Syllabus

SAN BEDA UNIVERSITY

College of Arts and Science, Legal Management
Department
Course Outline for A.Y. 2022-2023
Introduction to Criminal Law
Atty. Oliver Cachapero, Jr.

I. Criminal Law in General

 Criminal Law, Crime defined

(1) Criminal law is that branch of municipal law which defines crimes, treats of their
nature and provides for their punishment.
(2) It is that branch of public substantive law which defines offenses and prescribes their
penalties. It is substantive because it defines the state’s right to inflict punishment and
the liability of the offenders. It is public law because it deals with the relation of the
individual with the state.
Criminal law is that branch or division of law which defines crimes, treats of their
nature, and provides for their punishment. (12
Cyc. 129)
Crime, defined. Crime is an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law
forbidding or command

 Sources

Sources of Philippine Criminal Law.

1. The Revised Penal Code (Act No. 3815) and its amend-
ments.
2. Special Penal Laws passed by the Philippine Commission,
Philippine Assembly, Philippine Legislature, National As-
sembly, the Congress of the Philippines, and the Batasang
Pambansa.
3. Penal Presidential Decrees issued during Martial Law.

 Common law crimes

Common law crimes are bodies of legal rules and principles which are not based on
statute but on usages and traditions. There are no common law crimes in the
Philippines. No act shall constitute as a crime unless it is made so by law (U.S. vs.
Taylor, 28 Phil 599).
Court decisions are not sources of criminal law, because they merely explain the
meaning of, and apply, the law as enacted by the legislative branch of the government.

Doctrine of pro reo

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.
Intentionally damaging the property of another.
Intentional killing of a human being.
Making of a false statement in the course of a judicial proceeding by a person who has
taken the oath, or made an affirmation, or has been admonished.
Administering poison or other harmful substance to another.

 Power to define and punish crimes;

limitations.

The State has the authority, under its police power, to define and
punish crimes and to lay down the rules of criminal procedure.
Limitations on the power of the lawmaking body to enact
penal legislation.
The Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution imposes the following
limitations:
1. No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted.
(Art. Ill, Sec. 22)
2. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense
without due process of law. (Art. Ill, Sec. 14[1])
The first limitation prohibits the passage of retroactive laws
which are prejudicial to the accused.
 Ex-post facto law; bill of attainder
An ex post facto law is one which:
(1) makes criminal an act done before (3) changes the punishment and inflicts
the passage of the law a greater punishment than the law
annexed to the crime w h e n committed;
and which w a s innocent w h e n done,
and punishes such an act; (4) alters the legal rules of evidence, and
authorizes conviction upon less or
(2) aggravates a crime, or m a k e s it
different testimony t h a n the law
greater than it was, w hen committed;
required at the time of the commission
of the offense

(5) a s s u m e s to regulate civil rights (6) deprives a person accused of a crime

and remedies only, in effect imposes some lawful protection to which he h a s
penalty or deprivation of a right for become entitled, such as the protection
something which w h e n done w a s of a former conviction or acquittal, or a
lawful; and proclamation of amnesty.

 Three characteristics of Criminal Law;

theories in Criminal Law.
Two theories in Criminal Law.
There are two important theories in criminal law:
(1) the classical theory,
(2) the positivist theory.

Characteristics of the classical theory.

1. The basis of criminal liability is h u m a n free will and the
purpose of the penalty is retribution.
2.Thatmanisessentiallyamoralcreaturewithan
absolutely free will to choose b e t w e e n good and evil,
thereby placing more s t r e s s upon the effect or result
of the felonious act t h a n upon the m a n , the criminal
himself.
3. It has endeavored to establish a mechanical and direct
proportion between crime and penalty.
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Characteristics of the positivist theory.
1. That man is subdued occasionally by a strange and morbid
phenomenon which constrains him to do wrong, in spite of
or contrary to his volition.
2. That crime is essentially a social and natural phenomenon,
and as such, it cannot be treated and checked by the
application of abstract principles of law and jurisprudence
nor by the imposition of a punishment, fixed and determined
a priori; but rather through the enforcement of individual
measures in each particular case after a thorough, personal
and individual investigation conducted by a competent
body of psychiatrists and social scientists
Art. 2 APPLICATION OF ITS PROVISIONS
4. There is a scant regard to the h u m a n element

 Repeal of penal law

Different effects of repeal of penal law.
1. If the repeal m a k e s t h e penalty lighter in the new law,
the new law shall be applied, except w h e n the offender
is a habitual delinquent or w h e n the new law is made
not applicable to p e n d i n g action or e x i s t i n g causes of
action.
2. If the new law imposes a heavier penalty, the law in force
at t h e t i m e of t h e c o m m i s s i o n of t h e offense shall be
applied.
3. If the new law totally repeals the existing law so that the
act which w a s penalized under the old law is no longer
punishable, the crime is obliterated.
 Construction of penal laws

1. Penal laws are strictly construed against the Government

and liberally in favor of the accused.
The rule that penal statutes should be strictly construed against the State may be
invoked only where the law is ambiguous and there is doubt as to its interpretation.
Where the law is clear and unambiguous, there is no room for the application of the
rule.
2. In the construction or interpretation of the provisions of
the Revised Penal Code, the Spanish text is controlling,

 Mala in se, mala prohibita

Mala in se and mala prohibita, distinguished. There is a distinction between crimes
which are mala in se, or wrongful from their nature, such as theft, rape, homicide, etc.,
and those that are mala prohibita, or wrong merely because prohibited by statute, such
as illegal possession of firearms. Crimes mala in se are those so serious in their effects
on society as to call for almost unanimous condemnation of its members; while crimes
mala prohibita are violations of mere rules of convenience designed to secure a more
orderly regulation of the affairs of society.

(1) In acts mala in se, the intent governs; but in those mala
prohibita, the only inquiry is, has the law been violated?

Criminal intent is not necessary where the acts are prohibited

for reasons of public policy, as in illegal possession of firearms.

(2) The term mala in se refers generally to felonies denned and

penalized by the Revised Penal Code. When the acts are inherently immoral, they are
mala in se, even if punished by special laws. On the other hand, there are crimes in the
Revised Penal Code which were originally defined and penalized by special laws. Among
them are possession and use of opium, malversation, brigandage, and libel. The term
mala prohibita refers generally to acts made criminal by special laws.