What is crim law?

Is a public law that defines crimes, treats their nature and provide for their r espective penalties. Cite the characteristics and exemption thereto Crim law is of: 1. General Application Penal laws binds all persons who live and sojourn in the Philippines regardless of age, sex, personal circumstances, status in life or whether they are national s and aliens or natural and juridical. Exceptions are : persons of preferential application (ambassadors, pres of state s); persons covered by treaties; and in specific instances, members of the Phil A rmed Forces 2. Territorial Penal laws have the force and effect of sovereign application only within the de fined bounds of its territorial jurisdiction, as recognized by the community of nations and international law , except : Phil may exercise its sovereignty even outside its territory on the ff instances : 1. On crimes committed on board of Phil merchant vessels (ship or airship ) 2. On person's who are responsible in counterfeiting and / or is responsible for introduction to the Phil counterfeited Phil currency, coins and other negotiabl e instruments 3. Persons responsible for forging or counterfeiting Phil issued obligations 4. Public officers who are guilty of crimes in excessive exercise of their funct ions 5. Members of foreign defense force in the presence of war 3 . Prospective Gen rule is penal laws should be applied prospectively except retroactivity there of is explicitly provided and if such is favorable to the accused provided furthe r, he is not a habitual delinquent Is there common law in the Phil? Phil constitution imposes the observance of due process in all aspects of govern ment to constituents relations esp in the imposition of penal laws. Phil adheres the principle of nullum crimen nulla poena lege. An act can never considered a crime even though how evil it may seem so long as there is no law defining it an d its nature as crime and correlative punishment is impose thereto. This law oug ht to be written laws enacted by the Phil legislature which passed the legal sta ges of rule making process and not just by common acceptance or observance estab lished by tradition and customs handed by one generation to next. Effectivity of the code Jan 1, 1932 When is crim liability incurred? Crim liability is incurred when 1. Commission of the intended felony 2. Commission of an act different from what is intended 3. Commission of a mala in se act but is impeded to be consummated due to its in herent impossibility or inadequateness of means applied to effectuate the same Differentiate mistake of fact from ignorance of the law: While mistake of fact creates no crim liability , ignorance of the law excuses n o one from the penalties being imposed for infraction thereof. Innocence of the actor is based primarily on his honest belief that the facts ar e correct and his action would have been legal if the same is proven to be true.

On the other hand, intent nor belief is of no importance in ignorance of the law , mere commission of an act creates legal responsibility on the part of the acto r. Is culpa a crime or modality? Cite stages of penalty. Why are they impt? Attempted - the actor commences the felony by overt acts but failed to perform a ll acts required to consummate it by forces other than his own desistance. Consummated - all acts necessary for the commission and completion of the crime is performed thereby, the felony intended or otherwise would naturally result th ereto comes to completion. Frustrated - all acts necessary to complete and consummate a felonious act are p erformed which would naturally deliver the criminal result intended but failed t o be completed due to an intervening cause. No frustrated stage - rape - theft - Estafa May the judge render decision to an act that seems to be morally wrong but no la ws exist prohibiting commission thereof? No. Judges ought to dismiss cases with no applicable legal basis. This is based in t he principle of nullum crimen nulla suprema lege. They can't supplement or subst itute their own wisdom no matter how evil the act is. What is pro reo? Pro reo or Lenity doctrine is the rule being used in the interpretation of penal laws and determination of judgements. Pro reo pertains to the preferential applicability of favorable conditions on th e circumstances involved in the finality of the case install. One that will best suit the accused should be adopted based on the presumption that men are inhere ntly good and must be duly accorded presumption of innocence s guilt is proven b y the used of the quantum of proof required and gathered. Justifying circumstances, enumerate and cite all the respective requisites 1. Self defense ( includes defense of life, liberty, property and limb ) Rationale : based on the natural instinct of man for self preservation Requisites: A) there should be an unlawful aggression B) reasonable means adapted to prevent or repel it C) offended party didn't impose sufficient provocation thereto 2. Defense of relatives ( spouse, ascendants and descendants, rel by affinity in the same degree, leg brothers or sisters and relative by consanguinity up to th e civile degree 3. Defense of strangers 4. State of necessity ( damnum absque injuria ) 5. Obedience to a lawful order

