Non-Imprisonment for Debt

Article III, Section 20

Debt refers to a CONTRACTUAL obligation, whether express or implied, resulting in any liability to pay money. Thus, all other types of obligations are not within
the scope of this constitutional prohibition.

Thus, if an accused fails to pay the fine imposed upon him on a judgment of conviction, this may result in his subsidiary imprisonment because his liability is EX
DELICTO and not EX CONTRACTU.

A FRAUDULENT DEBT may result in the imprisonment of the debtor if:

a. The fraudulent debt constitutes a crime such as estafa; and
b. The accused has been duly convicted.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY

Under Article III, Section 21

REQUISITES FOR A VALID DEFENSE OF DOUBLE JEOPARDY

1. First jeopardy must be attached prior to the second;
2. The first jeopardy must have terminated;
3. The second jeopardy must be for the same offense as that in the first

When does first jeopardy attach:

1. A person is charged
2. Under a complaint or information sufficient in form and substance to sustain a conviction
3. Before a court of competent jurisdiction
4. After the person is arraigned
5. Such person entered a valid plea

When does jeopardy NOT attach:

1. If information does not charge any offense
2. If upon pleading guilty, the accused presents evidence of complete self defense, and the court thereafter acquits him without entering a new plea of not guilty
for accused
3. If a complaint filed for preliminary investigation is dismissed
4. If the Information for an offense cognizable by the RTC is filed with the MTC.

When does FIRST jeopardy TERMINATE:

1. Acquittal
2. Conviction
3. Dismissal without the express consent of the accused
4. Dismissal on the merits

Examples of termination of Jeopardy:

1. Dismissal based on violation of the right to a speedy trial. This amounts to an acquittal.
2. Dismissal based on demurrer to evidence. This amounts to dismissal on the merits.
3. Discharge of an accused to be a state witness. This amounts to an acquittal.

Second jeopardy will result if the act punishable under the law and the ordinance are the same. For there to be double jeopardy, it is not necessary that the offense be
the same.

What are considered to be the SAME OFFENSE:

1. Exact identity between the offenses charged in the First and Second cases.
2. One offense is an attempt to commit or a frustration of the other offense.
3. One offense is necessarily included or necessary includes the other.

EXCEPTION:
1. Where a single act results in the violation of DIFFERENT LAWS or DIFFERENT PROVISIONS OF THE SAME LAW, the prosecution for one will
not bar the other so long as none of the exceptions apply.

2. SUPERVENING FACTS
Under the Rules of Court, a conviction for an offense will not bar a prosecution for an offense which necessarily includes the offense charged in the former
Information where:
a. The graver offense developed due to a supervening fact arising from the same act or omission constituting the former charge
b. The facts constituting the graver offense became known or were discovered only after the filing of the former information
c. The plea of guilty of the lesser offense was made without the consent of the fiscal and the offended party

 If the facts could have been discovered by the prosecution but were not discovered because of the prosecution’s incompetence, it would not be considered a
supervening event.
EFFECT OF APPEAL BY THE ACCUSED:

If accused appeals his conviction, he WAIVES his right to plead double jeopardy. The whole case will be open for review by the appellate court. Such court may
even increase the penalty imposed on the accused by the trial court.

EX POST FACTO LAW

An "ex post facto law" is defined as –

 a law which provides for the infliction of punishment upon a person for an act done which, when it was committed, was innocent;

 a law which aggravates a crime or makes it greater than when it was committed;

 a law that changes the punishment or inflicts a greater punishment than the law annexed to the crime when it was committed;

 a law that changes the rules of evidence and receives less or different testimony than was required at the time of the commission of the offense in order to
convict the offender;

 a law which, assuming to regulate civil rights and remedies only, in effect imposes a penalty or the deprivation of a right which, when done, was lawful; 

 a law which deprives persons accused of crime of some lawful protection to which they have become entitled , such as the protection of a former conviction
or acquittal, or of the proclamation of amnesty; 

 every law which, in relation to the offense or its consequences, alters the situation of a person to his disadvantage.

 The prohibition on ex post facto laws only applies to retrospective PENAL LAWS.

BILL OF ATTAINDER

It is a legislative act which inflicts punishment WITHOUT JUDICIAL TRIAL.

Elements:

1. There must be a LAW.

2. The law imposes a PENAL burden on a named individual/easily ascertainable members of a group.

3. The penal burden is imposed DIRECTLY by the law WITHOUT JUDICIAL TRIAL.