CRIMINAL LAW BOOK

TOPIC 01 : WHAT IS THE EXTENT OF PHILIPPINE

TERRITORY FOR PURPOSES OF CRIMINAL LAW?

One of the general characteristics of criminal law is territoriality, which means that penal laws of the
Philippines are enforceable only within its territory. [3] The Constitution provides that: This is the extent
of the Philippine territory as far as the Revised Penal Code is concerned.
Preliminary Title
DATE OF EFFECTIVENESS AND APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THIS CODE
Article 1. Time when Act takes effect. — This Code shall take effect on the first day of January, nineteen
hundred and thirty-two.
Art. 2. Application of its provisions. — Except as provided in the treaties and laws of preferential
application, the provisions of this Code shall be enforced not only within the Philippine Archipelago,
including its atmosphere, its interior waters and maritime zone, but also outside of its jurisdiction, against
those who:

1. Should commit an offense while on a Philippine ship or airship

2. Should forge or counterfeit any coin or currency note of the Philippine Islands or obligations and
securities issued by the Government of the Philippine Islands;
3. Should be liable for acts connected with the introduction into these islands of the obligations and
securities mentioned in the presiding number;
4. While being public officers or employees, should commit an offense in the exercise of their functions;
or
5. Should commit any of the crimes against national security and the law of nations, defined in Title One
of Book Two of this Code.
 TOPIC 02: TERMS AND DEFINITIONS.
Definition of Terms
Abberatio Ictus – mistake in blow.
What is the legal effect of aberratio ictus?
a. may result in complex crime or two felonies
b. if complex, apply Art. 48 - penalty for the more or most serious crime in its maximum period.

Absolutory Causes - where the act committed is a crime but for some reason of public policy and
sentiment, there is no penalty imposed. Exempting and justifying circumstances are absolutory causes.

Accomplices - Persons who do not act as principals but cooperate in the execution of the offense by
previous and simultaneous acts, which are not indispensable to the commission of the crime. They act as
mere instruments that perform acts not essential to the perpetration of the offense.

Act – an overt or external act. Any bodily movement tending to produce some effect in the external
world.

Actus Me Invito Factus Non Est Meus Actus – Any act done by me against my will is not my act.

Agent - subordinate public officer charged w/ the maintenance of public order and protection and security
of life and property.

Aggravating Circumstances - Those which, if attendant in the commission of the crime, serve to have the
penalty imposed in its maximum period provided by law for the offense or those that change the nature of
the crime.
Generic - those which apply to all crimes.
Specific - those which apply only to specific crimes.
Qualifying - those that change the nature of the crime.

Inherent - which of necessity accompany the commission of the crime, therefore not considered in
increasing the penalty to be imposed.
Special - those which arise under special conditions to increase the penalty of the offense and cannot be
offset by mitigating circumstances.
Alternative Circumstances – Those which must be taken into consideration as aggravating or mitigating
according to the nature and effects of the crime and the other conditions attending its commission.
Amnesty – is an act of the sovereign power granting oblivion or general pardon. It wipes all traces and
vestiges of the crime but does not extinguish civil liability.
Astucia – (Craft) involved the use of intellectual trickery or cunning on the part of the accused. A
chicanery resorted to by the accused to aid in the execution of his criminal design. It is employed as a
scheme in the execution of the crime.
Bill Of Attainder – A legislative act which inflicts punishment without trial.

Characteristics of Criminal Law

1. General 3. Prospective
2. Territorial

Circumstances That Affect Criminal Liability

1. Justifying circumstances 4. Aggravating circumstances
2. Exempting circumstances 5. Alternative circumstances
3. Mitigating circumstances

Commutation – change in the decision of the court by the chief regarding the degree of the penalty by
decreasing the length of the imprisonment or fine.
Consummated Felonies - when all the elements necessary for its execution and accomplishment are
present.
Continued Crime – refers to a single crime consisting of a series of acts but all arising from one criminal
resolution. Although there is a series of acts, there is only one crime committed, so only one penalty shall
be imposed.
Crime – acts and omissions punishable by any law.
Criminal law - A branch of municipal law which defines crimes, treats of their nature and provides for
their punishment.