6. Performance or fulfillment of function or exercise of lawful duty/right 7. Battered woman syndrome Case: A, a policeman, while walking along Buendia Avenue on his way home after having relieved from his day's duty, was bumped by a man, running away from a woman who informed everyone of having been snatched with her necklace and summoned his he lp after recognizing his uniform. By instinct, he ran after the man. When he was about to reach him, he pulled and pointed his gun to him, asked him to desist from moving away, surrender. The ma n, however, pushed bystanders towards him to prevent from being caught and shot. A, managed to evade bodies thrown directly to him and one is a child of three y ears old. His concentration was to capture the culprit that he didn't have time to realize that a helpless child was being thrown in the air and landed upside d own on his side and died abruptly. He fired a warning shot, yet, the man continued to escape. Left without alternat ive, he aimed and fired his gun to the man's leg. The man fell down on his feet a nd when A was about to apprehend him, the man grabbed A's gun and fired a shot i n A's heart. Unfortunately, the gun was empty already and didn't fire at all. Re alizing the situation, C, a bystander, hit the man with a wooden chair in the he ad several times. The man died. It turned out that the man chased by A was not h owever the one who snatched the woman's necklace. Questions : 1. Is A liable for the death of the innocent man he chased? Ans . A is liable for the death of the man he chased. His chasing was the proximate ca use of the man's digging for his grave and accordingly, under Art 4 of the RPC, criminal liability is incurred even if the wrongful act done is different from t hat which he intended. He may, however, interpose a defense of mistaken facts , for his chasing that ca uses the death of said man could have been lawful should the facts been correct as he believes them to be. But in lieu of his office, due diligence is expected of him. Should he ensure th e true identity of the robber, the man could still be alive and won't be forced to defend his life. A's failure to act with required prudence in the fulfillment of his duty deprives him of clearance from penal sanctions. His action in chasi ng the man is actually in performance of task of his office. Possible death or h arm would naturally occur if continued desistance from being captured transpire but definitely not directed on an innocent bystander. Because of this, A is not extenuated from criminal liability. He may however, apply for an incomplete fulf illment of duty merely to mitigate his sentence. SC held thatwrongful acts made w hile in the performance of lawful calling is commendable of mitigated penal sanct ion which is one or two degrees lower than the penalty imposed by the law. 2. Are there any justifying or exempting circumstances available for A.? Ans. None. However, incomplete fulfillment of lawful duty is available. It is applied as a privilege mitigating circumstance which has the effect of lessening the de gree of penalty by one or two as imposed by law on the subject crime. 3. If the man didn't die, and was apprehended after the attempt of firing the re volver of A pointed directly to his heart, what if any, is the criminal liabilit y he incurred? Would it constitute an impossible crime? Ans. None. The man is merely acting in defense of his life. Life includes liberty. Th e man acted in defense from being deprived of his freedom. There could be an impossible crime if no other crime which would cover the same

facts is found in the RPC and the performance of act mala in se, shooting A in t he heart, is not a reasonable response to the inherent call for self-preservatio n. In impossible crime, felonious act must be a product of the actor's own free will but due to the inadequateness of the means applied, consummation of which b ecomes impossible. Intent to commit an inherently evil act must be present which should be free from any external and irresistible forces. The attempt to appreh end the man is the irresistible force that directed the man to resort in shootin g A. But since the gun is without load, the shooting being already performed and didn't produce the result intended to be is of no relevance already. No crime n or impossible crime is present thereto. But assuming a felony was involve here, impossible crime would still not be the correct crime to charge for there is still assault to an officer is available. I mpossible crime is a crime of last resort. 4. Is A's action be considered the proximate cause of the death of the three yea r old child.? Or is his failure to exercise due diligence in the situation const itutes liability. Ans. Yes. Should A ensure the identity of the snatcher, he would not have run after t he man, and the man would not have resorted to any sort of defenses for fear of his life, the child could not have been thrown as a weapon against A in the cour se of said defense, and the child could have not been victimized and killed. His undue chasing is the direct, logical and natural cause of the death of said chi ld. His failure to observe the due diligence required of his office constitutes negligence and under Art 365, culpa is a crime in itself and correlatively punis hed. Punishment is not instigated due to the felony committed but because of fai lure to exercise the care expected and required of him. 5. Could C claim the justifying circumstance of defense of stranger after he has killed the man? ans. No. Unlawful aggression on the part of the man already lapsed after the failure to employ a gunshot to A. Without unlawful aggression defense of life will not a pply. Besides means employed by C doesn't justify the necessity required on said situation. Exempting circumstances : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Insanity or imbecility Below 9 yrs old Above 9 to 15 yrs old who acted without discernment Accident (damnum absqueria ) Compulsion of an irresistible force Uncontrollable fear of equal or greater injury Omission of an act required by law due to insuperable cause

Case: A seven year old child found a shotgun underneath the bed of his parents. In an assumption that the gun is just a toy, he went outside the house and show it to his friends. Amazed, Joey, a 15 yr old lad, who were watching the crowd of Nonoy , borrowed the gun and examined it. Unknowingly, he touched the button and unloc ked the gun. suddenly, Joanna, his gf appeared. Jokingly, he pointed the gun to Joana when Nonoy tapped Joey asking for the gun to be returned. Surprised, Joey released the button and the shot gun fired. Joana died instantly with a big hole in her head. Questions : 1. Is there a felony committed? Who can be held liable thereto? Yes. There is a felony which is the untimely death of Joanna. However, there is

no criminal involved. 2. Is Joey criminally liable? No. Joey doesn't incur any criminal liability for the ff reasons: a) minors are exempted from criminal liability under RA 8357 b) there is mistake of fact and no crime could have been incurred should the fac ts are correct as Joey believed that the gun is a mere toy. c) there is no criminal intent to commit a felony and without which voluntarines s and willful execution of the crime doesn't come in. What transpired is pure ac cident. mitigating circumstances: 1. Incomplete justifying and exempting circumstances 2. age 3. Praeter intentionem 4.Sufficient provocation on the part of the offended party 5.Vindication of graver offense 6. Passion or obfuscation 7.voluntary surrender or confession 8. Physical defect that limits his action and relation 9. Mental illness that diminish the use of will power but not totally lacking in determination of consequences of her acts 10. Analogous situationsx