MANILA LAW COLLEGE

CRIMINAL LAW REVIEW

QUIZ # 01

RODELO G. MORAN DECEMBER 20,2019

I. DEFINITIONS

Define and give the meaning of the following:

a. CRIMINAL LAW

Is a branch of municipal law which define crimes, treats of their nature and provides for their
punishment.

b. CRIME

Is any act which the sovereign has deemed contrary to the public good, a wrong which the
government has determined is injurious to the public.

c. PENAL LAW

Is a law enacted to preserve the public order by defining an offense against the public and
imposing penalty for its violation.

d. NULLUM CRIMEN, NULLA POENA SINE LEGE

There is no crime if there is no law punishing it. It is required that a crime should be defined and
a penalty imposed only by statute.

e. EX POST FACTO LAW

An ex post facto law is one passed after the commission of an act making the latter criminal
when it was not at the time it was executed. Aggravating the offense or prescribing a greater penalty is
included in the prohibition against the ex post facto law.

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II. DISCUSSION

a. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT PURPOSES OF CRIMINAL LAW?

The purposes of criminal law are to reform, to deter others, to prevent the offender from
committing further crimes, and to set as examples.

b. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT SOURCES OF PHILIPPINE CRIMINAL LAW?

The sources of Philippine criminal law are the following:

 The Revised Penal Code (act no. 3815) which took effect on January 1, 1932.
 Special Penal Laws passed by the Philippine Commission, Philippine Assembly, Philippine
legislature, National Assembly, The Congress of the Philippines and the Batasang
Pambansa.
 Penal Presidential Decree issued during Martial Law and Executive Orders punishing
offenses.
 Decisions of the Supreme Court, which are called Jurisprudence (Supreme Court
decisions assumes the same authority as statutes).

c. HOW ARE PENAL LAWS INTERPRETED?

Penal or Criminal laws are strictly construed against the States and liberally in favor of the
accused. The purpose is not to enable a guilty person to escape punishment through technicality but to
provide a precise definition of forbidden acts. The court should always give the accused the benefit of
the doubt, and when in doubt, he must acquit (In dubiis reus est absolvendus).

d. WHICH BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT HAS THE PREROGATIVE TO ENACT PENAL LAWS?

Only the Legislative branch of the government can enact penal laws. While the President may
define and punish an act as crime, such power is not executive but legislative as he derives such power
from law – making body, (by virtue of 1987 constitution, the President is also vested with legislative
power in the exercise of emergency power to carry out a declared national policy.(Art. VI, sec. 23 (2),
However, the power of the Congress to enact penal laws is not absolute-as it is limited by the
constitution. Congress cannot enact an EX POST FACTO LAW or BILL OF ATTAINDER (Article III, sec.22, of
1987 constitution)

e. WHAT ARE THE THREE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF PHILIPPINE CRIMINAL LAW?

The criminal law has three characteristics, namely:

1. GENERALITY- means that the law governs all persons within the territorial jurisdiction of the state
irrespective of race, belief, sex, or creed. Penal laws shall be obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in
Philippine territory.(Art.14 NCC).

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EXEMPTIONS:

 treaties or treaty stipulations

 the law of Preperential applications based on principle of reprocity
 member of congress under privilege speech or debate in congress or committee and,
 By virtue of the principle of Public International Law

2. TERRITORIALITY- means that the law is only effective within the territorial confines of one’s
jurisdiction- be it land, atmosphere, interior waters and maritime zone.

EXEMPTIONS:

 Offences committed on Philippine ship or airship.

 Forging or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippines or obligations and
securities issued by Philippine government.
 public officer or employees committed an offence in the exercise of their official
functions or,
 Should commit any of the crimes against the national securities and the law of the
nations.

3. IRRETROSPECTIVITY or PROSPECTIVITY- means that the law only takes effect after its effectivity date
and never retrospective in its applications.

EXEMPTION:

 Penal laws which are favorable to the accused are given retroactive effect (Art.22 of
RPC ).

EXEMPTION to the EXEMPTION:

The exemption, however, has no application in the following instances:

1. Where the offender is a habitual criminal under Art.62, rule 5 of the RPC, and

2. Where the new law is expressly made inapplicable to pending actions or existing causes of
action.

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III. PROBLEMS:

EXPLAIN briefly the rule or reason for your answer:

1.) Q: A, a military general, committed the crime of murder in Pampanga and was subsequently charged
before the RTC of the said province. A contends that civil court have no jurisdiction over his case. Is A’s
contention correct?

A. No. A’s contention is not correct.

As a rule, the jurisdiction of the civil courts is not affected by the military character of the
accused. (US v. Sweet, 1 PHIL. 18). The civil court have concurrent jurisdiction with the military courts or
general court-martial over soldiers of the AFP.

In this case, however, when the military court takes cognizance of the case involving a person
subject to military law, likewise, the articles of war shall apply and not the revised penal code or other
penal laws.

2) Q: B, an American consul, committed a crime under the RPC while stationed in the Philippines. B
claims that by virtue of Public international law he is not subject to our criminal law. Is he correct?

A. No, B is not correct. Consuls, vice-consul and other commercial representatives of foreign nations do
not possess the status of, and cannot claim the privileges and immunities accorded to ambassadors and
ministers.

As provided in public international law and by virtue of the principles of public international law, the
following are not subject to the operation of our criminal law, to wit:

i) Sovereigns and other heads of state.

ii) Ambassadors.

iii) Ministers (resident or plenipotentiary).

iv) Charges d’affaires and attaches.

These are the diplomatic representatives which possess immunity from criminal jurisdiction of their
sojourn and cannot be sued, arrested or punished by the law of that country.

The enumeration above is inclusive and exclusive. Thus, a consul, not being included in the
enumerations does not enjoy diplomatic immunity from any prosecution for the crime committed by
him in the Philippines. Therefore, the contention of B is not correct by claiming that he is not subject to
our criminal law.

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3) Q: The legislative branch passed a law inflicting punishment without trial. C, a criminologist student,
challenged and questioned the constitutionality of the law before the court. He contends that the law is
constitutionality infirm. Is C’s contention correct?

A. YES.C’s contention is correct.

According to our 1987 constitution, the power of the congress to enact penal laws is not absolute, as it
is limited by the constitution. Congress cannot enact an ex post facto law or a bill of attainder (Art.III,
sec. 22 of our 1987 constitution). It cannot provide for cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment and
neither can it impose excessive fines (ART III, sec.19 [1]).

A bill of attainder is a legislative act which inflicts punishment without trial(Cumming v. Missouri 4 wall
277). Its essence is the substitution of legislative act for judicial determination of guilt ( people vs. Ferrer
48 SCRA 382,395).Therefore, the contention of C is correct.

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