What to Study for Criminal Law I

What is Criminal Law?

▪ Criminal law is that branch of law which defines crimes, treats of their nature, and provides for their penalties. ▪ Remember DTP. ▪ Defines crimes, ▪ Treats of their nature, and ▪ Provides for their penalties. ▪ It is substantive law; it is substantive because it defines the right of the state to inflict punishment and the liability of the offenders, it is public because it deals with the relation of the individual with the state.

What is a Crime?

▪ A crime is an act or omission in violation of a law forbidding it, or commanding it.

What are the sources of Philippine criminal law?

▪ Where does the State get its authority to punish crimes? ▪ The State derives such authority as an inherent attribute of its sovereignty, and from police power. ▪ Remember ReSPeL – Revised Penal Code (RPC), Special Penal

Laws, Penal Provisions in other Laws, and Local Ordinances

▪ RPC provisions ▪ Special Penal Laws ▪ Penal Provisions in other laws ▪ Local Ordinances

What does Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege mean? ▪ There is no crime where there is no law punishing it.

What are the Characteristics of Criminal Law? ▪ Remember GTP – General, Territorial, Prospective ▪ GTP Principles, or Principles of;

▪ Generality – Means that Philippine Criminal Law applies to all who live or sojourn in the Philippines ▪ Territoriality – Acts or omissions done within Philippine territory are punishable by Philippine Criminal Law ▪ Exceptions (CAPON) ▪ Counterfeiting of Philippine currency or coins or introduction thereof into the country, ▪ Acts related to such counterfeiting or introduction of counterfeit Philippine currency or coins, ▪ Philippine Ships, Airships, Vessels registered in and with the Philippines,

Official Acts related or done in performance of official duty by Philippine public officials, Acts or omissions done against the National Security or the

Law of Nations.

Prospectivity

▪ Generally, Philippine Criminal Law applies only to acts or omissions done after the effectivity of said law. ▪ Exception is when there be a provision or effect in the law which would be beneficial to the accused, in which case retroactivity of application shall be allowed. ▪ Exception to the exception: ▪ When a person is a habitual delinquent. ▪ A person shall be deemed to be habitually delinquent, if within a period of ten (10) years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical injuries, robo, hurto, estafa or falsification, he is found guilty of any of said crimes a third time or oftener. (Revised Penal Code, art. 62(5), as amended by Rep. Act No. 7659, sec. 23)

Construction / Interpretation of Penal Laws

▪ Penal Laws are strictly construed against the State; they are construed liberally in favor of the accused. ▪ The Spanish text of the RPC prevails over the English translation. ▪ Penal Laws shall have retroactive application if they are favorable to the accused. ▪ Read on the effects of repeal/amendment of penal law.

Felonies ▪ How are felonies committed?

▪ Presumption of intent – When an act is done with malice, it is presumed that there was intent in doing that act. ▪ Compare Intent v. Motive ▪ Intent is an essential requisite of intentional felonies, or felonies committed with malice. It is the purpose to use a particular means to effect such result. ▪ Motive is the moving power which impels one to action for a definite result and need not be proved in order to convict someone, except when there is doubt as to the identity of the offender.

How is criminal liability incurred?

▪ By any person committing a felony under the Articles of Book 2 of the Revised Penal Code. ▪ By any person committing a felony (delito) although the wrongful act done is different from that which he intended.

By any person performing an act which would be an offense against persons or property, were it not for the inherent impossibility of its accomplishment or an account of the employment of inadequate or ineffectual means. (Article 4, Revised Penal Code)

Who are criminally liable?

▪ For grave and less grave felonies: Principles, accomplices, and accessories ▪ Exception: Generally, the punishment for accessories shall not be imposed upon those who are accessories with respect to their spouses, ascendants, descendants, brothers and sisters, or relatives by affinity within the same degrees ▪ For light felonies: Principles and accomplices

What is a principal? ▪ The following are principals:

▪ Those who take a direct part in the execution of the act (principal by direct participation), ▪ Those who directly force or induce others to commit it (principal by inducement), ▪ Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense by another act without which it would not have been accomplished (principal by indispensable cooperation), ▪ Punished by the penalty prescribed by law.

