Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure: Rule 110 and Rule 111 Comprehensive Study Notes

RULE 110: PROSECUTION OF OFFENSES

Section 1: Institution of Criminal Actions

• Offenses Requiring Preliminary Investigation: Criminal actions for offenses where a preliminary investigation is required pursuant to Section 1 of Rule 112 are instituted by filing the complaint with the proper officer for the purpose of conducting the requisite preliminary investigation.
• All Other Offenses: Instituted by:
  • Filing the complaint or information directly with the Municipal Trial Courts (MTC) and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts (MCTC), or
  • Filing the complaint with the office of the prosecutor.
• Manila and Other Chartered Cities: The complaint shall be filed with the office of the prosecutor unless otherwise provided in their respective charters.
• Interruption of Prescription Period: The institution of the criminal action interrupts the running period of prescription of the offense charged, unless otherwise provided in special laws.

Section 2: The Complaint or Information

• Form and Title: Must be in writing, in the name of the People of the Philippines.
• Parties Charged: Must be brought against all persons who appear to be responsible for the offense involved.

Section 3: Complaint Defined

• Definition: A sworn written statement charging a person with an offense.
• Subscribers: Subscribed by the offended party, any peace officer, or other public officer charged with the enforcement of the law violated.

Section 4: Information Defined

• Definition: An accusation in writing charging a person with an offense.
• Subscriber and Filing: Subscribed by the prosecutor and filed with the court.

Section 5: Who Must Prosecute Criminal Actions

• Prosecutorial Direction and Control: All criminal actions commenced by a complaint or information shall be prosecuted under the direction and control of the prosecutor.
• Exception in Municipal Courts: In Municipal Trial Courts or Municipal Circuit Trial Courts, when the prosecutor assigned thereto or to the case is not available, the case may be prosecuted by:
  • The offended party,
  • Any peace officer, or
  • Public officer charged with the enforcement of the law violated.
• Cessation of Authority: This authority ceases upon actual intervention of the prosecutor or upon elevation of the case to the Regional Trial Court.
• 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 both are alive.
  • Cannot be prosecuted in any case if the offended party has consented to the offense or pardoned the offenders.
• 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.
  • Cannot be prosecuted in any case if the offender has been expressly pardoned by any of the aforementioned parties.
  • State Intervention: 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.
  • Independent Right of Minor: The offended party, even if a minor, has the right to initiate the prosecution of these offenses independently of her parents, grandparents, or guardian, unless she is incompetent or incapable of doing so.
  • Successive Order of Filing: Where the offended party who is a minor fails to file the complaint, her parents, grandparents, or guardian may file the same. The right granted to parents, grandparents, or guardian is exclusive of all other persons and shall be exercised successively in the specified order (parents, then grandparents, then guardian), except as stated regarding the minor's independent right.
• Defamation Imputing Private Crimes: No criminal action for defamation consisting of the imputation of adultery, concubinage, seduction, abduction, or acts of lasciviousness shall be brought except at the instance of and upon complaint filed by the offended party.
• Special Laws: The prosecution for violation of special laws shall be governed by the provisions thereof.

Section 6: Sufficiency of Complaint or Information

• Requisites for Sufficiency: A complaint or information is sufficient if it states:
  1. The name of the accused;
  2. The designation of the offense given by the statute;
  3. The acts or omissions complained of as constituting the offense;
  4. The name of the offended party;
  5. The approximate date of the commission of the offense; and
  6. The place where the offense was committed.
• Multiple Accused: When an offense is committed by more than one person, all of them shall be included in the complaint or information.

Section 7: Name of the Accused

• Specification of Name: Must state the name and surname of the accused, or any appellation or nickname by which he has been or is known.
• Fictitious Name: If his name cannot be ascertained, he must be described under a fictitious name with a statement that his true name is unknown.
• Disclosure of True Name: If the true name of the accused is thereafter disclosed by him or appears in some other manner to the court, such true name shall be inserted in the complaint or information and record.

Section 8: Designation of the Offense

• Statutory Designation: Must state the designation of the offense given by the statute.
• Allegations Required: Aver the acts or omissions constituting the offense, and specify its qualifying and aggravating circumstances.
• Absence of Statutory Designation: If there is no designation of the offense, reference shall be made to the section or subsection of the statute punishing it.

