CRIMINAL LAW

BOOK ONE
Atty. Frederick R. Eboña, MS-Crim
 CRIMINAL LAW, DEFINED

Criminal Law- that branch of public law which defines crimes

treats of their nature and provides for their punishment.
 CRIME, DEFINED

An act committed or omitted in violation of a public law

forbidding or commanding it.
 DISTINCTIONS
FELONY – OFFENSE – INFRACTIONS
punishable by punishable by – punishable by
the Revised special penal city or municipal
Penal Code laws ordinances
 DELICT and QUASI DELICT

• Delict – a misdemeanor, an offense, or simply CRIME.

• Quasi delict – the fault or negligence of a person causing
damage to another, and there is no pre existing contractual
relation between the parties (Article 2176 Civil Code). Also
known as CULPA AQUILIANA.
 SOURCES OF CRIMINAL LAW

1. Codigo Penal De España (Spanish Penal Code)

2. Act 3815 known as the Revised Penal Code
3. Special Penal Laws passed by Congress
4. Presidential Decrees issued by President Marcos
5. Ordinances of Municipalities or Cities
 COMMON LAW CRIMES

• The body of principles, usages and rules of actions

which do not result from the express act of the
legislature. There is no such crime in the Philippines.
 NULLUM CRIMEN NULLA POENA SINE
LEGE
• There is no crime if there is no law punishing it.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIMINAL
LAW
• General- criminal law is binding on all persons
who live or sojourn in the Philippines, regardless
of age, sex or nationality.
• Territorial- criminal laws are applicable only if
the crime is committed within Philippine territory.
• Prospective- criminal law cannot make an act
punishable in a manner in which it was not
punishable when committed. See Art 366. (The
law looks forward and not backwards)
 EXCEPTIONS TO THE GENERAL
CHARACTERISTICS
1. As provided by treaty stipulations- RP-US VFA
Agreements
2. As provided by laws of preferential applications-
RA 75 grants protection to diplomatic
representatives, ambassador or other public
ministers of foreign countries including their domestic
servants authorized and received by the President.
3. Persons who are exempt because of certain
principles of international laws:
• Sovereigns and other heads of states
• Ambassadors, minister plenipotentiaries, minister
residents and charges d’ affaires.
 EXCEPTIONS TO THE TERRITORIAL
CHARACTERISTICS
(Art. 2, RPC)
1. When the offender shall commit an offense on a
Philippine ship or airship.
2. When the offender should forge or counterfeit any coin or
currency note of the Philippines or obligations and
securities issued by the Philippine government.
3. When the offender should be liable for the acts connected
with the introduction into the Philippines of the obligations
and securities mentioned in number two.
4. When the offender who is a public officer or employee
abroad shall commit an offense in the exercise of his
functions.
5. When the offender should commit an offense against the
national securities and the laws of nations.
 RULES ON CRIMES COMMITTED ABOARD
FOREIGN MERCHANT VESSEL WHILE
WITHIN PHILIPPINE WATERS

• English Rule- the crime is punishable in the

Philippines, unless the crime merely affects things
within the vessel.
• French Rule- the crime is not triable in the courts
of that country (Philippines), unless their
commission unless their commission has effects
on the safety of the coastal state.
 PROSPECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS

• Also known as prospectivity

• Also known as irretrospectivity.
• It means the law (as a general rule) does not have retroactive
effect.
 EXCEPTION TO THE PROSPECTIVE CHARACTER:
When the new law is favorable to the accused. (Art. 22)
Example: Illegal Possession of Firearm under PD 1866
as amended by RA 10591

EXCEPTION TO THE EXCEPTION

• When the offender is a habitual criminal. (Art.
22)
• When the new law expressly provides it has
no application or retroactive effect to pending
actions/cases.
 CONSTRUCTION OF PENAL LAWS

• Penal laws are strictly construed against the state and

liberally in favor of the accused
• If there is a conflict between the Spanish text and the
English text, the Spanish text prevails.
 IN DUBIO PRO REO
When in doubt, rule for the accused. This is
in consonance with the constitutional
guarantee that the accused ought to be
presumed innocent until and unless his guilt
is established beyond reasonable doubt.
Rule of Lenity - It is the doctrine that "a court,
in construing an ambiguous criminal statute
that sets out multiple or inconsistent
punishments, should resolve the ambiguity in
favor of the more lenient punishment."
 HISTORY OF THE RPC
• The Alleged Code of Calantiao of 1433
• The old Penal Code which took effect from July 18,
1887 until December 31, 1931.
• Administrative Order 94 of the DOJ dated October
18, 1927
• Creation of Code Commision
• Anacleto Diaz, Quintin Paredes, Guilermo
Guevarra, Alex Reyes and Mariano De Joya
• Revised Penal Code (ACT 3815)
• RPC approved December 8, 1930
• RPC took effect January 1, 1932
 THEORIES IN CRIMINAL LAW

• Classical (Juristic) Theory

• Positivist (Realistic) Theory
 CLASSICAL THEORY

• The basis of criminal liability is human free will and the

purpose of penalty is retribution.
• Man is a moral creature with an absolute free will to
choose between good and evil.
• Here more stress is placed upon the result of the
crime than the criminal.
• There is scant regard for the human element
 POSITIVIST THEORY

• Man is subdued occasionally by a strange and

morbid phenomenon which constrain him to do
wrong.
• Crime is a social and natural phenomenon;
• Crime cannot be treated therefore by the application
of abstract principles of law or by the imposition of
punishment.
• The purpose of penalty is reformation of accused.
• Offender is regarded as a sick person who needs
treatment.
LIMITATIONS ON THE POWERS OF CONGRESS
TO MAKE LAWS

• No Ex Post Facto Law shall be enacted.- Ex Post

Facto Law is a law that makes criminal an act done
before the passage of the law and which was
innocent when done, and punishes such an act; it
may also be defined as a law which aggravates a
crime, or makes it greater than it was, when
committed.
• No Bill of Attainder shall be passed. – A bill of
attainder is a law which inflicts punishment without
trial.