CRIMINAL LAW BOOK 1

Instructor: Atty. Gian C. De Guzman

CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECTING CRIMINAL LIABILITY

- Under the Revised Penal Code, there are five circumstances affecting
the criminal liability of an individual. They are as follows:

1. Justifying circumstances
2. Exempting circumstances
3. Mitigating circumstances
4. Aggravating circumstances
5. Alternative circumstances

JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES
- A person who acts under any justifying circumstances does not commit
a crime under the law.

- The following are the justifying circumstances:

1. Self-defense
2. Defense of relatives
3. Defense of stranger
4. Avoidance of greater evil or injury
5. Fulfillment of duty or lawful exercise of right or office
6. Obedience to an order issued for some lawful purpose

Self-defense
- Self-defense is appreciated as a justifying circumstance only if the
following requisites were present:

1. The victim committed unlawful aggression amounting to actual or

imminent threat to the life and limb of the person acting in self-
defense;

2. There was a reasonable necessity of the means employed to

prevent or repel the unlawful aggression; and

3. There was lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person

claiming self-defense, or, at least, any provocation executed by the
person claiming self-defense was not the proximate and immediate
cause of the victim’s aggression.

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Defense of Relatives
- In order to successfully claim that he acted in defense of a relative,
the accused must prove the concurrence of the following requisites:

1. Unlawful aggression on the part of the person killed or injured;

2. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel the

unlawful aggression; and

3. The person defending the relative had no part in provoking the

assailant, should any provocation have been given by the relative
attacked.

Relative that can be defended:

a. Spouse;
b. Ascendants;
c. Descendants;
d. Legitimate, natural, or adopted brothers or sisters;
e. Relatives by affinity in the same degrees; or
f. Relatives by consanguinity within the fourth civil degree.

Defense of Stranger
- Defense of stranger requires clear and convincing evidence to prove
the following, to wit:

1. Unlawful aggression by the victim;

2. Reasonable necessity of the means to prevent or repel it; and
3. The person defending be not induced by revenge, resentment or other
evil motive.

Avoidance of Greater Evil or Injury

- The following are the requirements:

1. That the evil sought to be avoided actually exists;

2. That the injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it; and
3. That the be no other practical and less harmful means of preventing it.

Fulfillment of Duty or Lawful Exercise of Right or Office

- The following are the requirements:

1. The accused must have acted in the performance of a duty or in the

lawful exercise of a right or office; and

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 2. The injury caused or the offense committed should have been the
necessary consequence of such lawful exercise.

Obedience to an Order Issued for Some Lawful Purpose

- The following are the requirements:

1. The person acts in obedience to an order;

2. The order was issued by a superior officer;
3. The order is for some lawful purpose; and
4. The injury or damage sustained or inflicted is the necessary
consequence of an act in obedience to the lawful order.

EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCES
- A person acting under any of the exempting circumstance commits a
crime but cannot be held criminally liable therefor. The exemption
from punishment stems from the complete absence of intelligence or
free will in performing the act.

- The following are exempting circumstances:

1. Imbecility or insanity (unless acting during a lucid interval)

2. Minority
3. Accident
4. Irresistible force
5. Uncontrollable fear
6. Prevented by insuperable cause

Imbecility or insanity
- An imbecile is one who, while advanced in age, has a mental
development comparable to that of children between two and seven
years of age.

- Insanity exists when there is a complete deprivation of intelligence

while committing the act. An insane is not so exempt if it can be
shown that he committed the crime during a lucid interval.

Minority
- Sec. 6 of RA 9344 (Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act) provides that the
following minors shall be exempt from criminal liability:

1. Those 15 years of age or under at the time of the commission of the

crime; and

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 2. Those above 15 years of age but below 18 years of age who acted
without discernment.

- Thus, if a child falls under the above-cited ages, he or she shall be

released and shall be subjected to an intervention program as
determined by the local social welfare and development officer.

Accident
- The following requisites are necessary:

1. The accused is performing a lawful act;

2. With due care;
3. Causes injury to another by mere accident; and
4. Without fault or intention of causing it.

Irresistible force
- A person must show the following to successfully invoke irresistible
force:

1. That the irresistible force reduced him to a mere instrument that acted
not only without will but also against his will;
2. The compulsion must be of such character as to leave the accused no
opportunity to defend himself or to escape;
3. The duress, force, fear, or intimidation must be present, imminent and
impending, and of such nature as to induce a well-grounded
apprehension of death or serious bodily harm if the act be done.

Uncontrollable fear
- Requisites:

1. Existence of an uncontrollable fear;

2. That the fear must be real and imminent; and
3. The fear of an injury is greater than or at least equal to that
committed.

Insuperable cause
- Requisites:

1. That a person is required by law to perform an act;

2. That the person fails to perform such act; and
3. That the failure to perform such act was due to some lawful or
insuperable cause.