LEGEDS:

Black- My answers
Red- Suggested answers
1994 Bar Exam

No, Abe cannot be prosecuted for bigamy.

Under the Revised Penal Code, the applicability of the penal laws is
limited only to the place which the Philippines has jurisdictions.

Here, Philippines has no jurisdiction over the crime committed by Abe

because the bigamous act was committed in the Singapore in which the
Philippines has no jurisdiction over said crime. Bigamy is not one of the
exceptions provided in the penal code. Hence, Abe cannot be prosecuted
for bigamy.

No, Abe may not be prosecuted for bigamy since bigamous marriage
was contracted or solemnized in Singapore, hence such violation is not one
of those where the Revised Penal Code, under Article 2 thereof, may be
applied extraterritorially. The general rule on territoriality of criminal law
governs the situation.

2012 Bar Exam

The following provisions of the Constitution limits the powers of the

Congress to enact penal laws:

i. No ex post facto law shall be enacted if it is prejudicial to the

accused.
 ii. The Congress should not pass a bill of attainder.
iii. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without
due process of law.
iv. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the law.

The constitutional provision limiting the power of Congress to enact

penal laws are the following:
1. The law must not be an ex post facto law or it should not be given
a retroactive effect.
2. The law must not be a bill of attainder, meaning it cannot provide
punishment without judicial proceedings.
3. The law must not impose cruel, unusual or degrading punishment.
4. No person shall be held to answer for criminal offense without due
process of law.

2000 Bar Exam

Yes, I will grant the motion to dismiss.

In a case decided by the Supreme Court, in case the crime is

committed in high seas the jurisdiction over the case will be acquired by
whose country the vessel was registered.

Here, the vessel is registered in Panama. Hence, the jurisdiction over

the case belongs to Panama. Philippines has no jurisdiction over the said
case.

Yes, the Motion to Quash the Information should be granted.

The Philippine court has no jurisdiction over the crime committed
since it was committed on the high seas or outside of Philippine territory
and on board a vessel not registered or licensed in the Philippines (US vs.
Fowler, 1 Phil 614)

It is the registration of the vessel in accordance with the laws of the

Philippines, not the citizenship of her owner, which makes it a Philippine
ship. The vessel being registered in Panama, the laws of Panama govern
while it is in the high seas.