Criminal Procedure (The Bar Lectures Series) Updated Edition BY Willard B. Riano

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
(THE BAR LECTURES SERIES)

UPDATED EDITION
BY
WILLARD B. RIANO
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
CONSIDERATIONS
I. BASIC CONCEPTS
Concept of criminal procedure
1. Criminal procedure treats of the series of processes by which the criminal laws are enforced and by which the State
prosecutes persons who violate the penal laws. In the clear language of the Court, criminal procedure "regulates the
steps by which one who committed a crime is to be punished"
(People v. Lacson, 400 SCRA 267).
While criminal laws define crimes and prescribe punishment for such
crimes, criminal procedure lays down the processes by which an offender is
made to answer for the violation of the criminal laws.
2. Criminal procedure is "a generic term to describe the network of laws and rules which governs the procedural administration
of justice" (Black’s Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, 1979). The procedure starts with the initial contact of the alleged
lawbreaker with the justice machinery including the investigation of the crime and concludes either with a judgment
exonerating the accused or the final imposition of a penalty against him.
3. The enforcement of the criminal laws of the state inevitably leads to governmental
intrusions into an individual's zones of privacy and how these intrusions can be reconciled
with constitutional and statutory tenets protecting individual rights is an inescapable theme
tackled in criminal procedure. Thus, in the prosecution for the violation of the penal laws,
criminal procedure has the imposing task of balancing clashing societal interests primarily
between those of the government and those of the individual. Hence, a common thread
among innumerable treatises on the subject is the tendency to describe criminal procedure in
relation to its ultimate goal of harmonizing the governmental functions of maintaining and
promoting law and order law while at the same time protecting theconstitutional rights of its
citizens.
The adversarial or accusatorial system
1. The system of procedure in our jurisdiction is accusatorial or adversarial. It contemplates two contending
parties before the court which hears them impartially and renders judgment only after trial (Queto v.
Catolico, 31 SCRA 52)
The system has a two-sided structure consisting of the:

a. prosecution and;
b. the defense
where each side tries to convince the court that its position is the
correct version of the truth.
THE FLOW/PROCESS IN ACCUSATORIAL SYSTEM
1. In this system, the accusation starts with a formal indictment called in our
jurisdiction as a complaint or an information, the allegations of which must be
proven by the government beyond reasonable doubt.
2. The government and the accused present their evidence before the court which shall
decide either on acquittal or conviction of the accused.
3. In its decision-making process, that court shall consider no evidence which has not
been formally offered.
NOTE: The court in this system therefore, has a passive role and relies largely on
the evidence presented by both sides to the action in order to reach a verdict.
ACCUSATORIAL VS INQUISITORIAL SYSTEM
ACCUSATORIAL INQUISITORIAL
court shall consider no evidence which has not been not limited to the evidence presented before it. (formally
formally offered. offered)
relies largely on the evidence presented by both sides to The court utilize evidence gathered outside the court
the action in order to reach a verdict. and;
Passively receiving information or evidence from the a judge or a group of judges under this system actively
parties. participates in the gathering of facts and evidence
In this system, the accusation starts with a formal The judge steers the course of the proceedings by
indictment called in our jurisdiction as a complaint or an directing and supervising the gathering of the evidence
information, the allegations of which must be proven and the questioning of the witnesses to the case.
has a passive role The counsels in the inquisitorial system have a less
active role
Liberal interpretation of the rules
1. The rules on criminal procedure, being parts of the Rules of Court, shall be "liberally construed in order to
promote their objective of securing a just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of every action and
proceeding" (Sec. 6, Rule 1, Rules of Court)
Due process; mandatory

Due process in criminal proceedings is mandatory and indispensable and cannot be met without the proverbial
"law which hears before it condemns and proceeds upon inquiry and renders judgment only after trial." (Quotation
from Albert vs. University Publishing House, G.R. No. L-19118, January 30,1965)
Monte v. Savellano, Jr., 287 SCRA 245, enumerates the requirements of due process in a criminal proceeding,
to wit:
(a) that the court or tribunal trying the case is properly clothed with judicial power to hear and determine the matter
before it;
(b) that jurisdiction is lawfully acquired by it over the person of the accused;
(c) that the accused is given opportunity to be heard; and
(d) that judgment is rendered only upon lawful hearing.

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CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

(THE BAR LECTURES SERIES)

The system has a two-sided structure consisting of the:

Due process; mandatory

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