The Following are not subject to the operation of Philippine Criminal Law
1. Sovereigns and other heads of state
2. Charges d'affaires
 3. Ambassadors
4. Ministers plenipotentiary
5. Ministers resident

Cruelty – there is cruelty when the culprit enjoys and delights in making his victim suffer slowly and
gradually, causing unnecessary physical pain in the consummation of the criminal act.
Degree – one whole penalty, one entire penalty or one unit of the penalties enumerated in the graduated
scales provided for in Art. 71
Despoblado – (Uninhabited Place) one where there are no houses at all, a place at a considerable distance
from town, where the houses are scattered at a great distance from each other.
Discernment - the mental capacity to fully appreciate the consequences of the unlawful act, which is
shown by the manner the crime was committed and the conduct of the offender after its commission.
Disfraz (Disguise) – resorting to any device to conceal identity.
Duress - use of violence or physical force.
Dwelling - must be a building or structure exclusively used for rest and comfort (combination of house
and store not included), may be temporary as in the case of guests in a house or bedspacers. It includes
dependencies, the foot of the staircase and the enclosure under the house.
El que es causa de la causa es causa del mal causado - Spanish maxim which means: "He who is the cause
of the cause is the cause of the evil caused.
En Cuadrilla – (Band) whenever there are more than 3 armed malefactors that shall have acted together in
the commission of an offense.
Entrapment - ways and means are resorted to for the purpose of trapping and capturing the lawbreaker in
the execution of his criminal plan.
Error in personae – mistake in identity.
What is the legal effect of error in personae?
a. if same crime results, liable for the same crime
b. if different crime results, apply Art. 49 - penalty for lesser crime in its maximum period
Exempting Circumstances - grounds for exemption from punishment because there is wanting in the
agent of the crime any of the conditions which make the act voluntary or negligent.
Ex Post Facto Law - An act which when committed was not a crime, cannot be made so by statute
without violating the constitutional inhibition as to ex post facto laws.
Felonies – acts and omissions punishable by the Revised Penal Code.
Fence – is a person who commits the act of fencing. A fence who receives stolen property as above-
provided is not an accessory but a principal in the crime defined in and punished by the Anti-Fencing
Law.
Fencing – is an act, with intent to gain, of buying, selling, receiving, possessing, keeping, or in any other
manner dealing in anything of value which a person knows or should have known to be derived from the
proceeds of the crime of robbery or theft.
Fraud (fraude) – insidious words or machinations used to induce the victim to act in a manner which
would enable the offender to carry out his design.
Good conduct allowance during confinement – Deduction for the term of sentence for good behavior.
Habitual Delinquency or Multi-recidivism – Where a person within a period of ten years from the date of
his release or last conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical injuries, robbery, theft,
estafa or falsification, is found guilty of the said crimes a third time or oftener. This is an extraordinary
aggravating circumstance.
Habitual Delinquent - A person who, within a period of ten years from the date of his release or last
conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical injuries, robbery, theft, estafa, or falsification,
is found guilty of any said crimes a third time or oftener.
Ignominy – is a circumstance pertaining to the moral order, which adds disgrace and obloquy to the
material injury caused by the crime.
Imbecile - one while advanced in age has a mental development comparable to that of children between 2
and 7 years old. He is exempt in all cases from criminal liability.
Insane - one who acts with complete deprivation of intelligence/reason or without the least discernment or
with total deprivation of freedom of will. Mere abnormality of the mental faculties will not exclude
imputability.
Instigation - Instigator practically induces the would-be accused into the commission of the offense and
himself becomes a co-principal.
Insuperable Clause - some motive, which has lawfully, morally or physically prevented a person to do
what the law commands.
Irresistible Force - The offender uses violence or physical force to compel another person to commit a
crime.
Justifying Circumstances - where the act of a person is in accordance with law such that said person is
deemed not to have violated the law.
Mala In Se - acts or omissions that are inherently evil.
Mala Prohibita - acts made evil because there is a law prohibiting it.
Misdemeanor - a minor infraction of law.
Mistake of Fact - misapprehension of fact on the part of the person who caused injury to another. He is
not criminally liable.
Mitigating Circumstances - those which if present in the commission of the crime reduces the penalty of
the crime but does not erase criminal liability nor change the nature of the crime.
Motive - it is the moving power which impels one to action for a definite result.
Nullum Crimen, Nulla Poena Sine Lege – There is no crime when there is no law punishing it.
Obscuridad – (Night time) that period of darkness beginning at the end of dusk and ending at dawn.
Offense - a crime punished under special law.
Omission – failure to perform a duty required by law.
Pardon – an act of grace proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of laws, which exempts
the individual from the punishment the law inflicts for the crime.
Parole – consists in the suspension of the sentence of a convict after serving the minimum term of the
indeterminate penalty, without granting pardon, prescribing the terms upon which the sentence shall be
suspended. In case his parole conditions are not observed, a convict may be returned to the custody and
continue to serve his sentence without deducting the time that elapsed.
Penalty – suffering inflicted by the State for the transgression of a law.
Period – one of 3 equal portions, min/med/max of a divisible penalty. A period of a divisible penalty
when prescribed by the Code as a penalty for a felony, is in itself a degree.
Person In Authority - public authority, or person who is directly vested with jurisdiction and has the
power to govern and execute the laws.
Plurality Of Crimes – consists in the successive execution by the same individual of different criminal
acts upon any of which no conviction has yet been declared.
Praetor Intentionem - lack of intent to commit so grave a wrong.

