Criminal Law and Jurisprudence
What this domain tests
Criminal Law and Jurisprudence tests the Revised Penal Code, special penal laws, and constitutional principles that govern criminal liability. Expect questions on felonies, intent, stages of execution, conspiracy, circumstances, penalties, and the Indeterminate Sentence Law.
Core rules
- A felony is an act or omission punishable by law, committed with dolo (intent) or culpa (negligence). Art. 3, RPC.
- Criminal liability requires a voluntary act, attendant circumstances, and a resulting wrong. Art. 4 covers crimes resulting from imprudence and from mistake in the blow.
- Stages: attempted (overt act, not all elements), frustrated (all elements but not consummated due to causes independent of will), consummated (all elements).
- Conspiracy exists when two or more agree to commit a felony and decide to act. It is not a separate crime unless the law says so.
- Justifying circumstances exempt from criminal liability but not civil; exempting circumstances remove criminal liability and usually civil liability unless the act is wrong.
- The Indeterminate Sentence Law requires a minimum and maximum for most offenses, with exceptions such as death penalty, life imprisonment, and offenses with only one penalty.
Worked example
A fires at B, misses, and kills C. This is aberratio ictus (mistake in the blow). A is liable for consummated homicide against C, not attempted homicide against B plus homicide against C. The intent to kill transfers to the actual victim. If qualifying circumstances such as treachery attend the act, the crime may be murder. Reasoning: Art. 4 makes the actor liable for the consequence of his wrongful act, and jurisprudence treats the actual victim as the object of the felonious act.
Traps
Do not confuse error in personae (mistaken identity) with aberratio ictus (mistaken blow). Do not treat praeter intentionem as an exempting circumstance; it affects penalty. Do not call conspiracy a separate crime in the absence of a special law. Watch for justifying versus exempting circumstances.