CRIMINAL LAW

ATTY. AMBROSIO S. MENDOZA III

Criminal Law – is that branch or
division of law which defines crimes, treats
of their nature, and provides for
their punishment.

Commercial Law
Remedial Law
Civil Law
Taxation Law

Labor Law
Constitutional Law
Crime – is an act committed or omitted in
violation of a public law forbidding or
commanding it.
Three Inherent Powers of the
State
 Police Power
The State has the authority, under its police
power, to define and punish crimes and to lay
down the rules of
criminal procedure. States, as a part of their
police power, have a large measure of
discretion in creating and
defining criminal offenses
• The right of prosecution and punishment for a
crime is one of the attributes that by a natural law
belongs to the sovereign power instinctively
charged by the common will of the members of
society to look after, guard and defend the
interests of the community, the individual and
social rights and the liberties of every citizen and
the guaranty of the exercise of his rights. (U.S. vs.
Pablo, 35 Phil. 94, 100)
Power of Eminent Domain
The power of eminent domain is the
inherent right of the State to condemn
private property to public use upon
payment of just compensation. It is also
known as the power of expropriation.

It is well settled that eminent domain is

an inherent power of the state that need
not be granted even by the
fundamental law. Sec. 9, Art. III merely
imposes a limit on the government’s
exercise of this power. [Republic v
Tagle (1998)].
 Power of Taxation
It is the enforced proportional
contributions from persons and
property, levied by the State by virtue of
its sovereignty, for the support of the
government and for all public needs. It is
as broad as the purpose for which it is
given.
 Branches of the Government

The 1987 Philippine Constitution created the

3 great powers of the government, which one
of the basic repercussion is the separation of
powers.
1. Legislative branch – consists of a Senate and a
House of 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,
Administrative Orders that have power and
effect of laws; and
3. Judicial branch – power to
check and balance the
constitutionality of the laws
created.
 Two theories in
Criminal Law

There are two important theories in

criminal law:
(1) the classical theory, and
(2) the positivist theory.
 Characteristics of the
classical theory.
1. The basis of criminal liability is human free will and
the purpose of the penalty is retribution.
2. That man is essentially a moral creature with an
absolutely free will to choose between good and evil,
thereby placing more stress upon the effect or result of
the felonious act than upon the man, the criminal
himself.
3. It has endeavored to establish a mechanical and direct
proportion between crime
and penalty.
4. There is a scant regard to the
human element.
NOTE: The RPC is generally governed
by this theory
 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.
• The purposes of penalty are prevention and
correction.

• This theory is exemplified in the provisions

regarding impossible crimes (RPC, Art. 4),
the mitigating circumstances of voluntary
surrender and plea of guilty (RPC, Art. 13,
par 7,) and habitual delinquency
[RPC, Art. 62(5])