PHILIPPINE CRIMINAL

JUSTICE SYSTEM


What is Criminal Justice System?

-This is a system of law that is directly involved in apprehending, prosecuting,
defending, sentencing and punishing those who are suspected or convicted of
criminal offenses.
- A legal process adapted by a civilized society in the prevention and solutions
of crimes which is carried on through investigation in the persons suspected
thereof is taken into legal custody, prosecuted in a court of law, and punished
if found guilty or acquitted if found innocent, provision being made for his/her
correction and rehabilitation.
 In a democratic society like ours, the anti-crime
machinery for the prevention and control of
crime and juvenile delinquency is the Criminal
Justice System. This Criminal Justice System
(CJS) is wielded in an arena whose boundaries
and “rules of warfare” are delineated and
prescribed by legal parameters. Being part of
the CJS and bound by said legal parameters, it is
equally imperative for us to explore and
familiarize ourselves with its structure or set-up.
CONCEPT OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
A. Criminal - one who has committed an offense punishable by law; implying crime or heinous wickedness. 2
A person can be branded as criminal under the following circumstances:
1. He must have committed a crime.
2. He must have been apprehended and investigated by the police.
3. By virtue of sufficient physical evidence and
testimonies of witnesses, he must have been arrested.
4. Due to the presence of prima facie evidence, the
case was remanded to the court by the prosecutor for
trial.
5. There was arraignment.
6. There was trial.
7. The offender was found guilty.
8. A sentence was rendered by the court.
9. The convict was confined in prison.
10. The convict has fully served his sentence in prison.
Justice - adherence to truth or fact; impartiality;
the rendering of what is due or merited.3
-it consists of ordering human relations in
accordance with general principles impartially
applied (Ginsberg).
-it is accomplished by justice agents (police) who
are flexible. Therefore, not everyone is treated
alike, and what is just depends upon the
circumstances of an act.
C. System - orderly combination or arrangement, as
of parts or elements, into a whole; specifically, such
combination according to some rational principle;
any methodical arrangement of parts.
COMPONENTS OF THE CJS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS
A. LAW ENFORCEMENT
KINDS OF POLICEMEN
TRADITIONAL POLICEMAN = a policeman walking in uniform performing patrol work, walking constantly and alertly,
observing persons and things to accomplish crime prevention mission.
a. The best public servants who serve the public instead of dominating them.
b. The years of receptive policing, when the public received and welcomed the presence of the police assigned in
their neighborhood to maintain order and security, instead of imposing purely law enforcement action.
.
c. The years when every policeman was a good,
friendly, trustworthy officer of the law.
d. The years when only few rotten mangoes can
be found in a basket.
e. The idealist, ideal, a lover of wisdom, who
gives meaning to his duty in terms of truth,
goodness and beauty.
 2. CONTEMPORARY POLICEMAN = the materialistic,
arrogant, college educated agent of person in authority
whose insight of public service is for the public to serve
him as his source of extra income.
THE POLICE USE OF DISCRETION - Police officers are
decision makers and most of their decisions are based
on discretion.

DISCRETION - It is the wise use of one's judgment,

personal experience and common sense to decide a
particular situation. Apparently, the police exercise of
discretion is unregulated as U.S. Chief Justice Warren
and Burger put it -
"No law book, no judge, no lawyer can readily tell how
the policeman on beat should appropriately and
courteously exercise the same in this various day to day
activities, whatever they do, it is their own
responsibility.“
Abuse of discretion resulting to injury to persons or damage
to property is punishable. So the police must be guided by
some basic concepts such as COMMON SENSE, PERSONAL
EXPERIENCE and SOUND JUDGMENT.
B. PROSECUTION
1. Serving as the lawyer of the
State/government in criminal cases, the
prosecutor is automatically considered an officer
of the court; at the same time, he is formally a
member of the Department of Justice, under the
Executive branch of the Government, and thus
independent from the judiciary.
2. The prosecution service is made up of
Provincial and City Public Prosecutors under the
National Prosecution Service (NPS).
a. They perform to types of prosecutorial powers;
investigatory and prosecutory such as they:
Evaluate the police findings referred to them, or
other complaints filed directly with them by
individual persons (e.g. government officers in
charge of enforcement of law violated);
b. File corresponding INFORMATION OR CRIMINAL
COMPLAINTS in the proper courts on the basis of
their evaluation of the proofs at hand; and
c. Prosecute the alleged offenders in court, in the
name of the People of the Philippines.
 C. THE COURT - It is situated between the
Prosecution and Correction. The court is the
centerpiece of the five pillars, as such; it
performs perhaps the most important role in the
administration of justice because it is the court
that everyone turns to for justice. It is
impossible for applying the criminal law against
the defendants who commit crimes, but at the
same time protecting the same violations from
the violation of their rights by criminal justice
agents.
D. CORRECTIONS - It is defined as the branch of
administration of criminal justice charged with
the custody, supervision and rehabilitation of
offenders. This pillar is responsible for the
following thru institutional or community-based
programs:
1. MAINTAINING institutions such as prisons,
jails, halfway houses, and others;
2. PROTECTING law abiding members of society
by keeping sentenced offenders from preying on
society (ISOLATION);
E. COMMUNITY - The community in this context refers
to the elements that are mobilized and energized to help
the authorities in effectively addressing the law and order
concerns of the citizenry. Among this elements are:
1. Peace and Order Councils - National, Regional,
Provincial and City/Municipal Levels;
2. The Katarungang Pambarangay;
3. The People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB);
4. Government Agencies -
5. NGOs and other Civic Organizations.
3. REFORMING offenders by rehabilitating and
reassimilating them into the mainstream of
society and helping them lead a normal life after
release;
4. DETERRING crimes - experience in prison (jail)
and fear of denial of liberty will influence
inmates and potential offenders to lead law-
abiding lives; and
5. REINTEGRATION of the offender to the
community.