CRIMINAL LAW DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. CRIMINAL LAW- is that branch or division of law which defines crimes, treats of their nature,
and provides for their punishment.

2. CRIME- crime is defined as an act committed or omitted in violation of public law forbidding or
commanding it.

3. GENERAL (characteristic of criminal law) - general, in that criminal law is binding on all
persons who live or sojourn in Philippine territory.

4. TERRITORIAL (characteristic of criminal law) - in that criminal law undertakes to punish

crimes committee within Philippine territory.

5. PROSPECTIVE-(characteristic of criminal law)- in that a penal law cannot make an act

punishable in a manner in which it was not punishable when committed.

6. FRENCH RULE- such crimes are not triable in courts of that country, unless their commission
affects the peace and security of the territory or the safety of the state is endangered.

7. ENGLISH RULE-such crimes are triable in that country, unless they merely affect things
within the vessel or they refer to the internal management thereof.

8. FELONIES- felonies are acts and omissions punishable by the revised penal code.

9. ACT- any bodily movement tending to produce some effect in the external world.

10. OMISSION- is meant inaction, the failure to perform a positive duty which one is bound to
do.

11. MISTAKE OF FACT- is a misapprehension of fact on the part of the person who caused
injury to another.

12. MALA IN SE- wrongful from their nature, those so serious in their effects on society as to
call for the almost unanimous condemnation of its members and defined and penalized by the
Revised Penal Code.

13. MALA PROHIBITA- wrong merely because prohibited by statute, are violations of mere
rules of convenience designed to secure a more orderly regulation of the affairs of society. The
term mala prohibita refers generally to acts made criminal by special laws.

14. INTENT- intent is the purpose to use a particular means to effect such result.

15. MOTIVE- motive is the moving power which impels one to action for a definite result.
16. CONSUMMATED FELONY- a felony is consummated when all the elements necessary for
its execution and accomplishment are present.

17. FRUSTRATED FELONY- when the offender performs all the acts of execution which would
produce the felony as a consequence but which nevertheless, do not produce it by reason of
causes independent of the will of the perpetrator.

18. ATTEMPTED FELONY- when the offender commences the commission of a felony directly
by overt acts, and does not perform all the acts of execution which should produce the felony by
reason of some cause or accident other than his own spontaneous desistance.

19. OVERT ACTS- an overt act is some physical activity or deed, indicating the intention to
commit a particular crime, more than a mere planning or preparation, which if carried to its
complete termination following its natural course, without being frustrated by external obstacles
nor by the voluntary desistance of the perpetrator, will logically and necessarily ripen into a
concrete offense.

20. INDETERMINATE OFFENSE- one where purpose of offender in the performing an act is not
certain. Its nature in relation to its objective is ambiguous.

21. CONSPIRACY- conspiracy exists when two or more persons come to an agreement
concerning the commission of a felony and decide to commit it.

22. PROPOSAL- there is a proposal when the person who has decided to commit a felony
proposes its execution to some other person or persons.

23. IMPUTABILITY- is the quality by which an act may be ascribed to a person as its author or
owner. It implies that the act committed has been freely and consciously done and may,
therefore, be put down to the doer as his very own.

24. RESPONSIBILITY- is the obligation of suffering the consequences of crime. It is the

obligation of taking the penal and civil consequences of the crime.

25. GUILT- guilt is an element of responsibility, for a man cannot be made to answer for the
consequences of a crime unless he is guilty.

26. GRAVE FELONIES- are those to which the law attaches the capital punishment or penalties
which in any of their periods are afflictive.

27. LESS GRAVE FELONIES- are those which the law punishes with penalties which in their
maximum period are correctional.
28. LIGHT FELONIES- are those infractions of law for the commission of which the penalty of
arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos, is provided.

29. JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES- are those where the act of a person is said to be in
accordance with law, so that such person is deemed not to have transgressed the law and is
free from both criminal and civil liability.

30. EXEMPTING CICUMSTANCES (non-imputability) - are those grounds for exemption from
punishment because there is wanting in the agent of the crime any of the conditions which make
the act voluntary, or negligent.

31. MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES- those which, if present in the commission o

32. AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES- are those which, if attendant in the commission of the
crime, serve to increase the penalty without, however, exceeding the maximum of the penalty
provided by law for the offense.

33. GENERIC (kind of aggravating circumstances) - those that can generally apply to all crimes.

34. SPECIFIC (kind of aggravating circumstances) - those that apply only to particular crime.

35. QUALIFYING (kind of aggravating circumstances) - those that change the nature of the
crime.

36. INHERENT (kind of aggravating circumstances) - those that must of necessity accompany
the commission of the crime.

37. ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES- aggravating or mitigating according to the nature and

effect of the crime and other conditions attending its commission.

38. INSTIGATION- public officer or private detective induces an innocent person to commit a
crime and would arrest him upon or after the commission of the crime by him.

39. ENTRAPMENT- a person has planned or is about to commit crime and ways and means are
resorted to by a public officer to trap and catch the criminal; not a defense.

40. ACCIDENT- any happening beyond control of persons, consequences of which are not
foreseeable.

41. TREACHERY- when the offender commits any of the crime against the person , employing
means, methods or forms in the execution thereof which tend directly and specially to insure its
execution, without risk to himself arising from the defense which the offended party might make.
42. IGNOMINY- moral suffering
43. CRUELTY- deliberate intention to prolong physical suffering of the victim.

44. HABITUAL DELINQUENCY- within 10 years from last release or last conviction of the crime
of falsification, robbery, estafa, theft, serious or less serious physical injuries, the offender is
found guilty of any of said crimes a third time or oftener.

45. RECIDIVISM- when the time of trial for one crime, shall have been previously convicted by
final judgment of another crime embraced in the same title of the revised penal code.

46. QUASI-RECIDIVISM- commits a felony after having been convicted by final judgment,
before beginning to serve such, or while serving the same, shall be punished by maximum
period of penalty prescribed by law for new felony.

47. REITARACION or HABITUALITY- accused is on trial for an offense, he has previously

serves sentence for another offense to which the law attaches an equal or greater penalty, or for
two or more crimes to which it attaches lighter penalty than that for the new offense and that he
is convicted of the new offense.

48. OFFENSE- is an act or omission that is punishable by special laws such as Republic Acts,
Presidential Decrees, Executive Orders, Memorandum Circulars, Ordinances and Rules and
Regulations.

49. PENALTY- penalty is the suffering that is inflicted by the State for the transgression of a law.

50. COMPLEX CRIMES- when a single act constitutes two or more grave or less, grave
felonies, or when an offense is a necessary means for committing the other, the penalty for the
most serious crime shall be imposed. imposed.

51. CONTINUED CRIME- a continued crime is a single crime, consisting of a series of acts but
all arising from one criminal resolution.

52. ABERRATIO ICTUS- mistake in the blow

53. ERROR IN PERSONAE-mistake in the identity of the victim

54. PRAETER INTENTIONEM- the injurious result is greater than that intended.

55. RESTITUTION-in theft, the culprit is duty bound to return the property stolen.

56. REPARATION- in case of inability to return the property stolen, the culprit must pay the
value of the property stolen.

57. APPEAL- a request to a higher (appellate) court for that court to review and change the
decision of a lower court
58. ASSAULT- a threat or use of force on another that causes that person to have a reasonable
apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact; the act of putting another person in
reasonable fear or apprehension of an immediate battery by means of an act amounting to an
attempt or threat to commit a battery.

59. ACQUITTAL- a jury verdict that a criminal defendant is not guilty or the finding of a judge
that the evidence is insufficient to support a conviction.

60. BATTERY- the application of force to another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact.

61. BRIBERY- The corrupt payment, receipt, or solicitation of a private favor for official action.

62. COUNTERFEITING- the forging, copying, or imitating of something (usually money) without
a right to do so and with the purpose of deceiving or defrauding.

63. TREASON- is a breach of allegiance to a government committed by a person who owes

allegiance to it.

64. ALLEGIANCE- is meant the obligation of fidelity and obedience which the individuals owe to
the government under which they live or to their sovereign, in return for the protection they
receive.

65. NEUTRALITY- a nation or power which takes no part in a contest of arms going on between
others is referred to as neutral.