What is the legal effect of praeter intentionem?

- a mitigating circumstance (Art. 13, par. 3)

Prescription Of A Crime – is the loss/forfeiture of the right of the state to prosecute the offender after the
lapse of a certain time.
Prescription Of Penalty - means the loss/forfeiture of the right of the government to execute the final
sentence after the lapse of a certain time.
Probation - a disposition under which a defendant after conviction and sentence is released subject to
conditions imposed by the court and to the supervision of a probation officer.
Pro Reo - whenever a penal law is to be construed or applied and the law admits of two interpretations,
one lenient to the offender and one strict to the offender, that interpretation which is lenient or favorable
to the offender will be adopted.
Proximate Cause - the cause, which in the natural and continuous sequence unbroken by any efficient
intervening cause, produces the injury, without which the result would not have occurred.
Quasi-Recidivism – Where a person commits a felony before beginning to serve or while serving a
sentence on a previous conviction for a felony. This is a special aggravating circumstance.
RA 75 - This law penalizes acts which would impair the proper observance by the Republic and its
inhabitants of the immunities, rights, and privileges of duly-accredited foreign diplomatic representatives
in the Philippines.
Rank - The designation or title of distinction used to fix the relative position of the offended party in
reference to others (There must be a difference in the social condition of the offender and the offended
party).
Recidivism – Where a person, on separate occasions, is convicted of two offenses embraced in the same
title in the RPC. This is a generic aggravating circumstance.
Recidivist – one who at the time of his trial for one crime, shall have been previously convicted by final
judgment of another crime embraced in the same title of the RPC.
Reiteracion or Habituality – Where the offender has been previously punished for an offense to which the
law attaches an equal or greater penalty or for two crimes to which it attaches a lighter penalty. This is a
generic aggravating circumstance.

Requisites of Dolo or Malice

1. Freedom
2. Intelligence
3. Intent

Requisites of Culpa
1. Freedom
2. Intelligence
3. Negligence, Imprudence, Lack of Foresight, Lack of Skill

Negligence - it indicates a deficiency of perception; failure to pay proper attention and to use diligence in
foreseeing the injury or damage impending to be caused; usually involves lack of foresight.
Imprudence - it indicates a deficiency of action; failure to take the necessary precaution to avoid injury to
person or damage to property; usually involves lack of skill.

