Republic of the Philippines Title No: Act 3815

Short Title: The Revised Penal

SCHOOL OF LAW Code
UNIVERSITY OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL-RECOLETOS Effectivity: 1 January1932
Lizares Ave, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental Chapter: 2, Justifying
Circumstances
Art: 11
Prepared by: RTColmenares

Justifying Circumstances
Article 11. Justifying circumstances. - The following do not incur any criminal liability:
1. Anyone who acts in defense of his person or rights, provided that the following circumstances concur;
First. Unlawful aggression.
Second. Reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it.
Third. Lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself.
2. Any one who acts in defense of the person or rights of his spouse, ascendants, descendants, or legitimate, natural or adopted brothers or sisters, or his relatives by affinity in the
same degrees and those consanguinity within the fourth civil degree, provided that the first and second requisites prescribed in the next preceding circumstance are present, and the
further requisite, in case the revocation was given by the person attacked, that the one making defense had no part therein.
3. Anyone who acts in defense of the person or rights of a stranger, provided that the first and second requisites mentioned in the first circumstance of this Article are present and that
the person defending be not induced by revenge, resentment, or other evil motive.
4. Any person who, in order to avoid an evil or injury, does not act which causes damage to another, provided that the following requisites are present;
First. That the evil sought to be avoided actually exists;
Second. That the injury feared be greater than that done to avoid it;
Third. That there be no other practical and less harmful means of preventing it.
5. Any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or office.
6. Any person who acts in obedience to an order issued by a superior for some lawful purpose.

Rationale of defense: ground, self-preservation, right

1. Hold your ground [Recent jurisprudence as opposed to the old doctrine of fleeting as far as you can]
2. As an instinct of self-preservation [Classical or Juristic School of Thought]
3. right to defend is an act of social justice [Positivist School of Thought]
[Sec 10, ART II, 1987 Constitution: The State shall promote social justice in all phases of national development.]
[Sec 1, ART. III], 1987 Constitution: No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any
person be denied the equal protection of the laws.]
 Republic of the Philippines Title No: Act 3815
Short Title: The Revised Penal
SCHOOL OF LAW Code
UNIVERSITY OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL-RECOLETOS Effectivity: 1 January1932
Lizares Ave, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental Chapter: 2, Justifying
Circumstances
Art: 11
Prepared by: RTColmenares

Memory Aid: Self [think of umbrella]~Relative [think of Reno liver spread]~Stranger [think of Avril Lavigne]~Necessity
[think of the danger sign]~Duty [think of Prison Break and Mr. Arellano]~Order [think of Emimem Slim Shady] as will be
explained below

Remember: The accused here is invoking defense to justify his act. Accused is thus the defender, and he has actually admitted to the
court that he has committed the act being complained of. He (as represented by his counsel, the defense which is different in context
from defense as a justifying circumstance) therefore has the burden of proving the elements of defense as a justifying circumstance so
that the accused does not incur criminal liability.
1. Art. 11[1]: Self-defense
Elements: UnReLa think of an umbrella
1. ~Un~lawful Agression
2. ~Re~asonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it
3. ~La~ck of sufficient provocation

2. Art. 11[2]: Defense of Relatives: SAD LANBROS RelAFF/CONS [~S~pouses, ~A~scendants, ~D~escendants; ~L~egitimate,
~A~dopted, ~N~atural brothers and sisters; Relatives by ~AFF~inity on the same degree and by ~CONS~anguinity up to the 4th
civil degree]

Remember: Beyond 4th civil degree of consanguinity or same degree of affinity (as in brothers/sisters-in-law) is defense of
strangers [thus proceed to Art 11[3], even if they are still your blood relatives or relatives of your spouse; remember your civil code
on ascendants and descendants? To determine the degree, you find the common ancestor (no common ancestor, then simply
defense of stranger and proceed to Art 11[3] except when they are relatives by affinity on the same degree as in brother/sisters-in-
law) and you start counting the degree from the relative you are claiming to defend up to the forth civil count (whether
going up or down your lineage). Note that since burden of proof is on the defense, you also have to prove that the chart you are
 Republic of the Philippines Title No: Act 3815
Short Title: The Revised Penal
SCHOOL OF LAW Code
UNIVERSITY OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL-RECOLETOS Effectivity: 1 January1932
Lizares Ave, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental Chapter: 2, Justifying
Circumstances
Art: 11
Prepared by: RTColmenares

presenting is indeed correct. (Im not sure there is really an official repository in the civil registry, but this is something our
legislators should already be thinking of).

Let n = whole number pertaining to degrees by consanguinity, n = {0,1,,} initially

X = X | is the relative being defended consisting of the set {X o, X1, X2, , Xn} where X0 = accused, X1 is the relative one
degree higher or lower
Rule: Lim Xn->4 = defense of relative iff n4
If n>4, defense of stranger, proceed to Art 11[3]

Elements: UnReNo think of Reno Liver spread being banned

1. ~Un~lawful Agression
2. ~Re~asonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it (unlawful aggression)
3. ~No~ sufficient provocation on the part of the accused [when provocation is given by person attacked
(relative)

3. Art. 11[3]: Defense of Strangers

Elements: UnReReReMo UnRe3Mo Think of EMO (say Avril Lavigne) and Number 3
 Republic of the Philippines Title No: Act 3815
Short Title: The Revised Penal
SCHOOL OF LAW Code
UNIVERSITY OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL-RECOLETOS Effectivity: 1 January1932
Lizares Ave, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental Chapter: 2, Justifying
Circumstances
Art: 11
Prepared by: RTColmenares

1. ~Un~lawful Agression (Un refers to the X symbol of EMO)

2. ~Re~asonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it (unlawful aggression)
3. ~Re~venge, ~Re~sentment or other evil ~Mo~tive [the person defending is not induced by Re3Mo]

4. Art. 11[4]: State of Necessity

Elements: d~A~n~G~ER think of the word DANGER and extrapolate A, G and ER so that A
stands for avoided, G stands for greater, and for ER, just insert a P and read backwards PRE
to get prevention
1. Evil sought to be ~A~voided actually exists
2. Injury feared by ~G~reater than that done to avoid it
3. No other practical and less harmful means of ~PRE~venting it

5. Art. 11[5]: Fulfillment of Duty

Element: PerCons Think of prison break and Mr. Arellano shooting Michael Scofield who is an
escapee. Is the act of Mr. Arellano justified?
1. Offender acted in the ~Per~formance of duty or the lawful exercise of right or office
2. Injury caused or the offense committed is the necessary ~Cons~equence of the due performance
of such right and office
 Republic of the Philippines Title No: Act 3815
Short Title: The Revised Penal
SCHOOL OF LAW Code
UNIVERSITY OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL-RECOLETOS Effectivity: 1 January1932
Lizares Ave, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental Chapter: 2, Justifying
Circumstances
Art: 11
Prepared by: RTColmenares

6. Art. 11[6]: Obedience to Superior Order

Elements: SLM Slim think of Emimen Slim Shady song
1. An order has been issued by a ~S~uperior (of the accused, person defending himself)
2. The order is for a ~L~egal purpose
3. The ~M~eans used to carry out the order is for a legal purpose