RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Rules 110 127 General Matters Requisites for exercise of criminal jurisdiction

1. The court is clothed with jurisdiction over the offense by virtue of the imposable penalty and its nature; and 2. The action has been filed within the territorial jurisdiction of the court. Jurisdiction of Criminal courts Court Original Exclusive Appellate Supreme Court Exclusive: Petitions for certiorari, By Appeal: a) from the RTC in all prohibition and mandamus criminal cases involving offenses for against the CA and which the penalty is reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, and Sandiganbayan. Concurrent: those involving other offenses which, a) with CA: petitions for although not so punished, arose out certiorari, prohibition and of the same occurrence or which mandamus against RTC; may have been committed by the b) with CA and RTC: petitions accused on the same occasion; for certiorari, prohibition and b) Automatic review where death mandamus against lower courts; penalty is imposed. c) with Sandiganbayan: petitions By Petition for Review on Certiorari: for mandamus, prohibition, a) from the Court of Appeals; certiorari, habeas corpus, injunction and ancillary writs in b) from the Sandiganbayan; aid of its appellate jurisdiction c) from the RTC where only an error and over petitions of similar or question of law is involved. nature, including quo warranto arising or that may arise in cases filed or which may be filed under EO Nos. 1, 2, 14 and 14-A. Court of Appeals Exclusive: Actions for annulment By Appeal: From the RTC in cases of judgments of the RTC commenced therein, except those Concurrent: appealable to the SC or the a) with the SC: petitions for Sandiganbayan; certiorari, prohibition and By Petition for Review: From the RTC in cases appealed mandamus against RTC; b) with SC and RTC: petitions thereto from the lower courts and not

for certiorari, prohibition and appealable to the Sandiganbayan mandamus against lower courts. Sandiganbayan Exclusive: a) Violations of RA By Appeal: 3019, as amended, RA 1379, and bribery and corruption offenses under the Revised a) from the RTC in cases under PD Penal Code, where one or more 1606, as amended by PD 1861, of the accused are officials whether or not the cases were occupying positions in the decided b them in the exercise of original or appellate government, whether in a their permanent, acting or interim jurisdictions;

Regional Courts

capacity, at the time of the commission of the offense; b) Other offenses or felonies whether simple or complexed with other crimes committed in relation to their office by the public officials and employees mentioned in Sec. 4[a], PD 1606, as amended by RA 7075; b) Criminal cases filed pursuant to and in connection with EO Nos. 1, 2, 14, and 14-A, Trial All criminal cases which are not All cases decided by lower courts in within the exclusive jurisdiction their respective territorial of any court, tribunal or body. jurisdictions.

Metropolitan, Original: a) Violations of city or Summary Procedure Municipal and municipal ordinances committed a) Traffic violations; Municipal Circuit within their respective territorial b) Violations of the rental law; Trial Courts jurisdictions; c) Violations of city or municipal b) All offenses punishable with ordinances; and imprisonment of not more than 6 d) All other offenses where the penalty does not exceed 6 months years irrespective of the amount imprisonment and/or P1,000 fine, of fine, and in all cases of irrespective of other penalties or civil damage to property through liabilities arising there from, and in criminal negligence, regardless offenses involving damage to of other penalties and the civil property through criminal negligence where the imposable fine does not liabilities arising there from; and exceed P10,000. c) All offenses (except violations

of RA 3019, RA 1379 and Arts. 210 to 212, RPC) committed by public officers and employees in relation to their office, including those employed in GOCCs, and by private individuals charged as co-principals, accomplices or accessories, punishable with imprisonment of not more than 6 years or where none of the accused holds a position of salary Grade 27 and higher.

When injunction may be issued to restrain criminal prosecution (1) General Rule: Criminal prosecution may not be restrained or stayed by injunction. (2) Exceptions: 1. To afford adequate protection to the constitutional rights of the accused; 2. Then necessary for the orderly administration of justice or to avoid oppression or multiplicity of actions; 3. When there is a pre-judicial question which is sub judice; 4. When the acts of the officer are without or in excess of authority; 5. Where the prosecution is under an invalid law, ordinance or regulation; 6. When double jeopardy is clearly apparent; 7. Where the court has no jurisdiction over the offense; 8. Where it is a case of persecution rather than prosecution; 9. Where the charges are manifestly false and motivated by the lust for vengeance; 10. When there is clearly no prima facie case against the accused and a motion to quash on that ground has been denied; and 11. To prevent the threatened unlawful arrest of petitioners (Brocka v. Enrile,192 SCRA 183 (1990).