Rules on jurisdiction over private or merchant vessels while in the territory of another country
1. French Rule
2. English Rule
Stand Ground When in The Right - the law does not require a person to retreat when his assailant is
rapidly advancing upon him with a deadly weapon.

Stages In The Execution Of A Crime

1. Attempted Stage - a stage in the execution of a crime where the offender commences commission of a
felony directly by over acts, and does NOT perform all acts of execution which should produce the felony
by reason of some cause or accident other his spontaneous desistance.
2. Frustrated Stage - a stage in the execution of a crime where the offender performs all the acts of
execution which would produce the felony as a consequence but which, nevertheless, do not produce it
due to some cause independent of the will of the perpetrator.
3. Consummated Stage - a stage in the execution of a crime where all the elements necessary for its
execution and accomplishment are present.

Treachery – when the offender commits any of the crimes against the person, employing means, methods
or forms in the execution thereof which tend directly and especially to ensure its execution without risk to
himself arising from the defense which the offended party might make.
Uncontrollable Fear - offender employs intimidation or threat in compelling another to commit a crime.
Unlawful Entry - when an entrance is effected by a way not intended for the purpose.
Youthful offender – over 9 but under 18 at the time of the commission of the offense.

LO 2: A) FELONIES
B) CONSPIRACY AND PROPOSAL TO COMMIT
FELONIES.

TOPIC 01: CLASSIFICATION OF FELONIES AS TO MODES OF COMMISSION,

STAGES OF EXECUTION AND GRAVITY.

CLASSIFICATION OF FELONIES AS TO MODES OF COMMISSION, STAGES OF

EXECUTION
ARTICLE 6. Stages in the commission of a crime (RPC)
I. Introduction: Generation of a Crime
A. The first is the Mental Stage
General Rule: Mental acts such as thoughts, ideas, opinions and beliefs, are not subject of penal
legislations. One may express an idea which is contrary to law, morals or is unconventional, but as long
as he does not act on them or induce others to act on them, such mental matters are outside the realm of
penal law and the person may not be subjected to criminal prosecution.

CLASSIFICATION OF FELONIES AS TO MODES OF COMMISSION, STAGES OF

EXECUTION
ARTICLE 6. Stages in the commission of a crime (RPC)
I. Introduction: Generation of a Crime
A. The first is the Mental Stage
General Rule: Mental acts such as thoughts, ideas, opinions and beliefs, are not subject of penal
legislations. One may express an idea which is contrary to law, morals or is unconventional, but as long
as he does not act on them or induce others to act on them, such mental matters are outside the realm of
penal law and the person may not be subjected to criminal prosecution.

B. The Second: The External Stage which is where the accused performs acts which are observable
1). The Preparatory acts: Acts which may or may not lead to the commission of a concrete crime. Being
equivocal they are not as rule punishable except when there is an express provision of law punishing
specific preparatory acts.
Example: (i) the general rule: buying of a gun, bolo or poison, even if the purpose is to use these to kill a
person; so also with conspiracies and proposals. (ii) the exception: possession of picklocks and false keys
is punished; as with conspiracies to commit treason, rebellion, sedition and coup d’etat .
2) The Acts of execution: the attempted, frustrated and consumated stages

II. Application of Article 6:

Only to intentional felonies by positive acts but not to: (i). Felonies by omission (ii) Culpable felonies and
(iii) Violations of special laws, unless the special law provides for an attempted or frustrated stage.
Examples of the exception are The Dangerous Drugs Law which penalizes an attempt to violate some of
its provisions, and The Human Security Act of 2007
III. The attempted stage:
"the accused commences the commission of a felonious act directly by overt acts but does not perform all
the acts of execution due to some cause or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance”
A).(1). The attempt which the Penal Code punishes is that which has a connection to a particular, concrete
offense, that which is the beginning of the execution of the offense by overt acts of the perpetrator,
leading directly to the its realization and commission (2) The act must not be equivocal but indicates a
clear intention to commit a particular and specific felony. Thus the act of a notorious criminal in
following a woman can not be the attempted stage of any felony.