66. CORRESPONDENCE- is communication by means of letters, or it may refer to the letters

which pass between those who have friendly or business relations.

67. DOCUMENT- is any written statement by which a right is established or an obligation

extinguished. A document is a writing or instrument by which a fact may be proven and affirned.

68. PIRACY-it is robbery or forcible depredation on the high seas, without lawful authority and
done with animo furandi and in the spirit and intention of universal hostility.

69. MUTINY- it is the unlawful resistance to a superior officer, or the raising of commotions and
disturbances on board a ship against the authority of its commander.

70. PROBABLE CAUSE- probable cause can be defined as such facts and circumstances
which would lead a reasonable discreet and prudent man to believe that an offense has been
committed and that the object sought in connection with the offense are in the place sought to
searched.
71. SEARCH WARRANT- is an order in writing issued in the name of the People of the
Philippines signed by a judge and directed to a peace officer, commanding him to search for
personal property described therein and bring it before the court.

72. MISPRISION OF TREASON- every person owing allegiance to the government of the
Philippine Islands, without being a foreigner, and having knowledge of any conspiracy against
them, conceals or does not disclose and make known the same, as soon as possible to the
governor or fiscal of the province, or the mayor or the fiscal of the city in which he resides.

73. SEDITION- in its general sense, is the raising of commotions or disturbances in the State.

74. CHARIVARI-the term charivari includes a medley of discordant voices, a mock serenade of
discordant noises made on kettles, tins horns, etc.., designed to annoy and insult.

75. ESPIONAGE- Without authority therefor, enters a warship, fort, or naval or military
establishment or reservation to obtain any information, plans, photographs, or other data of a
confidential nature relative to the defense of the Philippine Archipelago; or (2) Being in
possession, by reason of the public office he holds, of the articles, data, or information referred
to in the preceding paragraph, discloses their contents to a representative of a foreign nation.

76. INCITING TO WAR OR GIVING MOTIVES FOR REPRISALS. - The penalty of reclusion
temporal shall be imposed upon any public officer or employee, and that of prision mayor upon
any private individual, who, by unlawful or unauthorized acts provokes or gives occasion for a
war involving or liable to involve the Philippine Islands or exposes Filipino citizens to reprisals
on their persons or property.

77. VIOLATION OF NEUTRALITY - The penalty of prision correccional shall be inflicted upon
anyone who, on the occasion of a war in which the Government is not involved, violates any
regulation issued by competent authority for the purpose of enforcing neutrality.

78. FLIGHT TO ENEMY'S COUNTRY. - The penalty of arresto mayor shall be inflicted upon any
person who, owing allegiance to the Government, attempts to flee or go to an enemy country
when prohibited by competent authority.

79. PIRACY IN GENERAL AND MUTINY ON THE HIGH SEAS - The penalty of reclusion
temporal shall be inflicted upon any person who, on the high seas, shall attack or seize a vessel
or, not being a member of its complement nor a passenger, shall seize the whole or part of the
cargo of said vessel, its equipment, or personal belongings of its complement or passengers

80. EXPULSION - The penalty of prision correccional shall be imposed upon any public officer
or employee who, not being thereunto authorized by law, shall expel any person from the
Philippine Islands or shall compel such person to change his residence.
81. VIOLATION OF DOMICILE. - The penalty of prision correccional in its minimum period shall
be imposed upon any public officer or employee who, not being authorized by judicial order,
shall enter any dwelling against the will of the owner thereof, search papers or other effects
found therein without the previous consent of such owner, or having surreptitiously entered said
dwelling, and being required to leave the premises, shall refuse to do so.

82. DWELLING- means any building or structure exclusively devoted for rest and comfort as
distinguished from places devoted to business, offices, etc..,

83. INHABITED HOUSE- is any shelter, ship or vessel constituting the dwelling of one or more
persons even though the inhabitants thereof are temporarily.

84. PUBLIC BUILDING-is every building owned by the government or belonging to a private
person but used or rented by the government, although temporarily unoccupied by the same.

85. PREMISES- premises signifies distinct and definite locality. It may mean a room, shop,
building or definite area, but in either case, locality is fixed.

