the law required at the time of the commission of
the offense in order to convict the accused.
4. It deprives the accused of some lawful protection to which he was entitled, i.e.t he right against double
jeopardy or of previous grant of amnesty.
5. It alters, in relation to the offense or its consequences, the situation of a person to his disadvantage.
6. It assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies only but in effect imposes a penalty or deprivation of a right
which when done was lawful.
Limitations on the
power of the
2. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or
lawmaking body to property without due process of law, nor shall any
enact penal person be denied the equal protection of the laws.
(Article III, Section 1, 1987 Constitution)
legislation
Limitations on the
power of the 3. No torture, force, violence, threat intimidation, or
any other means which vitiate the free will shall be
lawmaking body to used against him. Secret detention places, solitary,
incommunicado, or other similar forms of detention
enact penal are prohibited. (Article III, Section 13(2), 1987
legislation Constitution)
THEORIES IN CRIMINAL LAW

 1. CLASSICAL THEORY

 2. POSITIVIST THEORY

 3. ECCLECTIC THEORY
Characteristics of Criminal Law

1. General – Criminal law is binding on all persons who live or sojourn in Philippine
territory, regardless of the nationality.

Exceptions:
1. Principles of international law - heads of states and diplomatic representatives who, by virtue
of the customary law of the nations, are not subject to Philippine penal laws
2. Treaties or Treaty stipulations Under the VFA, an American soldier committing a crime
during military exercises is also exempt from the application of Philippine penal laws
3. Laws of Preferential application
Article VI, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution provides “A Senator or Member of the House
of Representatives shall, in all offenses punishable by not more than six years imprisonment,
be privileged from arrest while the Congress is in session. No Member shall be questioned nor
be held liable in any other place for any speech or debate in the Congress or in any committee
thereof.”
Characteristics of Criminal Law

2. Territorial-Criminal law undertakes to punish crimes committed within its territory. Outside of Philippine archipelago, Philippine criminal laws cannot be enforced.

Exceptions: Article 2, RPC

Article 2. Application of its provisions. - Except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application,
the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only within the Philippine Archipelago, including its
atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:
 1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship;
 2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or obligations and
securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;
 3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the obligations and
securities mentioned in the presiding 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 this Code.
Rules on jurisdiction over crimes committed aboard foreign merchant ship while in
the territorial waters of another country

1. French Rule – such crimes are not triable in the courts of that country, unless their
commission affects the peace and security of the territory or the safety of the state is
endangered.
2. English Rule – Such crimes are triable in that country, unless they merely affect things
within the vessel or they refer to the internal management thereof.

We observe the English Rule.

Characteristics of Criminal Law

3. Prospective – A penal law cannot make an act punishable in a manner in which it was not
punishable when committed. Art. 366 of the RPC provides that crimes are punished under the
laws in force at the time of their commission.
Exception: if the new law is favorable/more lenient to the accused
Article 22, RPC - Penal Laws shall have a retroactive effect insofar as they favor the
persons guilty of a felony, who is not a habitual criminal, as this term is defined in Rule 5
of Article 62 of this Code, although at the time of the publication of such laws a final
sentence has been pronounced and the convict is serving the same.
Construction of Penal Laws

1. Strictly construed against the government, and liberally in favor of the accused.
But when the penal law speaks in clear and categorical language, there is no room for
interpretation.
2. Spanish text is controlling in the construction and interpretation of the RPC.
 
Basic Maxims in Criminal Law

Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege

 There is no crime when there is no law punishing the same. 

 Because of this maxim, there is no common law crime in the Philippines. 
Basic Maxims in Criminal Law

Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea

 The act cannot be criminal where the mind is not criminal. 
This is true to a felony characterized by dolo, but not a felony resulting from culpa.  This
maxim is not an absolute one because it is not applied to culpable felonies, or those that result
from negligence.
Basic Maxims in Criminal Law

Utilitarian Theory or Protective Theory

 The primary purpose of the punishment under criminal law is the protection of society
from actual and potential wrongdoers.  The courts, therefore, in exacting retribution for
the wronged society, should direct the punishment to potential or actual wrongdoers, since
criminal law is directed against acts and omissions which the society does not approve. 
Consistent with this theory, the mala prohibita principle which punishes an offense
regardless of malice or criminal intent, should not be utilized to apply the full harshness
of the special law. 
Theories in Criminal Law

1. Classical Theory – Man is essentially a moral creature with an absolute free will to choose
between good and evil and therefore more stress is placed upon the result of the felonious act
than upon the criminal himself.
2. Positivist Theory – Man is subdued occasionally by a strange and morbid phenomenon which
conditions him to do wrong in spite of or contrary to his volition.
3. Eclectic (Mixed) Theory – it combines the good features of both the classical and the positivist
theories. Classical should be applied to grievous or heinous crimes, positivist applies ton
economic and social crimes.
In this jurisdiction, the classical school of thought is followed although some provisions of
the law are eminently positivist in tendencies like the punishment of impossible crimes, juvenile
circumstances which are incorporated in the Revised Penal Code.
Sources of Philippine Criminal Law

1. The Revised Penal Code (RPC) or Act No. 3815 and its amendments
2. Special Penal Laws passed by the Philippine Legislature
3. Penal Presidential Decrees issued during Martial Law
Basic Maxims in Criminal Law

Doctrine of Pro Reo

 Whenever a penal law is to be construed or applied and the law admits of two
interpretations – one lenient to the offender and one strict to the offender – that
interpretation which is lenient or favorable to the offender will be adopted.