B). Overt or external act is some physical deed or activity, indicating the intention to commit a particular
crime, more than a mere planning or preparation, which if carried out to is complete termination
following its natural course, without being frustrated by external obstacles nor by the voluntary desistance
of the perpetrator, will logically and necessarily ripen into a concrete offense.
IV. The Frustrated Stage:
the accused has performed all the acts of execution necessary to produce the felony but the crime is not
produced by reason of causes independent of the will of the accused.
A. The accused has passed the subjective phase and is now in the objective phase, or that portion in the
commission of the crime where the accused has performed the last act necessary to produce the intended
crime and where he has no more control over the results of his acts.

B. The non-production of the crime should not be due to the acts of the accused himself, for if it were he
would be liable not for the frustrated stage of the intended crime, but possibly for another offense.
Thus: where the accused shot the victim mortally wounding him, but he himself saved the life of his
victim, his liability is that for serious physical injuries as the intent to kill is absent.

V. Consummated.
When all the elements of the crime are present whether it be the intended crime or a different crime
 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND FELONIES ( 1 )
The student’s must be able to :
1. Know the meaning of Criminal Law;
2. Understand the Legal Basis of Punishment;
3. Know the Power to Enact Penal Laws;
4. Know the Limitations on the power of Congress to enact penal laws;
5. Know the Characteristics of Criminal Law: (G.T.P.);
6. Understand the Exceptions to general application of criminal law;
7. Understand the Exception to Territorial Application;
8. Understand the The Archipelagic Rule;
9. Exception to Prospective Application;
10. Understand the Theories of Criminal Law;
11. Know the Sources of Criminal Law; and
12. Know the BASIC MAXIMS IN CRIMINAL LAW.
Criminal Law – A branch of municipal law which defines crimes, treats of their nature and provides for
their punishment.
Legal Basis of Punishment
The power to punish violators of criminal law comes within the police power of the state. It is the injury
inflicted to the public which a criminal action seeks to redress, and not the injury to the individual. The
objective of the punishment is two-fold: absolute and relative. The absolute theory is to inflict punishment
as a form of retributive justice. It is to destroy wrong in its effort to annihilate right, to put an end to the
criminal activity of the offender.
On the other hand, the relative theory purports to prevent the offender from further offending public right
or to the right to repel an imminent or actual aggression, exemplary or by way of example to others not to
follow the path taken by the offender and ultimately for reformation or to place him under detention to
teach him the obligations of a law-abiding citizen.

Power to Enact Penal Laws

Only the legislative branch of the government can enact penal laws. While the President may define and
punish an act as a crime, such exercise of power is not executive but legislative as he derives such power
from the lawmaking body. It is in essence, an exercise of legislative power by the Chief Executive.

Limitations on the power of Congress to enact penal laws

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: (G.T.P.)

1. General – the law is binding to all persons who reside in the Philippines
Generality of criminal law means that the criminal law of the country governs all persons within
the country regardless of their race, belief, sex, or creed. However, it is subject to certain
exceptions brought about by international agreement. Ambassadors, chiefs of states and other
diplomatic officials are immune from the application of penal laws when they are in the country
where they are assigned.
Note that consuls are not diplomatic officers. This includes consul-general, vice-consul or any consul in a
foreign country, who are therefore, not immune to the operation or application of the penal law of the
country where they are assigned. Consuls are subject to the penal laws of the country where they are
assigned.
It has no reference to territory. Whenever you are asked to explain this, it does not include territory. It
refers to persons that may be governed by the penal law
Exceptions to general application of criminal law:
a) principles of public international law
b) treaties or treaty stipulations
c) laws of preferential application
2. 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.
Territoriality means that the penal laws of the country have force and effect only within its territory. It
cannot penalize crimes committed outside the same. This is subject to certain exceptions brought about by
international agreements and practice. The territory of the country is not limited to the land where its
sovereignty resides but includes also its maritime and interior waters as well as its atmosphere.
Terrestrial jurisdiction is the jurisdiction exercised over land. Fluvial jurisdiction is the jurisdiction
exercised over maritime and interior waters. Aerial jurisdiction is the jurisdiction exercised over the
atmosphere.

