FUNDAMENTAL AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES IN CRIMINAL LAW An ex post facto law is one which:

Criminal law is that branch of law, which defines crimes, treats of their nature, and provides for their
punishment.
Crime – an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding/commanding it.
Sources of criminal or penal laws
1. The Revised Penal Code (RPC) (Act No. 3815) and its amendments;
Principal Parts of Revised Penal Code
a. Articles 1-20 – Principles affecting criminal liability
b. Articles 21-113 – Provisions on penalties including criminal and civil liability
c. Article 114-367 – Felonies defined under the different titles.
2. Special penal laws passed by the Philippine Commission, Philippine Assembly, Philippine
Legislature, National Assembly, the Batasang Pambansa, and Congress of the Philippines;
3. Penal Presidential Decrees issued during Martial Law by President Marcos; and
4. Penal Executive Orders issued during President Corazon Aquino’s term.
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.
To give a law a retroactive application to the prejudice of the accused is to make it an ex post facto
law.
A bill of attainder is a legislative act which inflicts punishment without trial. Its essence is the
substitution of a legislative act for a judicial determination of guilt.
Example: Congress passes a law which authorizes the arrest and imprisonment of communists
without the benefit of a judicial trial.

No common Law crimes in the Philippines Characteristics of Criminal Law

The so-called common law crimes are body of principles, usages and rules of action which do 1. General – the law is binding to all who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory irrespective
not rest for their authority upon any express and positive declaration of the will of the legislature. It is of nationality, gender, age and other personal circumstances. Foreigners who travel or visit the
not recognized in this country, although it is known in the United States and England. Philippines are not exempted from our penal laws.

The Power to define and punish crimes Exemptions:

The State has the authority, under its police power, to define and punish crimes and to lay a. The Following are not subject to the operation of Philippine Criminal Law by virtue of the principles
down the rules of criminal procedure. States, as part of their police power, have a large measure of of public international law.
discretion in creating and defining criminal offenses.
1. Sovereigns and other heads of state
2. Charges d'affaires
3. Ambassadors
Limitations on the power of the lawmaking body to enact penal legislation. 4. Ministers plenipotentiary
5. Ministers resident
Our 1987 Constitution imposes the following limitations: It is a well-established principle of international law that diplomatic representatives possess immunity
from the criminal jurisdiction of the country of their sojourn and cannot be sued, arrested or punished
1. No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted. by the law of that country.
2. No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law.
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b. Treaties or treaty stipulations
- a formally concluded and ratified agreement between countries.
- an example of a treaty or treaty stipulation as an exception to the general application of our
criminal law is the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the USA signed on
February 10, 1998.
Under Article V, “Criminal Jurisdiction,” the American soldiers who violated our laws or
committed a crime are given a special process in Philippine trial. First, while they are being tried under
a Philippine court even for non-bailable heinous crimes, they are taken under the custody of the
Embassy or US authorities. Second, the Philippine court is given only a one-year period to finish
proceedings. Otherwise, US no longer has the duty to present the accused to the court. Third, the VFA
prohibits the trial of American soldiers in the sharia’h court of the ARMM, which is still recognized by
the Philippine constitution.
The primary effect of the agreement is to allow the US military personnel accused of committing
crimes in the Philippines unless the crimes are of particular importance to the Philippines.
2. Territorial – Art 2 of the RPC – Criminal laws undertake to punish crimes committed within
Philippine territory.
Art. 2. Application of its provisions. — Except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential
application, the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only within the Philippine
Archipelago, including its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone, but also outside
of its jurisdiction, against those who:
1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship
2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or obligations
and securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands
3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the obligations
and securities mentioned in the presiding number;
Construction of penal laws
1. Penal laws are strictly construed against the Government and liberally in favor of the accused.
2. In the construction or interpretation of the provisions of the RPC the Spanish text is
controlling, because it was approved by the Spanish legislature in its Spanish text.
Two theories in Criminal Law
1. Classical theory – The basis of criminal liability is human free will and the purpose of the
penalty is retribution. It is endeavoured to establish a mechanical and direct proportion
between crime and penalty, and there is scant regard to the human element.
 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.
NOTE: The RPC is generally governed by this theory.
2. Positivist theory – The basis of criminal liability is the sum of the social, natural and economic
phenomena to which the actor is exposed.
 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.
 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]).

4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of their
functions; or

5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations, defined in
Title One of Book Two of this Code.

3. Prospective – a penal law cannot make an act punishable in a manner in which it was not
punishable when committed.

Exceptions to the prospective application of criminal laws.

Whenever a new statute dealing with crime establishes conditions more lenient or favorable to the
accused, it can be given a retroactive effect. Reason: because our penal laws always favors the accused.
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