General Principles

Crime is the commission or omission by a person having capacity, of

any act, which is either prohibited or compelled by law and the
commission or omission of which is punishable by a proceeding
brought in the name of the government whose law has been violated.
(Whartons Criminal Law, Vol. 1, p.11)
If the crime is punished by the Revised Penal Code (RPC), it is called a
felony; if by a special law, it is called an offense; and if by an
ordinance, it is called an infraction of an ordinance.
Distinction:

Felonies (RPC)
Offense (Special Law)
1. Criminal liability is based on mens rea or in dolo (deceit) or culpa
(fault).
1. It is enough that the prohibited act was voluntary
perpetrated.
2. Good faith or lack of criminal intent is a valid defense.
2. Good
faith or lack of criminal intent is not a defense.
3. Degree of accomplishment are considered, i.e., frustrated, etc. 3.
Acts give rise to crime only when consummated.
4. Mitigating and aggravating circumstances are taken into account in
imposing the penalty. 4. Mitigating and aggravating circumstances
are not considered.
5. Degree of participation is considered, i.e., accomplice, etc.
5. All
who perpetrated prohibited act are penalized to the same extent.
Characteristics of Criminal Law:

1. Generality

The statutes must apply to all persons within the country, whether
they reside or sojourn or are merely transients, regardless of
nationality, color, sex, age, social position, and other personal
circumstances, except as provided (a) in public international law, (b)
treaty stipulations, and (c) laws of preferential application.
2. Territoriality

It applies only to offenses committed within the territorial jurisdiction

of the country, except those against who:
a. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship.b.
Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency of the Philippines or
obligation and securities issued by the government of the Philippines.c.
Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into the
country of the obligations and securities aforestated.d. While being
public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise
of their functions.e. Should commit any of the crimes against the
national security and the law of nations, e.g., Treason, Espionage,
Piracy. (Art. 2)
Illustration:

Abe, married to Liza, contracted another marriage with Connie in

Singapore. Thereafter, Abe and Connie returned to the Philippines and
lived as husband and wife in the hometown of Abe in Calamba, Laguna.
Can Abe be prosecuted for bigamy? No, Abe may not be prosecuted
for bigamy since the bigamous marriage was contracted or solemnized
in Singapore, thus, the offense was committed outside the territorial
jurisdiction of our country. Such violation is not one of those where the
RPC, under Article 2 thereof, may be applied extraterritorially.
However, Abe and Connie may be prosecuted for concubinage under
Article 334 of the RPC for having cohabited as husband and wife. (Q12,
1994 Bar)
Jurisdiction over crimes committed on board foreign vessels while in
Philippine waters:

a. If the foreign vessel is a warship, our courts have no jurisdiction as

such is an extension of the country to which it belongs and is not
subject to the laws of another state. (US v. Fowler, 1 Phil. 614)
b. If the foreign vessel is a merchant vessel, there are two rules as to
jurisdiction, namely: (1) French rule is that crimes committed on board
are not triable in our country unless those affect the peace and
security of our country, and (2) English rule is that crimes are triable

unless such crimes affect merely the internal management of the

vessel. The English rule is followed in our jurisdiction.
3. Irretrospectivity or Prospectivity
The law does not have any retroactivity effect, except if it favors the
offender unless if he is a habitual delinquent (Art. 22) or the law
otherwise provides. A judicial decision, although by its nature is
prospective in operation may be given retroactive effect in favor of the
offender, since it forms part of the legal system. (Gumabon v. Dir. of
Prisons, 37 SCRA 420)
If a penal law is expressly repealed by another law, the crime is
obliterated, and if there is a pending criminal action at the time of
repeal, the same is to be dismissed. (Ang Beng v. Comm. of
Immigration, 9621, Jan. 30, 1957) If there is merely an implied repeal,
the pending criminal action at the time of the effectivity of the second
law impliedly repealing the first law is not dismissed because the act
punished in the first law is still punished in the second law which
impliedly repeal the former. Hence, implied repeals are also called
repeals by re-enactment. (People v. Purisima, 75 OG 4175) When the
law which expressly repeals a prior law is itself repealed, the law first
repealed shall not be thereby revived unless expressly so provided.
But when a law which repeals by implication a prior law is itself
repealed, the repeal of the repealing law revives the prior law unless
the repealing law provides otherwise.
Theories of Criminal Law: (Q1, 1996 Bar)

Classical Theory Positivist Theory

1. Man is essentially a moral creature with an absolutely free will to
choose between good and evil.
1. Man is subdued occasionally by
a strange and morbid phenomenon which conditions him to do wrong
contrary to his volition.
2. Basic criminal liability is human free will and the purpose of the
penalty is retribution. 2. Crime is essentially a social and moral
phenomenon and penalty is imposed for self-defense.
3. Crime is a juridical entity and the penalty is an evil and a means of
juridical tutelage. 3. Basis of criminal responsibility is his dreadfulness
or dangerous state.
The Revised Penal Code belongs mainly to the Classical Theory.

In Magno v. CA, 96132, June 26, 1992, the Supreme Court, in

acquitting the accused from criminal liability under BP 22 for checks
which bounced, has invoked the Utilitarian theory of Criminal Law
(Protective theory) to the effect that the primary purpose of
punishment under criminal law is the protection of society from actual
and potential wrongdoers. Consistent with this theory, the mala
prohibita principle punishing an offense regardless of malice or criminal
intent, should not be utilized to apply the full harshness of the special
law where the noble objective of the law would be tainted with
materialism and opportunism.
There are no common law crimes in our jurisdiction. The rule is: There
is no crime if there is no law punishing it. If there is no law punishing
an act or omission of which a person is charged, the Court must
dismiss the case. (Art. 5) In fact, customs are not sources of criminal
law.