Reflection Essay on Arraignment and Plea

The topic that was discussed by Atty. Bajita is about Arraignment and plea. As I’ve said

from my previous reflections about Atty. Bajita’s lecture, I again learned plenty of things about

Criminal Justice System. This time, I learned about how are arraignment and plea made, when is

plea considered as not guilty and what are the purposes for requiring the private offended

party to appear at the arraignment.

The first topic that was discussed by Atty. Bajita about how are arraignment and plea

made. As said from the lecture, arraignment and plea shall be made in an open court by the

judge or clerk by furnishing the accused with a copy of the complaint or information, reading

the same in the language or dialect known to him, and asking him whether he pleads guilty or

not guilty. In this part of the topic, I liked how Atty. Bajita explained in a very detailed way. He

even set an example in order for the viewers to better understand the explanation given to us.

The second topic is about when is plea considered as not guilty. It is said in the lecture

that a plea is considered as not guilty when the accused refuses to plead or makes a conditional

plea, a plea of not guilty shall be entered for him and when the accused pleads guilty but

presents exculpatory evidence, his plea shall be deemed withdrawn and a plea of not guilty

shall be entered for him.

The last topic for the lecture is about the purposes for requiring the private offended

party to appear at the arraignment. Most of the time, the accused is the one required to appear

at the arraignment because it is the time when he will be asked for his plea but according to

Atty. Bajita’s lecture, there are certain times when the private offended party is also required to
attend. 1. Plea bargaining. 2. Determination of civil liability. 3. Other matters requiring his

presence.

In the short amount of time of the lecture, I learned a lot because the lecturer knows

how to explain very well. He talked using variation of tones and pitch of voice that helped a lot

in catching my attention and most importantly, he explained using examples and situations and

using our language. He explained almost everything in tagalog so I pretty much understood

everything that he said.