The Archipelagic Rule

All bodies of water comprising the maritime zone and interior waters abounding different islands
comprising the Philippine Archipelago are part of the Philippine territory regardless of their breadth,
depth, width or dimension.

What Determines Jurisdiction in a Criminal Case?

1. Place where the crime was committed;
2. The nature of the crime committed; and
3. The person committing the crime.
3. Prospective (Prospectivity)– the law does not have any retroactive effect.
Exception to Prospective Application: when new statute is favorable to the accused.
This is also called irretrospectivity.
Acts or omissions will only be subject to a penal law if they are committed after a penal law had already
taken effect. Vice-versa, this act or omission which has been committed before the effectivity of a penal
law could not be penalized by such penal law because penal laws operate only prospectively.
Effect of repeal of penal law to liability of offender
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.

Theories of Criminal Law

1. Classical Theory – Man is essentially a moral creature with an absolute free will to choose between
good and evil and therefore more stress is placed upon the result of the felonious act than upon the
criminal himself.
The purpose of penalty is retribution. The offender is made to suffer for the wrong he has done.
There is scant regard for the human element of the crime. The law does not look into why the offender
committed the crime. Capital punishment is a product of this kind of this school of thought. Man is
regarded as a moral creature who understands right from wrong. So that when he commits a wrong, he
must be prepared to accept the punishment therefore.
2. Positivist Theory – Man is subdued occasionally by a strange and morbid phenomenon which
conditions him to do wrong in spite of or contrary to his volition.
(Crime is essentially a social and natural phenomenon)
The purpose of penalty is reformation. There is great respect for the human element because the offender
is regarded as socially sick who needs treatment, not punishment. Crimes are regarded as social
phenomena which constrain a person to do wrong although not of his own volition
Eclectic or Mixed Philosophy
This combines both positivist and classical thinking. Crimes that are economic and social and nature
should be dealt with in a positivist manner; thus, the law is more compassionate. Heinous crimes should
be dealt with in a classical manner; thus, capital punishment.

Sources of Criminal Law

1. The Revised Penal Code
2. Special Penal Laws – Acts enacted of the Philippine Legislature punishing offenses or omissions.

Construction of Penal Laws

1. Criminal Statutes are liberally construed in favor of the offender. This means that no person shall be
brought within their terms who is not clearly within them, nor should any act be pronounced criminal
which is not clearly made so by statute.
2. The original text in which a penal law is approved in case of a conflict with an official translation.
3. Interpretation by analogy has no place in criminal law

BASIC MAXIMS IN CRIMINAL LAW

Doctrine of Pro Reo
Whenever a penal law is to be construed or applied and the law admits of two interpretations – one lenient
to the offender and one strict to the offender – that interpretation which is lenient or favorable to the
offender will be adopted.
This is in consonance with the fundamental rule that all doubts shall be construed in favor of the accused
and consistent with presumption of innocence of the accused. This is peculiar only to criminal law.

Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege

There is no crime when there is no law punishing the same. This is true to civil law countries, but not to
common law countries.
Because of this maxim, there is no common law crime in the Philippines. No matter how wrongful, evil or
bad the act is, if there is no law defining the act, the same is not considered a crime.
Common law crimes are wrongful acts which the community/society condemns as contemptible, even
though there is no law declaring the act criminal.
Not any law punishing an act or omission may be valid as a criminal law. If the law punishing an act is
ambiguous, it is null and void.
Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea
The act cannot be criminal where the mind is not criminal. This is true to a felony characterized by dolo,
but not a felony resulting from culpa. This maxim is not an absolute one because it is not applied to
culpable felonies, or those that result from negligence.