86. GRAVE THREATS- any person who shall threaten another with the infliction upon the
person, honor, or property of the latter or of his family of any wrong amounting to a crime.

87. UNJUST VEXATION- unjust vexation includes any human conduct which, although not
productive of some physical or material harm would, however, unjustly annoy or vex an innocent
person.

88. SEIZE- it means to place in the control of someone a thing or to give him the possession
thereof.

89. ROBBERY- is the taking of personal property belonging to another, with intent to gain, by
means of violence against, or intimidation of any person, or using force upon things.

90. FALSE KEYS- are genuine keys stolen from the owner or any keys other than those
intended by the owner for use in the lock forcibly opened by the offender.

91. BRIGANDAGE- is a crime committed by more than three armed persons who form a band
of robbers for the purpose of committing robbery in the highway or kidnapping persons for the
purpose of extortion or to obtain ransom, or for any other purpose to be attained by means of
force and violence.

92. PHILIPPINE HIGHWAY- it shall refer to any road, street, passage, highway and bridges or
other parts thereof, or railway or railroad within the Philippines used by persons, or vehicles, or
locomotives or trains for the movement or circulation of persons or transportation of goods,
articles, or property or both.
93. THEFT- theft is committed by any person who, with intent to gain but without violence
against or intimidation of persons nor force upon things, shall take personal property of another
without the latter's consent.

94. FENCING- is the act of any person who, with intent to gain for himself or for another, shall
buy, receive, possess, keep, acquire, conceal, sell or dispose of, or shall buy and sell, or in any
other manner deal in any article, item, object or anything of value which he knows, or should be
known to him, to have been derived from the proceeds of the crime of robbery or theft.

95. ENCUMBRANCE- the term encumbrance includes every right or interest in the land which
exists in favor of third persons.

96. MALICIOUS MISCHIEF- malicious mischief is the willful damaging of another's property for
the sake of causing damage due to hate, revenge or other evil motive.

97. ADULTERY- adultery is committed by any married woman who shall have sexual
intercourse with a man not her husband and by the man who has carnal knowledge of her,
knowing her to be married, even if the marriage be subsequently declared void.

98. LEWD- lewd is designed as obscene, lustful, indecent, and lecherous. It signifies the form of
immorality which has relation to moral impurity; or that which is carried on a wanton manner.

99. CONCUBINAGE- any husband who shall keep a mistress in the conjugal dwelling, or, shall
have sexual intercourse, under scandalous circumstances, with a woman who is not his wife, or
shall cohabit with her in any other place.

100. COHABIT- the term cohabit means to dwell together, in the manner of husband and wife,
for some period of time, as distinguished from occasional, transient interviews for unlawful
intercourse.

101. SEDUCTION- seduction means enticing a woman to unlawful sexual intercourse by

promise of marriage or other means of persuasion without use of force.

102. ABDUCTION- is meant the taking away of a woman from her house or the place where
she may be for the purpose of carrying her to another place with intent to marry or to corrupt
her.

103. BIGAMY- any person who shall contract a second or subsequent marriage before the
former marriage has been legally dissolved, or before the former marriage has been legally
dissolved, or before the absent spouse has been declared presumptively dead by means of a
judgment rendered in the proper proceedings.

104. LIBEL- is a defamation committed by means of writing, printing, lithography, radio,

phonograph, painting or theatrical or cinematographic exhibition, or any similar means.
105. SLANDER- slander is oral defamation, it is libel committed by oral (spoken) means, instead
of in writing. The term oral defamation or slander as now understood, has been defined as the
speaking of base and defamatory words which tend to prejudice another in his reputation, office,
trade, business or means of livelihood.

106. MISFEASANCE- is the improper performance of some act which might lawfully be done

107. MALFEASANCE- is the performance of some act which ought not to be done.

108. NONFEASANCE-is the omission of some act which ought to be performed.

109. INFANTICIDE- the killing of any child less than three days of age, whether the killer is the
parent or grandparent, any other relative of the child, or a stranger.

110. DUEL- it is a formal or regular combat previously concerted between two parties in the
presence of two or more seconds of lawful age on each side, who make the selection of arms
and fix all the other conditions