Criminal Law
10% of the Bar.
The Revised Penal Code, special penal laws, and the elements of every crime.
Study material, not legal advice. Written and checked by the PhilippineLaws team to the best of our knowledge; not reviewed by a lawyer. Check every provision and case against its full text before you rely on it or cite it.
Examined in Criminal Law· 10% of the exam
23syllabus topics27curated cases9statutes2lessons
The syllabus
23Tap a topic to drill only that topic.
Revised Penal Code Book I — General PrinciplesCrimes Against PersonsCrimes Against PropertyCrimes Against ChastityCrimes Against Public OrderSpecial Laws — RA 9165 Dangerous DrugsSpecial Laws — BP 22 Bouncing ChecksCrimes Against HonorCrimes Against Personal LibertyCrimes Against Public InterestPhysical InjuriesRobbery and TheftEstafa and Other DeceitsArsonMalversation of Public FundsFalsificationCrimes Against Civil StatusCybercrime Prevention ActAnti-Trafficking in Persons ActIllegal RecruitmentAnti-Violence Against Women and Children ActAnti-Torture ActJuvenile Justice and Welfare Act
Lessons
2Worked through one problem at a time.
The cases
27Each one's doctrine, and the ruling behind it when the citation checks out.
Docket confirmed against the ruling
27- G.R. No. L-52721910· DigestUnited States v. Ah ChongMistake of Fact
- G.R. No. 435301935· DigestPeople v. LamahangAn attempt must be an attempt at a specific crime. Overt acts that do not clearly show which felony was intended cannot be punished as an attempt at the graver one
- G.R. No. 477221943· DigestPeople v. OanisMistake of fact excuses only when committed without fault or carelessness; excess in the performance of duty is only an incomplete justifying circumstance
- G.R. No. L-634191986· DigestLozano v. MartinezBP 22 punishes the making and issuing of a worthless check, not the failure to pay a debt. It is a valid police-power measure and does not violate the ban on imprisonment for debt
- G.R. No. L-710921987· DigestPeople v. OlvisUncounselled custodial confessions and forced re-enactments are inadmissible
- G.R. No. L-729641988· DigestUrbano v. Intermediate Appellate CourtThe death must be the direct, natural and logical consequence of the wound. An efficient intervening cause, here a later tetanus infection, breaks the chain of causation and bars a homicide conviction
- G.R. No. L-743241988· DigestPeople v. PugayWithout proof of a prior agreement, each participant answers only for his own act. One who commits a felony answers for its graver result even if he intended less (Art. 4)
- G.R. No. 887241990· DigestPeople v. OritaThere is no frustrated rape. Rape is consummated by any penetration of the female organ, however slight, and is only attempted if there is none
- G.R. No. 961321992· DigestMagno v. Court of AppealsChecks issued only to cover a "warranty deposit" in a lease arrangement, which the drawer never received or used, are not issued "to apply on account or for value," and their dishonor does not make out a violation of BP 22
- G.R. No. 953221993· DigestPeople v. DomasianKidnapping does not require confinement in an enclosure, because any deprivation of liberty suffices. A ransom note delivered after the kidnapping was consummated is not an impossible crime
- G.R. No. 1020071994· DigestPeople v. BayotasDeath of the accused pending appeal of his conviction extinguishes his criminal liability and the civil liability based solely on the offense (ex delicto). Civil liability that also rests on another source of obligation survives, but only through a separate civil action
- G.R. No. 1167361997· DigestPeople v. OrtegaOne who helps conceal what he believes is a corpse, when the victim is in fact alive and then drowns, commits a felony and is liable for the graver result under Article 4(1). Abuse of superior strength requires a deliberate use of force out of proportion to the victim's means of defense
- G.R. No. 1224851999· DigestPeople v. MahinayRape with homicide on circumstantial evidence; guidelines on the rights of persons arrested or under custodial investigation
- G.R. No. 1294332000· DigestPeople v. CampuhanConsummated rape requires proof that the penis touched the labia or slid into the female organ. Merely grazing the surface or touching the mons pubis is at most attempted rape
- G.R. No. 1427732003· DigestPeople v. DelimWhere the primary and ultimate purpose of seizing a victim is to kill him, the deprivation of liberty is only incidental and is absorbed in the killing. The crime is murder or homicide, not kidnapping
- G.R. No. 1407562003· DigestPeople v. EscoteRobbery with homicide is a single, indivisible special complex crime. Treachery does not qualify it, but it is a generic aggravating circumstance when the homicide victim is killed treacherously, and it must be alleged in the information
- G.R. No. 1359812004· DigestPeople v. GenosaBattered Woman Syndrome — elements for self-defense; BWS as mitigating circumstance
- G.R. No. 1380332006· DigestBaleros v. PeoplePressing a chemical-soaked cloth on a woman's face while lying on top of her, without any act of undressing or touching her private parts, is not an overt act of rape. It is at most unjust vexation, punished as light coercion
- G.R. No. 1601882007· DigestValenzuela v. PeopleThere is no frustrated theft. Theft is consummated once the offender gains possession of the thing with intent to gain, even without any opportunity to dispose of it
- G.R. No. 1729532008· DigestMallillin v. PeopleChain of custody: the prosecution must account for every link from seizure to presentation in court, and the presumption of regularity cannot overcome the presumption of innocence
- G.R. No. 1625402009· DigestJacinto v. PeopleTaking a check that turns out to be unfunded, with intent to gain, is an impossible crime and not qualified theft, because the thing taken was worthless (factual impossibility)
- G.R. No. 1727162010· DigestIvler v. Modesto-San PedroReckless imprudence under Article 365 is a single quasi-offense, and its consequences only fix the penalty. A conviction or acquittal for one consequence bars prosecution for the others, and Article 48 does not apply to quasi-offenses
- G.R. No. 2033352014· DigestDisini v. Secretary of JusticeCyber libel valid only as to the original author; aiding/abetting cyber libel void; no double prosecution with RPC libel
- G.R. No. 1921232014· DigestSolidum v. PeopleRes ipsa loquitur does not apply where a rare bad outcome is all that is shown; medical negligence, even in a criminal case, generally requires expert proof of the standard of care and causation
- G.R. Nos. 249027 & 2491552024· DigestGuinto v. Department of JusticeGCTA after final conviction covers persons convicted of heinous crimes, recidivists, habitual delinquents and escapees
- G.R. No. 2527392024· DigestXXX v. PeopleMarital Infidelity as VAWC
- G.R. No. 2609732024· DigestTogado v. PeopleThe exact firearm seized must be presented, with its integrity preserved, in illegal-possession prosecutions
Governing statutes
9The Republic Acts filed under this subject, in full text.
- ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ACT OF 2003
- CHAIN SAW ACT OF 2002
- CYBERCRIME PREVENTION ACT OF 2012?.<P ID=
- EXPANDED ANTI-TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS ACT OF 2012
- JUVENILE JUSTICE AND WELFARE ACT OF 2006
- MOTORCYCLE CRIME PREVENTION ACT
- PHILIPPINE ACT ON CRIMES AGAINST INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW, GENOCIDE, AND OTHER CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
- PROSECUTION SERVICE ACT OF 2010
- SEPARATE FACILITY FOR HEINOUS CRIMES ACT
Other subjects
The rest of the exam.