Utilitarian Theory or Protective Theory

The primary purpose of the punishment under criminal law is the protection of society from actual and
potential wrongdoers. The courts, therefore, in exacting retribution for the wronged society, should direct
the punishment to potential or actual wrongdoers, since criminal law is directed against acts and
omissions which the society does not approve. Consistent with this theory, the mala prohibita principle
which punishes an offense regardless of malice or criminal intent, should not be utilized to apply the full
harshness of the special law.
 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES AND FELONIES ( 2 )
The student’s must be able to:
1. Understand the distinction between MALA IN SE AND MALA PROHIBITA;
2. Know the Distinction between crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code and crimes punished
under special laws; and
3. Know the Test to determine if violation of special law is malum prohibitum or malum in se ;

MALA IN SE AND MALA PROHIBITA

Violations of the Revised Penal Code are referred to as malum in se, which literally means, that the act is
inherently evil or bad or per se wrongful. On the other hand, violations of special laws are generally
referred to as malum prohibitum.
Note, however, that not all violations of special laws are mala prohibita. While intentional felonies are
always mala in se, it does not follow that prohibited acts done in violation of special laws are always mala
prohibita. Even if the crime is punished under a special law, if the act punished is one which is inherently
wrong, the same is malum in se, and, therefore, good faith and the lack of criminal intent is a valid
defense; unless it is the product of criminal negligence or culpa.
Likewise when the special laws requires that the punished act be committed knowingly and willfully,
criminal intent is required to be proved before criminal liability may arise.
When the act penalized is not inherently wrong, it is wrong only because a law punishes the same.

For example, Presidential Decree No. 532 punishes piracy in Philippine waters and the special law
punishing brigandage in the highways. These acts are inherently wrong and although they are punished
under special law, the acts themselves are mala in se; thus, good faith or lack of criminal intent is a
defense.
Distinction between crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code and crimes punished under special
laws
1. As to moral trait of the offender
In crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code, the moral trait of the offender is considered. This is
why liability would only arise when there is dolo or culpa in the commission of the punishable act.
In crimes punished under special laws, the moral trait of the offender is not considered; it is enough that
the prohibited act was voluntarily done.

2. As to use of good faith as defense

In crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code, good faith or lack of criminal intent is a valid defense;
unless the crime is the result of culpa In crimes punished under special laws, good faith is not a defense

3. As to degree of accomplishment of the crime

In crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code, the degree of accomplishment of the crime is taken
into account in punishing the offender; thus, there are attempted, frustrated, and consummated stages in
the commission of the crime.
In crimes punished under special laws, the act gives rise to a crime only when it is consummated; there
are no attempted or frustrated stages, unless the special law expressly penalize the mere attempt or
frustration of the crime.
4. As to mitigating and aggravating circumstances
In crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code, mitigating and aggravating circumstances are taken
into account in imposing the penalty since the moral trait of the offender is considered.
In crimes punished under special laws, mitigating and aggravating circumstances are not taken into
account in imposing the penalty.

5. As to degree of participation
In crimes punished under the Revised Penal Code, when there is more than one offender, the degree of
participation of each in the commission of the crime is taken into account in imposing the penalty; thus,
offenders are classified as principal, accomplice and accessory.
In crimes punished under special laws, the degree of participation of the offenders is not considered. All
who perpetrated the prohibited act are penalized to the same extent.
There is no principal or accomplice or accessory to consider.
Test to determine if violation of special law is malum prohibitum or malum in se
Analyze the violation: Is it wrong because there is a law prohibiting it or punishing it as such? If you
remove the law, will the act still be wrong?
If the wording of the law punishing the crime uses the word “willfully”, then malice must be proven.
Where malice is a factor, good faith is a defense.
In violation of special law, the act constituting the crime is a prohibited act. Therefore culpa is not
a basis of liability, unless the special law punishes an omission.
When given a problem, take note if the crime is a violation of the Revised Penal Code or a special law.