Section 9: Cause of the Accusation

• Language Requirements: The acts or omissions complained of as constituting the offense and the qualifying and aggravating circumstances must be stated in ordinary and concise language, not necessarily in the language used in the statute.
• Standard of Sufficiency: Must be 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
  • Enable the court to pronounce judgment.

Section 10: Place of Commission of the Offense

• General Rule: The complaint or information is sufficient if it can be understood from its allegations that the offense was committed or some of its essential ingredients occurred at some place within the jurisdiction of the court.
• Exception: Unless the particular place where it was committed constitutes an essential element of the offense or is necessary for its identification.

Section 11: Date of Commission of the Offense

• Precise Date: It is not necessary to state the precise date the offense was committed, except when it is a material ingredient of the offense.
• Approximation: The offense may be alleged to have been committed on a date as near as possible to the actual date of its commission.

Section 12: Name of the Offended Party

• Identification: Must state the name and surname of the person against whom or against whose property the offense was committed, or any appellation or nickname by which such person has been or is known. If there is no better way of identifying him, he must be described under a fictitious name.
• Offenses Against Property: If the name of the offended party is unknown, the property must be described with such particularity as to properly identify the offense charged.
• Subsequent Disclosure: If the true name of the person against whom or against whose property the offense was committed is thereafter disclosed or ascertained, the court must cause the true name to be inserted in the complaint or information and the record.
• Juridical Persons: If the offended party is a juridical person, it is sufficient to state its name, or any name or designation by which it is known or by which it may be identified, without need of averring that it is a juridical person or that it is organized in accordance with law.

Section 13: Duplicity of the Offense

• Single Offense Rule: A complaint or information must charge but one offense.
• Exception: When the law prescribes a single punishment for various offenses.

Section 14: Amendment or Substitution

• Amendment Before Plea: May be amended in form or in substance without leave of court at any time before the accused enters his plea.
• Downgrading or Exclusion Before Plea: Any amendment before plea which downgrades the nature of the offense charged 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 to all parties, especially the offended party.
• Amendment After 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.
• Mistake in Charging Proper Offense / Substitution:
  • 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 shall not be placed in double jeopardy.
  • The court may require the witnesses to give bail for their appearance at the trial.

Section 15: Place Where Action is to be Instituted

• General Venue: 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.
• Offenses Committed in Transit (Train, Aircraft, Vehicles): Where an offense is committed in a train, aircraft, or other public or private vehicle while in the course of its trip, the criminal action shall be instituted and tried in the court of any municipality or territory where such train, aircraft, or vehicle passed during its trip, including the place of departure and arrival.
• Offenses Committed On Board a Vessel: 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.
• Crimes Committed Outside the Philippines: Crimes committed outside 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.

Section 16: Intervention of the Offended Party in Criminal Action

• Right to Intervene: Where the civil action for recovery of civil liability is instituted in the criminal action pursuant to Rule 111, the offended party may intervene by counsel in the prosecution of the offense.

RULE 111: PROSECUTION OF CIVIL ACTION

Section 1: Institution of Criminal and Civil Actions

• Implied Institution: When a criminal action is instituted, the civil action for the recovery of civil liability arising from the offense charged shall be deemed instituted with the criminal action.
• Exceptions to Implied Institution: The civil action is not deemed instituted if the offended party:
  1. Waives the civil action;
  2. Reserves the right to institute it separately; or
  3. Institutes the civil action prior to the criminal action.
• Timing of Reservation: The reservation of the right to institute separately the civil action shall be made before the prosecution starts presenting its evidence and under circumstances affording the offended party a reasonable opportunity to make such reservation.
• Filing Fees Rules:
  • Unspecified Non-Actual Damages: When the offended party seeks to enforce civil liability by way of moral, nominal, temperate, or exemplary damages without specifying the amount thereof in the complaint or information, the filing fees thereof shall constitute a first lien on the judgment awarding such damages.
  • Specified Non-Actual Damages: Where the amount of damages, other than actual, is specified in the complaint or information, the corresponding filing fees shall be paid by the offended party upon the filing thereof in court.
  • Actual Damages: Except as otherwise provided in these Rules, no filing fees shall be required for actual damages.
• Prohibition of Counterclaims and Cross-claims: No counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party complaint may be filed by the accused in the criminal case, but any cause of action which could have been the subject thereof may be litigated in a separate civil action.
• Rules on Batas Pambansa Blg. 22 (BP 22):
  • The criminal action for violation of Batas Pambansa Blg. 22 shall be deemed to include the corresponding civil action.
  • No Reservation Allowed: No reservation to file such civil action separately shall be allowed.
  • Filing Fees: Upon filing of the joint criminal and civil actions, the offended party shall pay in full the filing fees based on the amount of the check involved, which shall be considered as the actual damages claimed.
  • Additional Fees: Where the complaint or information also seeks to recover liquidated, moral, nominal, temperate, or exemplary damages, additional filing fees shall be paid based on the amounts alleged therein. If not alleged but subsequently awarded, filing fees based on the amount awarded shall constitute a first lien on the judgment.
  • Consolidation: Where the civil action has been filed separately and trial thereof has not yet commenced, it may be consolidated with the criminal action upon application with the court trying the latter case. If granted, trial proceeds in accordance with Section 2 of Rule 111.