Prosecution of Offenses Rule 110) Criminal actions, how instituted (1) Criminal actions shall be instituted as follows: (a) For offenses where a preliminary investigation is required pursuant to section 1 of Rule 112, by filing the complaint with the proper officer for the purpose of conducting the requisite preliminary investigation. (b) For all other offenses, by filing the complaint or information directly with the Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts, or the complaint with the office of the prosecutor. In Manila and other chartered cities, the complaint shall be filed with the office of the prosecutor, unless otherwise provided in their charters. The institution of the criminal action shall interrupt the period of prescription of the offense charged unless otherwise provided in special laws (Sec. 1). 1. Preliminary investigation is required for offenses punishable by at least 4 years, 2 months, and 1 day, unless the accused was lawfully arrested without a warrant, in which case, an inquest must have been conducted(Secs. 1 and 7, Rule 112). Who may file them, crimes that cannot be prosecuted de oficio All criminal actions commenced by complaint or information shall be prosecuted under the direction and control of the prosecutor. However, in the Municipal Trial Courts or Municipal Circuit Trial Courts when the prosecutor assigned thereto or to the case is not available, the offended party, any peace officer, or public officer charged with the enforcement of the law violated may prosecute the case. This authority shall cease upon actual intervention of the prosecutor or upon elevation of the case to the Regional Trial Court. The crimes of adultery and concubinage shall not be prosecuted except upon a complaint filed by the offended spouse. The offended party cannot institute criminal prosecution without including the guilty parties, if they are both alive, nor, in any case, if the offended party has consented to the offense or pardoned the offenders. The offenses of seduction, abduction, and acts of lasciviousness shall not be prosecuted except upon a complaint filed by the offended party or her parents, grandparents, or guardian, nor, in any case, if the offender has been expressly pardoned by any of them. If the offended party dies or becomes incapacitated before she can file the complaint, and she has no known parents, grandparents or guardian, the State shall initiate the criminal action in her behalf.

The offended party, even if a minor, has the right to initiate the prosecution of the offenses of seduction, abduction and acts of lasciviousness independently of her parents, grandparents or guardian, unless she is incompetent or incapable of doing so. Where the offended party, who is a minor, fails to file the complaint, her parents, grandparents, or guardian may file the same. The right to file the action granted to parents, grandparents or guardian shall be exclusive of all other persons and shall be exercised successively in the order herein provided, except as stated in the preceding paragraph. No criminal action for defamation which consists in the imputation of any of the offenses mentioned above shall be brought except at the instance of and upon complaint filed by the offended party. The prosecution of complaints for violation of special laws shall be governed by their provisions thereof (Sec. 5). Art. 344 of the Revised Penal Code refers to crimes which cannot be prosecuted de oficio: These are private crimes, namely: 1. Adultery and concubinage to be prosecuted upon a complaint filed by the offended spouse, impleading both guilty parties, if both alive, unless he shall have consented or pardoned the offenders; 2. Seduction, abduction, or acts or lasciviousness to be prosecuted upon a complaint filed by the offended party or her parents, grandparents, or guardian, unless expressly pardoned by the above named persons (in such stated order); 3. Defamation to be prosecuted at the instance of and upon complaint expressly filed by the offended party (Art. 360, RPC). Criminal actions, when enjoined Control of prosecution 1. Whenever a criminal case is prosecuted and the State is the offended party, the case must always be prosecuted under control and guidance of the State through the government prosecutors. Whenever there is acquittal or dismissal of the case and the private complainant intends to question such acquittal or dismissal, the same must likewise be undertaken by the State through the Solicitor General. Only the Solicitor General may represent the People of the Philippines on appeal. The private offended party or complainant may question such acquittal or dismissal or appeal therefrom only insofar as the civil aspect is concerned, in the name of the petitioner or appellant and not in the name of the

