society from the threat and wrong inflicted

Title Three
PENALTIES
Chapter One

c)

by the criminal
Reformation
The object of punishment in criminal cases is

d)

to correct and reform the offender

Exemplarity
The criminal is punished to serve as an

PENALTIES IN GENERAL
Article 21
Penalties that may be imposed
No felony shall be punishable by any penalty not prescribed
by law prior to its commission

example to deter others from committing

crimes
e)

Penalty is the suffering that is inflicted by the State for

the transgression of a law

Penalty signifies pain
It means suffering undergone, because of the action of
human society by one who commits a crime

DIFFERENT JURIDICAL CONDITIONS OF PENALTY

1)

According to classical school

Must be productive of suffering without affecting the

2)

integrity of the human personality

Must be commensurate with the offense
Different crimes must be punished with

3)

different penalties
Must be personal
No one should be punished for the crime of

4)

another
Must be legal
It is the consequence of a judgment

6)
7)

That crime be punished by the state as an act

of retributive

PENALTY

5)

Justice
-

according to law
Must be certain
No one may escape its effects
Must be equal for all
Must be correctional

justice,

a vindication

criminal
3 FOLD PURPOSE OF PENALTY
a)

b)

Retribution or expiation
The penalty is commensurate with the
gravity of the offense
Correction or reformation
As shown by the rules which regulate the
execution of the penalties consisting in the

c)

deprivation of liberty
Social defense
Shown by its inflexible severity to recidivists
and habitual delinquents

CONSTITUTIONAL RESTRICTIONS ON PENALTIES

-

The constitution directs that excessive fines shall not

be imposed nor cruel and unusual punishment

inflicted
The punishment is cruel and unusual when it is
disproportionate to the offense committed as to shock
the moral sense of all reasonable men as to what is
right and proper under the circumstances

Inhuman barbarous or shocking to the conscience

HWAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE STATE FOR PUNISHING

CRIMES?
-

To secure justice
Penal justice must be exercised by the state in order in
the service and satisfaction of a duty, and rests
primarily on the moral rightfulness of the punishment
inflicted

THEORIES OF JUSTIFYING PENALTIES

a)

Prevention
The state must punish the criminal to
prevent or suppress the danger to the state

b)

arising from the criminal acts of the offender

Self-Defense
The state has a right to punish the criminal
as a measure of self-defense so as to protect

of

absolute right and moral law violated by the

Article 21
Penalties that may be imposed

No felony shall be punishable by any penalty not prescribed

by law prior to its commission

Penal Laws shall have a retroactive effect insofar as they

favor the persons guilty of a felony, who is not a habitual
criminal, as this term is defined in Rule 5 of Article 62 of this

This article simply announces the policy of the state

Code, although at the time of the publication of such laws a

final sentence has been pronounced and the convict is

as regards punishing crimes

The Article is general in its provisions and in effect,

serving the same

prohibits the Government from punishing any person

for any felony with any penalty which has not been

Article 22 is not applicable to the provisions of the

prescribed by the law

This provision can only be invoked when a person is

RPC
Its application to the RPC can only be invoked where

being tried for an act or omission for which no

-

penalty has been prescribed by law

Article 21 is not a penal provision. It merely declared

some
-

that no person shall be subject to criminal prosecution

for any act of his until after the state has defined the

REASON FOR THE PROVISION

-

order that has not been given

subsequent

law

is

under

the penalty was less severe than those of the code

To laws enacted subsequent to the RPC in which

the penalty is more favorable to the accused

It is not believed that the legislature in enacting Art.
10 of the RPC, intended to provide that Art. 22 should

A law cannot be rationally obeyed unless it is first

shown, and a man cannot be expected to obey an

or

consideration
It must necessarily relate to:
a) To penal laws existing prior to the RPC in which
b)

crime and has fixed a penalty therefor.

former

not be applicable to special laws.

If by an amendment to the RPC or by a later special
law, the punishment for an act is made less severe
than by the provisions of this Code, then the accused

person might invoke the provisions of Article 22

The RPC itself cannot be applied retroactively
New law must refer to the same deed or omission as

the old law

No retroactive effect of penal laws as regards
jurisdiction of court

The jurisdiction of the court to try a criminal

action is determined by the law in force at the
time of instituting the action not the time of the
commission of the offense

Giving a law retroactive effect, if unfavorable to the

accused, will violate the constitutional inhibition as to
ex post facto laws. An ex post facto law is one which:
1) Makes criminal an act done before the passage of
the law and which was innocent when done and
2)

punishes an act
Aggravates a crime or makes it greater than what

3)

it was when committed

Changes the punishment and inflicts a greater
punishment than the law annexed to the crime

4)

when committed
Alters the rules of evidence and authorizes
conviction upon less or different testimony than
the law required at the time of the commission of

Article 22
Retroactive effect of penal laws

5)

the offense
Assuming to regulate civil rights and remedies
only, in effect imposes penalty or deprivation of a
right for something which when done was lawful

6)

Deprives a person accused of a crime of some

lawful protection to which he has become

WHO IS NOT A HABITUAL CRIMINAL?

-

entitled such as an acquittal or an amnesty

entitled to the benefit of the provisions of the new

favorable statute
1) Accused is released not less than 10 years
2) Convicted of crimes of :
a) Serious or less serious physical injuries
b) Robbery
c) Theft
d) Estafa
e) Falsification
3) Accused is found guilty for the third time or

General Rule
To give criminal rules a prospective effect
Exception
To give them retroactive effect when favorable to the
accused
-

more

The exception applies to a law dealing with the

prescription of a crime
Reason for the exception:

It is unjust

The sovereign would also be inconsistent if it

ARTICLE 22 V ARTICLE 366

-

These two article mean that while felonies and

misdemeanors committed prior to the date of
effectiveness of the RPC shall be punished in

would still enforce its right under conditions of

accordance with this code or acts in force at the time

the former law, which has already been regarded

-

When the culprit is a habitual delinquent, he is not

of their commission, the same should not be the case

by conscientious public opinion as burdensome

An exception to the exception is when the law

if such code or acts are unfavorable to the guilty party,

for the general principle on the retroactivity of

provides otherwise that it shall not apply

favorable penal laws, recognized in Art, 22 should

then apply

THE FAVORABLE RETROACTIVE EFFECT OF A NEW LAW

MAY FIND THE DEFENDANT IN ONE OF THESE THREE
SITUATIONS
-

Does not apply in civil liability

In any of the ff cases, the favorable new statue benefits

1)

him and should apply to him

The crime has been committed and prosecution

2)
3)

begins
Sentence has been passed but service has not begun
The sentence is being carried out

CRIMINAL LIABILITY UNDER FORMAL LAW IS

OBLITERATED WHEN THE APPEAL IS ABSOLUTE
-

Criminal liability under the repealed law subsists

when
1) The provisions of the former law are reenacted
2) The repeal is by implication
3) There is a saving clause
The repeal of penal law which impliedly repealed an
old penal law revives the old law