Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Bioethics
Legal Medicine
Law
o Valid 15 days after publication
o Bill of attainder – punishment without trial
o Principle of extraterritoriality
In treaties
Person who committed a crime in the Philippines will be subjected to
the laws of his own country
o Principle of exterritoriality
International agreements
President of another country commits a crime in the Philippines, he
will have diplomatic immunity
Crime committed outside the country will not be subjected to
Philippine laws
Malum prohibitum: an act is punishable because the law said so
o No need for intent
Malum in se: evil in itself
o There should be intent
Stages in the commission of crimes
o Consummated
o Frustrated: offender performs all acts of execution but felony was not
produced by reason of causes independent of the will of the perpetrator
o Attempted: not all acts of execution were performed due to some cause or
accident other than the offender’s own spontaneous desistance
If no mortal wound: attempted
Circumstances affecting criminal liability
o Exempting
< 15 por > 15 but < 18 and acted without discernment
o Justifying
Defense of self
Defense of relatives: up to 4th civil degree
Defense of stranger
Avoidance of greater injury or evil
Fulfillment of duty or lawful exercise of right or office
Obedience to an order issued for some lawful purpose
Battered women syndrome: at least 2 cycles of acute battering
o Mitigating: does not free offender from criminal liability but reduces the
penalty
1 MC: one penalty lower
2 MC: one degree lower
Ordinary: may be counteracted by an aggravating circumstance
Privileged: cannot be counteracted
Age or minority: if > 15 and < 18 and acted with discernment
Voluntary surrender
o Aggravating
o Alternating
May mitigate or aggravate
Alcoholism
Persons liable for felonies
o Principals
By direct participation
By induction
Masterminds
By indispensable cooperation
If middle man did not know about the plan, not liable
By conspiracy
o Accomplices
Those who cooperate in the execution of the offense by previous or
simultaneous acts
Penalty is one degree lower than principals
o Accessories
Those who, having knowledge of the crime and without having
participated therein as principals or accessories, take part after its
commission by:
Earning profit from a crime or helping the offender earn profit
By concealing or destroying the body or instruments to
prevent discovery
Assisting in the escape of the principal through abuse of his
public functions or whenever the crime is treason, parricide,
murder, or an attempt to take the life of the Chief Executive
or the principal is a habitual crime offender
One deg lower than accomplice, two degrees lower than principal
o Duration of Penalties
Arresto menor: 1 day to 30 days
Arresto mayor: 31 days to 6 mos
Prison correccional: 6 mos and 1 day to 6 years
Prison mayo: 6 years and 1 day to 12 years
Reclusion temporal: 12 years and 1 day to 20 years
Reclusion perpetua: 30 years
Evidence: means, sanctioned by the Rules of court, of ascertaining in a judicial
proceeding, the truth respecting a matter of fact
o Factum probandum: theory or contention
o Factum probans: material evidencing the proposition
Admissibility of evidence
o Relevant to issue (irrelevant)
o Not excluded by the rules of court (incompetent – i.e. improperly obtained)
Types of medical evidence
o Autoptic/real – made known or addressed to the senses of the court
i.e. stolen item
o Testimonial
Ordinary: cannot be asked of opinion
May refuse to answer if privileged communication
o No consent
o Civil case
o Knowledge obtained while attending to px in a
professional capacity
o Info would blacken character of px
Hearsay
o Not admissible
o Except if dying declaration
Expert
o Experimental: corroborated proof to a previously stated opinion or
confirmation of opinion
o Documentary evidence
Best evidence rule
Should be original document
With exceptions
o Physical
Corpus delecti
“body of the crime”
Prohibited drugs, stolen articles, body of victim, instrument
with bloodstains
Associative
Links suspects to the crime
Fingerprints, articles of clothing
Tracing
Assists in locating the suspect
Clinical record of MD showing tx of injuries sustained by
victim during the criminal act
Preservation of evidence
o Photographs, audio, video
Data Privacy Act (RA 10173)
o Sketching
o Mind of witness
Kinds of evidence necessary for convivtion
o Direct evidence
o Circumstantial
Existence of a fact may be inferred as a necessary probable
consequence
Not admissible if standing alone
Weight and sufficiency of evidence
o Criminal cases
Proof beyond reasonable doubt
Moral certainty – degree of proof which produces conviction in an
unprejudiced mind
Not necessarily 100%
o Civil cases
One side greater than the other (preponderance of evidence)
o Administrative
Substantial: more than a mere scintilla of evidence
Medico-legal aspects of physical injury
o Wound: dissolution of the natural continuity of any tissue of the living body
Disruption of anatomic integrity
o Vital reaction: sum total of all rxns to trauma
o Depth of wound
Superficial: restricted to layers of the skin
Deep: beyond the skin