Ex post facto law
An ex post facto law is one which:
(1) makes criminal an act done before the passage of the law
and which was innocent when done, and punishes such an act;
(2) aggravates a crime, or makes it greater than it was, when
committed;
(3) changes the punishment and inflicts a greater punishment
than the law annexed to the crime when committed;
(4) alters the legal rules of evidence, and authorizes conviction
upon less or different testimony than the law required at the
time of the commission of the offense;
(5) assumes to regulate civil rights and remedies only, in effect
imposes penalty or deprivation of a right for something which
when done was lawful; and
(6) deprives a person accused of a crime some lawful protection
to which he has become entitled, such as the protection of a
former conviction or acquittal, or a proclamation of amnesty. (In
re: Kay Villegas Kami, Inc., 35 SCRA 429, 431)
A bill of attainder is a legislative act which inflicts
punishment without trial.
Reclusión perpetua
"permanent imprisonment"
Writ of Habeas corpus is a recourse in law through which a
person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a
court and request that the court order the custodian of the
person, usually a prison official, to bring the prisoner to court, to
determine whether the detention is lawful.
Constitutional Rights of the Accused
1. All persons shall have the right to a speedy disposition
of their cases before all judicial, quasi-judicial, or
administrative bodies.
2. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense
without due process of law.
3. All persons have a right to bail except those charged
with reclusion perpetua
4. The accused shall have be presumed innocent until
proven guilty in a public trial
5. Miranda doctrine
6. No excessive fines or inhuman punishment
7. Cannot be tried for the same offense. Double jeopardy
keeps the government from employing its superior
resources to harass a citizen with multiple proceedings
and trials for the same act. This is particularly true
when a jury has found a defendant not guilty.
8. Free access to court and legal assistance
Criminal law has three main characteristics:
(1) general, (2) territorial, and (3) prospective.
EXCEPTION TO RULE OF TERRITORY
S-ship or airship
C-counterfeiting of coins or forging of instruments of currency
I-introduction of the counterfeit coins or forged notes securities
O-officers (public) committed crimes in their duties abroad
N-nations --- crimes against nations (example. Treason; piracy)