People of the Philippines(Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. vs. Veridiano II, 360 SCRA 359). 2. The prosecution determines the charges to be filed and how the legal and factual elements in the case shall be utilized as components of the information. It is basically the prosecutors function to determine what degree of complicity to the commission of a crime a person should be charged with, whether as principal, accomplice or accessory (People vs. Pajo, 348 SCRA 493). 3. The rule that the Solicitor General is the lawyer of the People in appellate courts admits an exception, namely, that which is provided for in RA 8249, which states in part that in all cases elevated to the Sandiganbayan and fro the Sandiganbayan to the Supreme Court, the Office of the Ombudsman, through its special prosecutor, shall represent the People of the Philippines, except in cases filed pursuant to EO 1, 2, 14 and 14-A, issued in 1986. Sufficiency of Complaint or Information 1. A complaint or information is sufficient if it states: (a) The name of the accused; (b) The designation of the offense given by the statute; (c) The acts or omissions complained of as constituting the offense; (d) The name of the offended party; (e) The approximate date of the commission of the offense; and (f) The place wherein the offense was committed. When an offense is committed by more than one person, all of them shall be included in the complaint or information (Sec. 6). 2. If the prosecutor refuses to include one accused, the remedy is mandamus. The procedure for state witness allows for initial inclusion of the accused in the information. Designation of Offense 1. The complaint or information shall state the designation of the offense given by the statute, aver the acts or omissions constituting the offense, and specify its qualifying and aggravating circumstances. If there is no designation of the offense, reference shall be made to the section or subsection of the statute punishing it (Sec. 8). Cause of the Accusation 1. The acts or omissions complained of as constituting the offense and the qualifying and aggravating circumstances must be stated in ordinary and

concise language and not necessarily in the language used in the statute but in terms sufficient to enable a person of common understanding to know what offense is being charged as well as its qualifying and aggravating circumstances and for the court to pronounce judgment (Sec. 9). Duplicity of the Offense; Exception 1. A complaint or information must charge only one offense, except when the law prescribes a single punishment for various offenses (Sec. 13). 2. Exception: The law prescribes a single punishment for various offenses, such as in continuing and complex crimes. Amendment or Substitution of complaint or information 1. A complaint or information may be amended, in form or in substance, without leave of court, at any time before the accused enters his plea. After the plea and during the trial, a formal amendment may only be made with leave of court and when it can be done without causing prejudice to the rights of the accused. However, any amendment before plea, which downgrades the nature of the offense charged in or excludes any accused from the complaint or information, can be made only upon motion by the prosecutor, with notice to the offended party and with leave of court. The court shall state its reasons in resolving the motion and copies of its order shall be furnished all parties, especially the offended party. If it appears at any time before judgment that a mistake has been made in charging the proper offense, the court shall dismiss the original complaint or information upon the filing of a new one charging the proper offense in accordance with Section 19, Rule 119, provided the accused would not be placed in double jeopardy. The court may require the witnesses to give bail for their appearance at the trial (Sec. 14). 2. The test as to whether the rights of an accused are prejudiced by the amendment of a complaint or information is when a defense under the complaint or information, as it originally stood, would no longer be available after the amendment is made, and when any evidence the accused might have, would be inapplicable to the complaint or information(People vs. Montenegro, 159 SCRA 236). 3. Amendment and substitution distinguished:

1. Amendment may involve either formal or substantial changes; substitution necessarily involves a substantial change from the original charge; 2. Amendment before plea has been entered can be effected without leave of court; substitution of information must be with leave of court, as the original information has to be dismissed; 3. Where the amendment is only as to form, there is no need for another preliminary investigation and the retaking of the plea of the accused; in substitution of information, another preliminary investigation is entailed and the accused has to plead anew to the new information; and 4. An amended information refers to the same offense charged in the original information or to an offense which necessarily includes or is necessarily included in the original charge; hence substantial amendments to the information after the plea has been taken cannot be made over the objection of the accused, for if the original information would be withdrawn, the accused could invoke double jeopardy. Substitution requires or presupposes that the new information involves different offense which does not include or is not necessarily included in the original charge, hence the accused cannot claim double jeopardy (Teehankee vs. Madayag, 207 SCRA 685). 5. In substitution under the second paragraph of Sec. 14, where the new information charges an offense distinct and different from the one initially charged, due to mistake in charging the proper offense, there is need for a new preliminary investigation and another arraignment (People vs. Jaralba, 226 SCRA 602).

Venue of criminal actions 1. Place where action is to be instituted: (a) Subject to existing laws, the criminal action shall be instituted and tried in the court of the municipality or territory where the offense was committed or where any of its essential ingredients occurred. (b) Where an offense is committed in a train, aircraft, or other public or private vehicle in the course of its trip, the criminal action shall be instituted and tried in the court of any

municipality or territory where said train, aircraft or other vehicle passed during its trip, including the place of its departure and arrival. (c) Where an offense is committed on board a vessel in the course of its voyage, the criminal action shall be instituted and tried in the court of the first port of entry or of any municipality or territory where the vessel passed during such voyage, subject to the generally accepted principles of international law. (d) Crimes committed outside of the Philippines but punishable under Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code shall be cognizable by the court where the criminal action is first filed (Sec. 15).