Criminal Law A branch of municipal law which defines crimes, treats of their

nature and provides for their punishment.

Limitations on the power of Congress to enact penal laws (ON)

1.

Must be general in application.

2.

Must not partake of the nature of an ex post facto law.

3.

Must not partake of the nature of a bill of attainder.

4.

Must not impose cruel and unusual punishment or excessive fines.

Characteristics of Criminal Law:

General the law is binding to all persons who reside in the Philippines
Territorial the law is binding to all crimes committed within the National Territory of
the Philippines
Exception to Territorial Application: Instances enumerated under Article 2.

3. Prospective the law does not have any retroactive effect.

Exception to Prospective Application: when new statute is favorable to the accused.

Effect of repeal of penal law to liability of offender

Total or absolute, or partial or relative repeal. As to the effect of repeal of penal

law to the liability of offender, qualify your answer by saying whether the repeal is
absolute or total or whether the repeal is partial or relative only.

A repeal is absolute or total when the crime punished under the repealed law has
been decriminalized by the repeal. Because of the repeal, the act or omission which
used to be a crime is no longer a crime. An example is Republic Act No. 7363, which
decriminalized subversion.

A repeal is partial or relative when the crime punished under the repealed law
continues to be a crime inspite of the repeal. This means that the repeal merely
modified the conditions affecting the crime under the repealed law. The
modification may be prejudicial or beneficial to the offender. Hence, the following
rule:

Consequences if repeal of penal law is total or absolute

(1)
If a case is pending in court involving the violation of the repealed law, the
same shall be dismissed, even though the accused may be a habitual delinquent.

(2)
If a case is already decided and the accused is already serving sentence
by final judgment, if the convict is not a habitual delinquent, then he will be entitled
to a release unless there is a reservation clause in the penal law that it will not
apply to those serving sentence at the time of the repeal. But if there is no
reservation, those who are not habitual delinquents even if they are already serving
their sentence will receive the benefit of the repealing law. They are entitled to
release.

If they are not discharged from confinement, a petition for habeas corpus should be
filed to test the legality of their continued confinement in jail.

If the convict, on the other hand, is a habitual delinquent, he will continue serving
the sentence in spite of the fact that the law under which he was convicted has

already been absolutely repealed. This is so because penal laws should be given
retroactive application to favor only those who are not habitual delinquents.

Consequences if repeal of penal law is partial or relative

(1)
If a case is pending in court involving the violation of the repealed law,
and the repealing law is more favorable to the accused, it shall be the one applied
to him. So whether he is a habitual delinquent or not, if the case is still pending in
court, the repealing law will be the one to apply unless there is a saving clause in
the repealing law that it shall not apply to pending causes of action.

(2)
If a case is already decided and the accused is already serving sentence
by final judgment, even if the repealing law is partial or relative, the crime still
remains to be a crime. Those who are not habitual delinquents will benefit on the
effect of that repeal, so that if the repeal is more lenient to them, it will be the
repealing law that will henceforth apply to them.

Under Article 22, even if the offender is already convicted and serving sentence, a
law which is beneficial shall be applied to him unless he is a habitual delinquent in
accordance with Rule 5 of Article 62.

Consequences if repeal of penal law is express or implied

(1)
If a penal law is impliedly repealed, the subsequent repeal of the repealing
law will revive the original law. So the act or omission which was punished as a
crime under the original law will be revived and the same shall again be crimes
although during the implied repeal they may not be punishable.

(2)
If the repeal is express, the repeal of the repealing law will not revive the
first law, so the act or omission will no longer be penalized.

These effects of repeal do not apply to self-repealing laws or those which have
automatic termination. An example is the Rent Control Law which is revived by
Congress every two years.