PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY

A. To be guilty of a crime, one must commit the crime himself

(principal) or if committed by another, he must, in some manner,
participate either in its commission ( accomplice) or in the fruits
thereof ( accessory).

B. As a rule only natural persons who are alive can beheld criminally
liable. The reasons are: (i) The element of mens rea can only be
found in natural persons: malice in intentional felonies and
indifference in culpable felonies are attributes of natural persons
(ii) juridical persons cannot be arrested (iii) the principal penalties
consisting of deprivation of life or of liberty, restriction of liberty,
deprivation of rights, and the accessory penalties of
disqualification, cannot be served by juridical persons.

C. When may a juridical entity be held criminally liable? A juridical

entity may be prosecuted and held liable if the offense is
punishable by a fine.

D. For what acts may a juridical person be held liable?

1. For acts committed by its responsible officers, policy makers

or those having charge of the management and operation of
the entity.
2. A corporation also incurs criminal liability for the acts of its
employees or agents if (i) the employee or agent committed the
offense while acting within the scope of his employment and
(ii) the offense was committed with at least an intent to
benefit the employer ( PP. vs. Chowderry, 235 SCRA 572)
E. Who are liable if the violation was made by a juridical entity? Per
Ching vs. Secretary of Justice ( Feb. 06, 2006) the principles maybe
summarized as follows

1. The juridical entity itself where the penalty is one which can
properly be imposed on it, such as fine or revocation of
license;
2. The officers, employees or agents who actually executed the
prohibited act or incurred the omission
Example: LLamado vs. CA ( 270 SCRA 423) it was held that
even if the officer of the corporation had no involvement in
the negotiation of the transaction for which he, as treasurer of
the corporation, issued a postdated check which bounced, he
is liable for Violation of B.P. 22
3. The person specifically mentioned by law violated to be held
liable. Examples:
a. Section 8 of R.A. 8042 (Migrant and Overseas Filipino
Act of l995) provides: In cases of juridical persons the
offices having control, management, and direction of
their business shall be held liable
b. P.D. 1612 (Anti Gambling Law) provides that the
President shall be liable if gambling is carried on by a
juridical entity
c. In case of libel under Art. 360 the persons liable shall
be the editor of a book or pamphlet, business manager
of a daily newspaper, magazine or serial publication
4. An employee or officer even if not among those enumerated by
the law violated, if, with knowledge of the illegal act/business,
he consciously contributes his efforts to its conduct or
promotion (PP. vs. Chowderry).
 The culpability of the employee hinges on his knowledge of
the offense and his active participation on its commission.
Where it is shown that the employee was merely acting under
the direction of his superiors and was unaware that his acts
constituted a crime, he may not be held criminally liable for
an act done for and in behalf of his employer ( PP. vs. Corpuz,
October 1, 2003)
5. Those who, by virtue of their managerial position or similar
relations to the corporation could be deemed responsible for
its commission, if by virtue of their relations to the
corporation, they had the power to prevent the act

F. Where the act is a violation by a juridical entity, the officers or

employee cannot put up the following defenses:

1. It is no defense that he did not benefit from the act;

2. The accused cannot hide behind the principle of separate
corporate personality of the juridical entity in order to escape
liability

G. A person cannot escape punishment when he participates in the

commission of a crime on the ground that he simply acted as an
agent or representative of a party

H. Criminally liability is purely personal and is limited to the

acts/omissions of an accused and not for the acts or omissions of
third persons (res inter alios acta rule). Except when there exists
a conspiracy between two or more persons where the act of one
becomes the act of all resulting to a joint criminal responsibility or
collective liability.