What is an accomplice?

▪ Anyone who does not fall under the definition of a principal, and knowingly and intentionally cooperates in the execution of the offense by prior or simultaneous acts. ▪ One can be an accomplice even if he did not know of the actual crime intended by the principal, provided he was aware that it was an illicit act. ▪ Punished by the penalty one degree lower than that prescribed for the principal

What is an accessory?

▪ Accessories are those who, having knowledge of the commission of the crime, take part after the crime is committed through any of the following means: ▪ By profiting themselves or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the crime. ▪ By concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the effects or instruments thereof, in order to prevent its discovery. ▪ By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principals of the crime, provided the accessory acts with abuse of his public functions or whenever the author of the crime is guilty of treason, parricide, murder, or an attempt to

take the life of the Chief Executive, or is known to be habitually guilty of some other crime. Punished by the penalty two degrees lower than that prescribed for the principal.

Can criminal liability be affected?

▪ Yes, by: ▪ Justifying Circumstances, ▪ Exempting Circumstances, ▪ Mitigating Circumstances, ▪ Aggravating Circumstances, ▪ Alternative Circumstances.

What are Justifying Circumstances?

▪ The act done is lawful under the circumstances and the person is free from criminal and civil liability. They are: ▪ Self-Defense, ▪ Defense of Relatives, ▪ Defense of Stranger, ▪ Avoidance of greater evil or injury, ▪ Fulfillment of Duty or lawful exercise of right or office, ▪ Obedience to an order issued for some lawful purpose, ▪ Battered Woman Syndrome. (Article 11, Revised Penal Code)

What are Exempting Circumstances?

▪ Under these circumstances, there is a crime, but the person who committed the act is not subjected to criminal liability. They are: ▪ Imbecility or Insanity, ▪ Minority (below the age of 15), ▪ Accident, ▪ Compulsion of irresistible force, ▪ Impulse of uncontrollable fear, ▪ Insuperable or lawful cause. (Article 12, Revised Penal Code)

What are Mitigating Circumstances?

▪ Those which do not free the actor from criminal liability, but reduce the penalty. They are: ▪ Incomplete Justifying or Exempting Circumstances, ▪ Over 15 and under 18 years old and acting with discernment, or above 70 years old, ▪ No intention to commit so grave a wrong, ▪ Sufficient provocation or threat, ▪ Immediate vindication of a grave offense, ▪ Passion or obfuscation, ▪ Voluntary Surrender, ▪ Voluntary plea of guilt,

Plea to a lower offense, Physical defect, Illness, Analogous Circumstances. (Article 13, Revised Penal Code)

What are Aggravating Circumstances?

▪ Those which increase the penalty imposed to the maximum period provided by law for the offense, or change the nature of the crime.

They are: ▪ Taking Advantage of Public Office, ▪ Insult to Public Authorities, ▪ Lack of Regard due to offended party by reason of rank, age, or sex, ▪ Abuse of Confidence, ▪ Crime in the Palace or in the presence of the President, ▪ Nighttime, Uninhabited place, or with a band, ▪ During a calamity, ▪ Aid of armed men or means to insure impunity, ▪ Recidivism, ▪ Habituality, ▪ Price, Reward, or Promise, ▪ Inundation, Fire, Poison, ▪ Evident Premeditation, ▪ Craft, Fraud, or Disguise, ▪ Superior Strength or Means to Weaken Defense, ▪ Treachery, ▪ Ignominy, ▪ Unlawful Entry, ▪ Breaking wall, floor, roof, ▪ With aid of persons under 15 by motor vehicle, ▪ Cruelty. (Article 14, Revised Penal Code)

What are Alternative Circumstances?

▪ Those which can be either aggravating or mitigating, according to the nature of the crime and the other conditions of its commission.

They are: ▪ Relationship, ▪ Intoxication, ▪ Degree of education of the offender.