Section 2: When Separate Civil Action is Suspended

• Suspension of Separate Action:
  • After the criminal action has been commenced, the separate civil action arising therefrom cannot be instituted until final judgment has been entered in the criminal action.
  • If the criminal action is filed after the civil action has already been instituted, the civil action shall be suspended in whatever stage it may be found before judgment on the merits. The suspension lasts until final judgment is rendered in the criminal action.
• Consolidation: Before judgment on the merits is rendered in the civil action, the same may, upon motion of the offended party, be consolidated with the criminal action in the court trying the criminal action.
• Reproduction of Evidence: In case of consolidation, evidence already adduced in the civil action shall be deemed automatically reproduced in the criminal action without prejudice to:
  • The right of the prosecution to cross-examine witnesses presented by the offended party in the civil case, and
  • The right of the parties to present additional evidence.
  • The consolidated criminal and civil actions shall be tried and decided jointly.
• Tolling of Prescription: During the pendency of the criminal action, the running of the period of prescription of the civil action which cannot be instituted separately or whose proceeding has been suspended shall be tolled.
• Effect of Extinction of Penal Action:
  • The extinction of the penal action does not carry with it extinction of the civil action.
  • Exception: The civil action based on delict shall be deemed extinguished if there is a finding in a final judgment in the criminal action that the act or omission from which the civil liability may arise did not exist.

Section 3: When Civil Action May Proceed Independently

• Independent Civil Actions: In the cases provided for in Articles 32, 33, 34, and 2176 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, the independent civil action may be brought by the offended party.
• Quantum of Evidence: It shall proceed independently of the criminal action and shall require only a preponderance of evidence.
• Prohibition of Double Recovery: In no case may the offended party recover damages twice for the same act or omission charged in the criminal action.

Section 4: Effect of Death on Civil Actions

• Death After Arraignment:
  • The death of the accused after arraignment and during the pendency of the criminal action shall extinguish the civil liability arising from the delict.
  • Continuation of Independent/Other Civil Actions: The independent civil action instituted under Section 3 of Rule 111 or which thereafter is instituted to enforce liability arising from other sources of obligation may be continued against the estate or legal representative of the accused after proper substitution, or against said estate.
  • Substitution of Heirs: The heirs of the accused may be substituted for the deceased without requiring the appointment of an executor or administrator, and the court may appoint a guardian ad litem for the minor heirs.
  • Timeframe for Substitution: The court shall forthwith order said legal representative or representatives to appear and be substituted within a period of thirty (30) days from notice.
  • Enforcement of Judgment: A final judgment entered in favor of the offended party shall be enforced in the manner especially provided in the rules for prosecuting claims against the estate of the deceased.
• Death Before Arraignment: If the accused dies before arraignment, the case shall be dismissed without prejudice to any civil action the offended party may file against the estate of the deceased.

Section 5: Judgment in Civil Action Not a Bar

• Effect of Absolution: A final judgment rendered in a civil action absolving the defendant from civil liability is not a bar to a criminal action against the defendant for the same act or omission subject of the civil action.

Section 6: Suspension by Reason of Prejudicial Question

• Where and When to File Petition:
  • A petition for suspension of the criminal action based upon the pendency of a prejudicial question in a civil action may be filed in the office of the prosecutor or the court conducting the preliminary investigation.
  • When the criminal action has been filed in court for trial, the petition to suspend shall be filed in the same criminal action at any time before the prosecution rests.

Section 7: Elements of Prejudicial Question

• Requisites: The elements of a prejudicial question are:
  1. The previously instituted civil action involves an issue similar or intimately related to the issue raised in the subsequent criminal action; and
  2. The resolution of such issue determines whether or not the criminal action may proceed.