Criminal Law 1

SUPPLEMENTAL READING MATERIAL 5

Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 (R.A. 9344); also Refer to Child and Youth Welfare Code (P.D. 603, as amended)

Child – refers to a person under the age of eighteen (18) years [R.A. 9344, Title I, Chapter I, Section 4, par. C]

Definition of Child in Conflict With the Law

R.A. 9344, Title I, Chapter I, Section 4 – (e) “Child in conflict with the law” refers to a child who is alleged as, accused of,
or adjudged as having committed an offense under Philippine laws.

Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility

R.A. 9344, Title I, Chapter II, Section 6. Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility, 2nd and 3rd par – A child above fifteen
(15) years but below eighteen (18) years of age shall likewise be exempt from criminal liability and be subjected to an
intervention program, unless he/she acted with discernment, in which case, such chid shall be subjected to the appropriate
proceedings in accordance with this Act.

The exemption from criminal liability herein established does not include exemption from civil liability, which shall be
enforced in accordance with existing laws.

Determination of Age

· R.A. 9344, Title I, Chapter II, Section 7. Determination of Age – The child in conflict with the law shall enjoy the
presumption of minority. He/she shall enjoy all the rights of a child in conflict with the law until he/she is proven to be eighteen
(18) years of age or older. The age of a child may be determined from the child’s birth certificate, baptismal certificate or any
other pertinent documents. In the absence of these documents, age may be based on information from the child himself/herself,
testimonies of other persons, the physical appearance of the child and other related evidence. In case of doubt as to the age of the
child, it shall be resolved in his/her favour.

· Any person contesting the age of the child in conflict with the law prior to the filing of information in any appropriate court
may file a case in a summary proceeding for the determination of age before the Family Court which shall decide the case within
twenty-four (24) hours from the receipt of the appropriate pleadings of all interested parties.

· If a case has been filed against the child in conflict with the law and is pending in the appropriate court, the person shall file
a motion to determine the age of the child in the same court where the case is pending. Pending hearing on the same motion,
proceedings on the main case shall be suspended.
· In all proceedings, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges and other governmental officials concerned shall exert
efforts at determining the age of the child in conflict with the law.

Exemption From Criminal Liability

R.A. 9344, Title I, Chapter II, Section 6. Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility – A child fifteen (15) years of age or
under at the time of the commission of the offense shall be exempt from criminal liability. However, the child shall be subjected
to an intervention program pursuant to Section 20 of this Act. x x x

Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 (R.A. 9262)

Battered Woman Syndrome

· R.A. 9262, Section 3, Par. D, subpar. C defines Battered Woman Syndrome as “a scientifically defined pattern of
psychological and behavioural symptoms found in women living in battering relationship as a result of cumulative abuse.

· R.A. 9262, Section 26. Battered Woman Syndrome as a Defense – Victim-survivors who are found by the courts to be
suffering from battered woman syndrome do not incur any criminal and civil liability notwithstanding the absence of any of the
elements for justifying circumstances of self-defense under the Revised Penal Code.

· In the determination of the state of mind of the woman who was suffering from battered woman syndrome at the time of the
commission of the crime, the courts shall be assisted by expert psychiatrists/psychologists.

PERSONS CRIMINALLY LIABLE

Decree Penalizing Obstruction of Apprehension and Prosecution of Criminal Offenders (P.D. 1829)

(1)Punishable Acts

Section 1. x x x Any person who knowingly or wilfully obstructs, impedes frustrates or delays the apprehension of suspects and
the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases by committing any of the following acts:

a. Preventing witnesses from testifying in any criminal proceeding or from reporting the commission of any offense or the
identity of any offender(s) by means of bribery, misrepresentation, deceit, intimidation, force or threats;

b. Altering, destroying, suppressing or concealing any paper, record, document, or object, with intent to impair its verity,
authenticity, legibility, availability, or admissibility as evidence in any investigation of or official proceedings in, criminal cases,
or to be used in the investigation of, or official proceedings in criminal cases;

c. Harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of, any person he knows, or has reasonable grounds to believe or suspect,
has committed any offense under existing penal laws in order to prevent his arrest, prosecution and conviction;

