FUNDAMENTALS

OF
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
I. DEFINITION OF TERMS:
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
- It is a legal inquiry by virtue of a complaint to follow up, examine, trace, track, and search, step
by step by patient and meticulous observation, the fact of the commission of the crime , the identity of
the actors and the circumstances attendant thereto, by careful evaluation of all available evidences to
the end that violators of law be brought to the bar of justice and the innocent be relieved there from.

I. DEFINITION OF TERMS:
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
- It is the action taken by the law enforcers after the arrest of the offender or upon the written
complaint of the offended party so that the perpetrator may be held liable for the crime he has
committed before the bar of justice.
CRIME INVESTIGATION

- It is a lawful, clandestine, intelligence, and detective work to gather information and evidences
to determine with certainty the commission of the crime, the identity of the perpetrators thereof, and
as may be necessary to arrest the culprit under those circumstances as authorized by law.
CRIME
-Acts or omission in violation of public law commanding or prohibiting it, committed
without defense or justification and sanctioned by law as a felony or
misdemeanor. (legal)
-Is an act which the group regards as sufficiently menacing the fundamental interest in
order to justify the formal reaction of restraining the violator. (social)

CRIME
- A crime is the commission or omission of any act, which is prohibited or required by the penal
code of an organized political state, to which some punishment or sanction is attached.
Classifications
Felony
-Punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year in a state prison.
Misdemeanor
-Punishable by fine and/or imprisonment for up to one year in a local or county jail.
Infraction or Violation
-Minor offenses punishable by a fine only.
FELONY
-Acts or omission in violation of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines
OFFENSE
-Acts of omission in violation of Special Penal Law or Statute
ACTS
-Pertains to the bodily movements tending to produce some effects.
-It is a process by which the individual puts his organism in motion in order to produce a
change in the physical world. (It does not include internal act)

OVERT ACT
 -It is an outward act done, in pursuant and manifestation of a criminal intent or design , or
an act which manifest criminal intention and tends towards the accomplishment of a criminal
object
INTENT
-It is the conscious malice that taints the act with criminality. Or in layman’s term
“purpose”.
MOTIVE
-It is the moving power which impels one to act for a definite result. It is not an element of a
felony, but it becomes important when the identity of the felon has not been clearly
established. (Circumstantial Evidence)
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR
-The person who is charged with the duty of carrying out the objectives of criminal
investigation to identify and located the offender and provide evidence for his guilt
DOLO
-If the act or omission is voluntary and malicious
CULPA
-If the act or omission is voluntary but not malicious
MALA IN SE
-Immoral or bad in the very essence
MALA PROHIBITA
-Bad act because there is a law prohibiting the act.
COMPLAINT
-A written sworn statement charging a person of an offense subscribed by the offended party,
any peace officer charged with the enforcement of the law violated
II. KINDS OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
Investigation while the suspect is under arrest and detention
Investigation while the suspect is at large. (not under arrest)
III. THREE FOLD-AIM OR OBJECTIVES
OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
1. To identify the guilty party
2. To locate the guilty party or offender
3. To provide adequate evidence to prove his guilt
IV. PRINCIPLES IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
1. The criminal investigator must be guided with the cardinal points in criminal investigation. (5
WS & 1H)
2. A person is innocent unless proven otherwise
3. It is better that a guilty person went scot-free than an innocent man be hanged
V. APPROACHES TO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
1. Criminal investigation must necessarily proceed as a legal inquiry by virtue of a complaint based
on given sets of facts, after the commission of an act or omission of a duty.
2. The act or omission subject matter of criminal investigation “must be a felony or an offense
punishable by law”.
3. As a general rule, criminal investigation is not concerned with the arrest of the felon.
4. The process of criminal investigation requires “patient and meticulous observation step by step
to establish the fact of the commission of a felony and the circumstances attendant thereto, and
evaluation of evidences to bring the culprit to the bar of justice or the innocent will be relieved
there from.
VI. BASIC GUIDES TO ESTABLISH INCRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
1. That a crime had in fact been committed
2. The factual and legal reasons for imputing into a person or persons the crime committed
3. The commission or omission of the specific act constituting a felony or crime as defined under
the revised penal code or the specific act constituting a crime or offense punishable by special
statutes.
4. All the essential elements of the felony or crime defined by the code or by special penal statutes
must be present.
5. The criminal action imputed against the offender has not yet prescribed.
6. The identity and location of the suspect