Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Treaty stipulations;
2. Law of preferential application;
3. Principle of international law - diplomatic
Criminal Law. Branch or division of law which defines crimes, treats of their
representatives ie., sovereigns and chiefs of state,
nature, and provides for their punishment. ambassadors, minister plenipotentiary, ministers
Crime. An act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding or resident, charges d'affaires- possess immunity from
commanding it. the criminal jurisdiction of the country and cannot
Sources: be sued, arrested or punished.
1. RPC Act No. 3815 & its amendments; 2. Territorial - criminal laws undertake to punish crimes committed
2. Special penal laws passed by the Phil Commission, Phil Assembly, within the Philippine territory.
Phil Legislature, Nat'l Assembly, Phil Congress, Batasang Pambansa Article 2. The provisions of this code shall be enforced not only within the
3. Penal Presidential Decrees during Martial Law. Philippine Archipelago, including its atmosphere, interior waters and maritime zone,
but also outside of its jurisdiction, against those who:
No common law crimes in the Philippines. 1. Should commit while on the Philippine
Common law - body of principles, usages and rules of action, which do not rest for ship or airship;
their authority upon any express and positive declaration of the will of the 2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or
legislature currency note of the Philippine Islands
or obligations and securities issued by
State. Has the authority under its police power to define and punish crimes and to the Government of the Philippine
lay down the rules of criminal procedure. Islands.
Court decisions are not sources of criminal law, they merely explain the meaning of 3. Should be liable for any acts connected
and apply the law as enacted by the legislature. with the introduction into these islands
Limitations on the power of the lawmaking body to enact penal legislation. of the obligations and securities
1. Ex-post facto law - one which makes criminal an act done before the mentioned in the preceding number;
passage of the law; aggravates a crime when committed; changes the 4. While being public officers or
punishment and inflicts a greater punishment than the law annexed to employees, should commit an offense
the crime when committed in the exercise of their duties;
2. Bill of attainder - automatic conviction without passing through a 5. Should commit any of the crimes
trial against national security and the law of
3. Criminal laws must be of general application and must clearly define nations, defined in the Title One of
the acts and omissions punished as crimes. Book Two of this Code.
3. Prospective - penal law cannot make an act punishable in a manner
Characteristics of Criminal Law. in which it was not punishable when committed.
1. General - criminal law is binding on all persons who live or sojourn Exception: when a new statute dealing with crime establishes conditions more
in the Philippine territory. lenient or favorable to the accuse, it can be given a retroactive effect.
Exception. Exception to the exception
1. Where the new law is
expressly made
inapplicable to existing
causes of action.
2. Offender is a habitual
criminal
Theories of Criminal Law.
1. Classical theory - basis of criminal liability is human free will
and purpose of the penalty is retribution.
2. Positivist theory - man is subdued occasionally by a strange and
morbid phenomenon which constrains him to do wrong, in spite of or
contrary to his volition.
Repealed laws.
1. When the repeal is absolute, the offense ceases to be criminal.
2. When new law and old law penalize the same offense, the
offender can be tried under the old law.
3. When the repealing law fails to penalize the offense under the
old law, the accused cannot be convicted under new law.
4. A person erroneously accused and convicted under a repealed
statute may be punished under the repealing statute.
5. A new law which omits anything contained in the old law
dealing on the same object, operates as a repeal of anything not
so included in the amendatory act.
How are penal laws construed?
Art 10. Doubtful statutes Art 14. Obligatory force of penal laws
In case of doubt in the interpretation and application of laws, it is presumed that
the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail.
Penal laws and those of public safety and security shall be
obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in the Philippine
Where the law is clear, it must be applied according to its unambiguous provisions. territory, subject to the principles of public international law and
If there is ambiguity in the law, interpretation of the law requires fidelity to the to treaty stipulations
legislative purpose.
Art 15. Nationality Rule
Art 11. Customs Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status,
Customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens
shall not be countenanced of the Philippines, even though living abroad.
Art 12 Regardless of where a citizen of the Philippines might be, he or
A custom must be proved as a fact, according to the rules of she will be governed by Philippine with respect to his or family
evidence. rights and duties, or to his or her status, condition, and legal
capacity.
Art 17
Art 16 Law Governing Real Properties The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other public
Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law instruments shall be governed by the laws of the country in
of the country where it is situated. which they are executed.
However, intestate and testamentary succession and to the When the acts referred to are executed before the diplomatic or
amount of successional rights and to the intrinsic validity of consular officials of the Republic of the Philippines in a foreign
testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by the national of country, the solemnities established by the Philippine laws shall
the person whose succession is under consideration, whatever be observed in their execution.
may be the nature of the property and regardless of the country Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or property, and
wherein said property may be found. those which have for their object public order, public policy and
Testamentary succession. When the descendant died with a valid will which must
good customs shall not be rendered ineffective by laws or
be duly allowed by the court. It is essential that there be qualified heirs of the will judgments promulgated, or by determinations of conventions
Intestate succession. Either the descendant died without a will, or he died with a agreed upon in a foreign country.
void or an ineffective will. It is not correct to say that there is intestacy just because
there is no will. In intestacy, a valid could be in existence although it might have lost Extrinsic validity. Law provides that the forms and solemnities of public
its validity or there are no qualified heirs or all designated heirs have refuse the instruments, wills, and contracts shall be governed by the laws of the country where
inheritance. they are executed.
Order of succession. Order in which individuals are expected to succeed one Lex loci celebrationis. The place where the law is contracted.
another in some official position. Formalities of acquisition, encumbering and alienation of property shall however,
Amount of successional rights. Amount of property that each heir is legally entitled be governed not by the lex loci celebrationis but by the lex rei sitae.
to inherit from the estate available for distribution. Acts before diplomatic and consular officials. They are representatives of the state,
Capacity to succeed therefore any act or contract made in a foreign country must conform with the
Intrinsic validity of the provisions of the will. e.g., whether a disinheritance has solemnities under Philippine law. The host country, by rules of international law,
properly been made or not, whether a testamentary disposition can be given effect waives its jurisdiction over the premises of the diplomatic office of another country
or not. located in the said country.
Lex rei sitae - Law where the property is situated. Prohibitive laws. Under our law, prohibitive laws concerning persons shall not be
Renvoi doctrine. Commonly used in conflict of laws. It refers to the application of rendered ineffective by laws or judgment promulgated, or by determinations or
rules of one state by the court or tribunal of another state, in order to solve a conventions agreed upon in a foreign country.
conflict of laws problem.
Art 18 Suppletory Nature.
In matters which are governed by the Code of Commerce and
special laws, their deficiency shall be supplied by the provisions
of this Code.
Any deficiency in the Code of Commerce shall be supplied by the provisions of the
Civil Code.