Mercado, Zyrin Therese B.

acts and omissions punished in the Revised

LM3-1 | Assign. 1 Penal Code, to distinguish it from the words
"crime" and "offense" which are applied to
infractions ofthe law punished by special
Criminal Law | Atty. Paolo Dimaano
statutes.
Pro Reo Principle Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea
Applicability of Principle - Penal statutes
An act does not make a defendant guilty
should be strictly construed against the State without a guilty mind. [REYES]
only when the law is ambiguous and there is
doubt regarding its interpretation. Where the Utilitarian theory
law is clear and unambiguous, there is no
room for the rule to apply. [People v.
Gatchalian, G.R. No. L- 12011-14 (1958)] Utilitarianism is a theory of morality, which
In dubio pro reo. advocates actions that foster happiness and
opposes actions that cause unhappiness.
Cf. Rule of Lenity- Between two potential Utilitarianism promotes "the greatest amount
interpretations of a penal law, one of good for the greatest number of people."
prejudicial and another favorable, the more
lenient one must be adopted. [Ient v. Tullett,
G.R. No. 189158 (2017)] Sources of criminal law
1. Revised Penal Code (Act No. 3815)
Basis: All doubts shall be construed in favor 2. Special Penal Laws
of the accused and on the presumption of his 3. Penal Presidential Decrees issued
innocence [Art. III, Sec. 14(2), 1987 during Martial Law
Constitution] 4. Local Ordinances
An ordinance is a local law of a
 Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege municipal corporation, duly enacted by
the proper authorities, prescribing
There is no criminal liability if the act is not general, uniform and permanent rules of
punishable by a particular provision in penal law conduct relating to the corporate powers
or special penal law. There is no crime when of the municipality. A simple or ordinary
there is no law punishing it. [Potenciano ordinance, as opposed to a charter
Evangelista v. People, G.R. Nos. 108135-36, ordinance, is used to effect most local
14 (2000)] legislative actions.  In contrast,
resolutions are generally less permanent
"Punishable by law."- This is the other enactments than ordinances. A resolution
element of a felony. This is based upon the ordinarily denotes something less
maxim, "nullum crimen, nulla poena sine solemn or formal than, or not rising to
lege," that is, there is no crime where there the dignity of, an ordinance.
is no law punishing it.
Limitations in creating penal laws
The phrase "punished by law" should be
understood to mean "punished by the
Criminal statutes also need to be
Revised Penal Code" and not by a special
law. That is to say, the term "felony" means understandable to persons of ordinary
intelligence. If a reasonable person cannot
determine what a law is trying to command
or prohibit, that law will be struck down as
being void for vagueness.

Rights of the accused | Constitutional rights

of the accused.
 Criminal law has three main characteristics:
Article III, Bill of Rights, of the 1987 (1) general, (2) territorial, and (3)
Constitution provides for the following prospective.
rights:
I. GENERAL
in that criminal law is binding on all persons
who live or sojourn in Philippine territory.
(Art. 14, new Civil Code)
In a case where the accused contended that
being an American citizen, he cannot be
prosecuted for, much less convicted of, the
crime of illegal possession of firearms,
because it is a constitutional right of the
citizens of the United States of America "to
keep and bear arms" without any need of
applying and securing a government license
therefor, the Court of Appeals held:
"The Philippines is a sovereign state with
the obligation and the right of every
government to uphold its laws and maintain
order within its domain, and with the general
jurisdiction to punish persons for offenses
committed within its territory, regardless of
the nationality.

CRIMINAL LAW IN GENERAL

Characteristics of Criminal Law of the

offender. (Salonga and Yap, Public
International Law, p. 169)

No foreigner enjoys in this country extra-

territorial right to be exempted from its laws
and jurisdiction, with the exception of heads
of states and diplomatic representatives who,
by virtue of the customary law of nations,
are not subject to the Philippine territorial
jurisdiction." (People vs. Galacgac, C.A., 54
O.G. 1027)
Characteristics of criminal law
As a general rule, the jurisdiction of the civil
courts is not affected by the military
character of the accused.

Construction of penal laws

1. Penal laws are strictly construed against

the Government and liberally in favor of the
accused. (U.S. vs. Abad Santos, 36 Phil.
243; People vs. Yu Hai, 99 Phil. 728) The
rule that penal statutes should be strictly
construed against the State may be invoked
only where the law is ambiguous and there
is doubt as to its interpretation. Where the
law is clear and unambiguous, there is no
room for the applica- tion of the rule.
(People vs. Gatchalian, 104 Phil. 664)

2. In the construction or interpretation of the

provisions of the Revised Penal Code, the
Spanish text is controlling because it was
approved by the Philippine Legislature in its
Spanish text.

No person should be brought within

the terms of criminal statutes who is not
clearly within them, nor should any act be
pronounced criminal which is not clearly
made so by the statute.