d. Publicly using a fictitious name for the purpose of concealing a crime, evading prosecution or the execution of a judgment, or
concealing his true name and other personal circumstances for the same purpose or purposes;

e. Delaying the prosecution of criminal cases by obstructing the service of process or court orders or disturbing proceedings in
the fiscal’s offices, in the Tanodbayan or in the courts;
f. Making, presenting or using any record, document, paper or object with knowledge of its falsity and with intent to affect the
course or outcome of the investigation or, or official proceedings in criminal cases;

g. Soliciting, accepting, or agreeing to accept any benefit in consideration of abstaining from, discounting, or impeding the
prosecution of a criminal offender;

h. Threatening directly or indirectly another with the infliction of any wrong upon his person, honor or property or that of any
immediate member or members of his family in order to prevent such person from appearing in the investigation of, or official
proceedings in, criminal cases, or imposing a condition, whether lawful or unlawful, in order to prevent a person from appearing
in the investigation of or in official proceedings in, criminal cases;

i. Giving of false or fabricated information to mislead or prevent the law enforcement agencies from apprehending the offender
or from protecting the life or property of the victim, or fabricating information from the data gathered in confidence by
investigating authorities for purposes of background information and not for publication and publishing or disseminating the
same to mislead the investigator or to the court.

· Penalty imposable: prision correctional in its maximum period, or a fine ranging from Php1,000 to Php6,000, or both.

Compare With Art. 20, RPC (Accessories Exempt From Criminal Liability)

Art. 20 of the RPC provides that: The penalties prescribed for accessories shall not be imposed upon those who are such
with respect to their spouses, ascendants, legitimate, natural, and adapted brothers and sisters, or relatives by affinity within the
same degree. x x x

PENALTIES

General Principles

· RPC, Art. 21. Penalties that may be imposed – No felony shall be punishable by any penalty not prescribed by law prior to
its commission.

Ø Penalty - is the suffering that is inflicted by the State for the transgression of a law.

Ø The theories justifying penalty are: (1) prevention; (2) self-defense; (3) reformation; (4) exemplarity; and (5) justice.

· Act prohibiting the imposition of death penalty in the Philippines (R.A. 9346)

Section 1. The imposition of the penalty of death is hereby prohibited. Accordingly, Republic Act No. 8177, otherwise known as
the Act Designating Death by Lethal Injection I hereby repealed. Republic Act No. 7659, otherwise known as the Death Penalty
Law, and all other laws, executive orders and decrees, insofar as they impose the death penalty are hereby repealed or amended
accordingly.

In lieu of death penalty, reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment shall be imposed.

Section 3. Person convicted of offenses punished with reclusion perpetua, or whose sentences will be reduced to reclusion
perpetua, by reason of this Act shall not be eligible for parole under Act No. 4180, otherwise known as the Indeterminate
Sentence Law, as amended.
Purposes

The purpose of the State in punishing crimes is to secure justice. The State has an existence of its own to maintain, a
conscience of its own on to assert, and moral principles to be vindicated. Penal justice must therefore be exercised by the State in
the service and satisfaction of a duty, and rests primarily on the moral rightfulness of the punishment inflicted.

· The three-fold purpose of penalty under the RPC:

1. Retribution or expiation – the penalty is commensurate with the gravity of the offense.

2. Correction or reformation – as shown by the rule which regulate the execution of the penalties consisting in the deprivation of
liberty.

3. Social defense – show n by its inflexible severity to recidivists and habitual delinquents.

Classification

Article 25 of the RPC provides the classification of penalties as:

· Principal Penalties:

Capital Punishment: Death

Afflictive Penalties: Reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal, perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification, perpetual or
temporary special disqualification, Prision mayor.

Correctional Penalties: Prision correccional, Arresto mayor, Suspension, Destierro.

Light Penalties: Arresto menor, Public censure.

Penalties common to the three preceding classes: Fine, and Bond to keep the peace.

· Accessory Penalties:

Perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification,

Perpetual or temporary special disqualification,

Suspension from public office, the right to vote and be voted for, the profession or calling,

Civil interdiction,

Indemnification,

Forfeiture or confiscation of instruments and proceeds of the offense,

Payment of costs.

