Lesson 2

CONCEPTS OF CRIME
WHAT COMES FIRST, THE LAW OR
THE CRIME?
Lesson 2: Concept of Crime and Justice
Lesson Outcomes:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1.explain what is the relationship between crime and
law;
2. legal kinds of crimes; and
3. analyze the concepts of crime and justice.
Law is that which is laid down, ordained, or established. A
rule or method according to which phenomena or actions
coexist or follow each other. (Black’s Law Dictionary)
Most of the laws are penal in nature. Penal laws are those acts of
the legislature which prohibit certain acts and establish penalties for
their violations; or those that define crimes, treat of their nature,
and provide for their punishment. (Lacson v. Exec. Secretary, G.R.
No. 128096, January 1999)
Looking at the definition of the penal law above, crime exists
because of the law that prohibits it. As the Theory of Logomacy
states, nullum crimen null poena sine lege or there is no crime
if there is no law punishing it.
CONCEPTS OF CRIME, LAW, AND
JUSTICE
The 1987 Philippine Constitution created the three great powers of the
government, where one of the basic repercussions is the separation of
powers. They are also considered to be the branches of the government.
These are the following:
1. Legislative branch – consist of a Senate and a House of the
Representatives. Power to create laws lies in this branch.
2. Executive branch – composed of the Office of the President. The
President has the power to create Presidential Decrees during Martial
law, Executive orders, Proclamation numbers, and Administrative Orders
that have power and effect of laws.
3. Judicial branch – power to check and balance the constitutionality of
the laws created.
LIMITATION ON THE POWER OF THE LAWMAKING BODY TO ENACT PENAL
LEGISLATION.
THE BILL OF RIGHTS OF THE 1987 CONSTITUTION IMPOSE THE
FOLLOWING LIMITATIONS:

Limitation on the power of the lawmaking body to enact penal

legislation. The Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution impose the following
limitations:
1. No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted. (Art. III, Sec. 22)
2. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due
process of law. (Art. III, Sec. 14 {1})
• Ex post facto law makes an act done before the passage of the law and
which was innocent when done, and punishes such an act.
• Bill of attainderis a legislativeact which inflict punishment without trial.
Its essence is the substitution of a legislative act for a judicial
determination of guilt.
 The scope of Criminal Justice System is anchored on the violation of
laws that are criminal in nature. It could be a violation of public or municipal
law or a special penal laws. The Revised Penal Code (RPC) or Act no.
3815 is considered to be the public or municipal law in the Philippines. The
code is called Revised Penal Code because it was a revision of the Old
Penal Code of Spanish text. The revision is intended to incorporate and
takes into consideration the existing conditions, the special penal laws, and
the rulings laid down by the Supreme Court. The committee that revised
the Code was created by Administrative Order no. 94 of the
Department of Justice, dated October 18, 1927, composed of Anacleto
Diaz, as Chairman, Quintin Paredes, Guillermo Guevara, Alex Reyes,
and Mariano H. de Joya as members.
The RPC, as enacted by the Philippine Legislature, was approved on
December 8, 1930 and took effect on January 1, 1932.
Criminal Law is that branch or division of law which defines
crimes, treats of their nature, and provides for their punishment.
(12Cye.129)

Sources of Philippines Criminal law:

1.The RPC (Act no. 3815) and its amendment;
2.Special Penal laws passed by the Philippine Commission,
Philippine Assembly, Philippine Legislature, National Assembly,
the Congress of the Philippines, and the Batasang Pambansa;
and
3.Penal Presidential Decrees issued during Martial law.
The following are the characteristics of Criminal law:
1. Generality – that the criminal law is binding to all persons who live or sojourn in the
Philippines except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential application.
• Example of a treaty or treaty stipulation as an exemption is the Visiting Forces
Agreement (VPA). Another exception from the operation of criminal law are the
Sovereign and other chiefs of state, ambassadors, ministers plenipotentiary, minister
residents, and charges d’affaires.
1. Territoriality – that the criminal law punishes crimes committed within the Philippine
territory with the exception of Article 2, RPC Book 1.
2. Prospectivity – that the criminal law looks forward. It only punishes acts that are
considered crime by virtue of law.
Exception of prospectivity: Whenever a new statute dealing with crime establishes
conditions more lenient and favorable to the accused, it can be given retroactive effect.
Provided that the accused is not habitual criminal under Rule 5, Article 62, R.P.C. and
when the new law expressly made inapplicable to pending actions or existing causes of
action. (Tavera v. Valdez, 1 Phil. 463, 470-471)
CRIME IS AN ACT COMMITTED OR OMITTED IN VIOLATION OF
PUBLIC LAW.
Crime can be legally categorized as follows:
1.Offense – is an act or omission punishable by Special Penal
Laws;
2.Felony – is an act or omission punishable by Revised Penal
Code; and
3.Misdemeanor or Infraction of Laws – is
an act or omission in violation of City,
Municipal, or Barangay Ordinance.
In ethical aspect, crimes are considered immoral. However,
not all acts or omissions in violation of law are against morality.
Crime can be a Mala In se and Mala Prohibita/Prohibitum.
Mala In se is a Latin phrase which means, “wrong or evil.”
• It is considered wrong even if there is no law prohibiting it. But since the
Philippines is a Civil law country, these wrongful acts by nature must be
prohibited under a written law.
Mala prohibita/prohibitum, on the other hand, is not wrong in itself.
• It’s not wrong in nature. It becomes wrong because of the statute that
proscribes it.

To have a better appreciation of the concept of the crime, it will be great

help to study the two (2) most common models of how society perceives
which acts are criminal and which are not. These two (2) models are the
Consensus model and the Conflict model.
 Consensus model, society shares common beliefs and custom.
They gather together and decide the common norms to follow.
Whoever deviates from the common norm will be considered a
criminal. This model believes that people can have common
norms and can follow the shared belief.
Conflict model, on the other hand, derives its laws from the
group holding economic, political, and social power in a
community. These people decide which act is criminal and which
act is not. According to this, people of higher income, status,
class, and age have the most impact in the criminal laws and are
able to levy their values than the rest of the community.
Take note of the following:
Act – any bodily movement tending to produce some effect in
the external world. (People v. Gonzales, supra)

Omission – failure to do a positive duty which one is bound to

do. (Luis
B. Reyes, RPC Book 1)

R.A. 9344 defines Offense as any act or omission whether

punishable under special laws or the Revised Penal Code, as
amended.
Felonies are acts and omissions punishable by the RPC. The act is performed or the
omission is incurred by means of dolo or culpa. (People v. Gonzales, G.R. No. 80762,
March 19, 1990, 183 SCRA 309, 324).

Felony by means of dolo (deceit) has the following elements:

1. He must have Freedom while doing the act or failing to do the act;
2. He must have Intelligence while doing the act or failing to do the act; and
3. He must have Intent while doing the act or failing to do the act.

Example:
James, upon knowing of the arrival of Cathy, went to the latter’s house. He brought
with him a firearm and started to fire the house because he was so angry that Cathy
chose to marry another man.
Felony by means of culpa (fault) can be committed if the following
requisites are present:
1. He must have Freedom while doing the act or failing to do the act;
2. He must have Intelligence while doing the act or failing to do the act;
and
3. He is Imprudent, Negligent, Lacks foresight or skills while doing or
failing to do the act.

Example:
Glenda, while driving her car, did not see Manny passing through the
pedestrian lane. She thus caused the injury of Manny through her
imprudence or lack of foresight.
Justice is the process or result of using laws to fairly judge and
punish crimes and criminals.(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Justice itself is one of the most difficult goals of any justice
system. The reason for this is the different concepts of every
individual of what is justice and fairness. However, the state
cannot just rely the seeking of justice to the individual just to
satisfy his own thirst. This is so to avoid blood feud. The tool or
machinery of the concept of justice based on what the state to
prevent such is the Justice System. This is actually grounded on
the concept of justice based on what the state believes to be just
for the general welfare of the people.
Lesson 3: Criminal and Victim

Lesson Outcomes:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to
understand the relationship of criminal and victim.
In the study of Criminology and Human Behavior, the victim’s perspective in the
commission of the crime has also been studied. Theory of Victimization deals with
the role that the victim plays in the criminal event. Benjamin Mendelson, the
proponent of Victimology Theory, believes that situational factor is a reason of
victimization. The negligence of the person makes him a victim of the criminal situation.
In layman’s viewpoint, any person who commit crime is basically a criminal. However, in
the viewpoint of Criminal Justice System, the following are the terms used in every
stage or level of the justice system:
Law Enforcement
Person of interest- if there are several
suspicious persons Suspect- when there is one
suspected person le f Prosecution- respondent
Court - Accused
Correction - Persons deprived of Liberty
Community - Ex- convict/ Balik- bayan
Case Scenario
John Doe was killed. Witnesses said that they saw Max, Manny,
Rica, and Rose (Persons of Interest) at or about the same time of the
killing of john Doe. Later on, upon investigation, evidence pointed Max
(Suspect) as the one who perpetrated the crime. The aggrieved party
filed a complaint against Max (Respondent). Then the case reached
the court, where Max (Accused) was arraigned and the trial began.
Max (Convicted) was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt. He
served his sentence in Davao Penal Colony (Person deprived of
Liberty) and he (Balik-bayan) was released afer serving sentence.

Victimless crime is a crime against the law but that only harms the
individual who consented to engage it. (Sociologydictionary.org.)
Example to this will be gambling, prostitution, and recreational drug