· Fines (Art. 26, RPC):

Afflictive penalty: greater than Php6,000

Light penalty: less than Php200

Duration and Effect

Article 27 of the RPC provides for the duration of the penalties:

a. Reclusion perpetua: 20 years and 1 day to 40 years

b. Reclusion temporal: 12 years and 1 day to 20 years

c. Prision mayor and temporary disqualification: 6 years and 1 day to 12 years

d. Prision correccional, suspension and destierro: 6 months and 1 day to 6 years, except when suspension is imposed as an
accessory penalty, the duration of the principal penalty shall apply

e. Arresto mayor: 1 month and 1 day to 6 months

f. Arresto menor: 1 day to 30 days

g. Bond to keep the peace: the bond to keep the peace shall be required to cover such period of time as the court may determine

· Article 28. Computation of penalties – If the offender shall be in prison, the term of the duration of the temporary penalties
shall be computed from the day on which the judgment of conviction shall have become final. If the offender be not in prison,
the term of the duration of the penalty consisting of deprivation of liberty shall be computed from the day that the offender is
placed at the disposal of the judicial authorities for the enforcement of the penalty. The duration of the other penalties shall be
computed only form the day on which the defendant commences to serve his sentence.

· Article 29. Period of preventive imprisonment deducted from the term of imprisonment – Offenders or accused who have
undergone preventive imprisonment shall be credited in the service of their sentence consisting of deprivation of liberty, with the
full time during which they have undergone preventive imprisonment if the detention prisoner agrees voluntarily in writing to
bide by the same disciplinary rules imposed upon convicted prisoners, except in the following cases: (1) when they are
recidivists, or have been convicted previously twice or more times of any crime; and (2) when upon being summoned for the
execution of their sentence they failed to surrender voluntarily.

· If the detention prisoner does not agree to abide by the same disciplinary rules imposed upon convicted prisoners, he shall
be credited in the service of his sentence with four-fifths of the time during which he has undergone preventive imprisonment (As
amended by Republic Act No. 6127, June 17, 1970)

· Whenever an accused has undergone preventive suspension for a period equal to or more than the possible maximum
imprisonment of the offense charged to which he may be sentenced and his case is not yet terminated, he shall be released
immediately without prejudice to the continuation of the trial thereof or the proceeding on appeal, if the same is under review. In
case the maximum penalty to which the accused may be sentenced is destierro, he shall be released after thirty (30) days of
preventive imprisonment (As amended by Republic Act No. 6127, and further amended by E.O. No. 214, promulgated July 10,
1987).

· The effect of penalties are provided by the RPC as follows:

Ø Art. 30. Effects of the penalties of perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification – The penalties of perpetual or temporary
absolute disqualification for public office shall produce the following effects: (1) the deprivation of the public offices and
employments which the offender may have held if conferred by popular election; (2) the deprivation of the right to vote in any
election for any popular elective office or to be elected to such office; (3) the disqualification for the offices or public
employments and for the exercise of any of the rights mentioned. In case of temporary disqualification, such disqualification as
is comprised in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article shall last during the term of the sentence; (4) the loss of all rights to retirement
pay or other pension for any office formerly held.

Ø Art. 31. Effect of the penalties of perpetual or temporary special disqualification – The penalties of perpetual or temporary
special disqualification for public office, profession or calling shall produce the following effect: (1) the deprivation of the office,
employment, profession or calling affected; (2) the disqualification for holding similar offices or employments either perpetually
or during the term of the sentence, according to the extent of such disqualification.

Ø Art. 32. Effects of the penalties of perpetual or temporary special disqualification for the exercise of the right of suffrage – The
perpetual or temporary special disqualification for the exercise of the right of suffrage shall deprive the offender perpetually or
during the term of the sentence, according to the nature of the said penalty, of the right to vote in any popular election for any
public office or to be elected to such office. Moreover, the offender shall not be permitted to hold any public office during the
period of his disqualification.

Ø Art. 33. Effects of the penalties of suspension from any public office, profession or calling, or the right of suffrage – The
suspension from public office, profession or calling, and the exercise of the right of suffrage shall disqualify the offender from
holding such office or exercising such profession or calling or right of suffrage during the term of the sentence. The person
suspended from holding public office shall not hold another having similar functions during the period of his suspension.