Art 16. Who are criminally liable.

The following are criminally

liable for grave and less grave felonies:

1. Principals.

Exception: defamation of the dead is punishable when it blackens

the memory of one who is dead.

Art 17. Principals. The following are considered principals:

2. Accomplices.
3. Accessories.

The following are criminally liable for light felonies:

1.
2.

Principals

1.

1.

Those who take a direct part in the execution of the

act;
2.

2.

Those who directly force or induce others to commit it;

3.

3.

Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense

by another act without which it would not have been

Accomplices.

accomplished.

Accessories not liable for light felonies because the individual

prejudice is so small that penal sanction is not necessary
Principals by Direct Participation

Only natural persons can be criminals as only they can act with
malice or negligence and can be subsequently deprived of liberty.
Juridical persons are liable under special laws.

Manager of a partnership is liable even if there is no evidence of his

Requisites for 2 or more to be principals by direct participation:

1.

participated in the criminal resolution (conspiracy)

2.

carried out their plan and personally took part in its execution by

direct participation in the crime.

Corporations may be the injured party

General Rule: Corpses and animals have no rights that may be

acts which directly tended to the same end

Conspiracy Is unity of purpose and intention.

Establishment of Conspiracy

injured.
1.

proven by overt act

2.

Not mere knowledge or approval

3.

It is not necessary that there be formal agreement.

4.

Must prove beyond reasonable doubt

5.

Conspiracy is implied when the accused had a common purpose and

object of the conspiracy or is not a logical or necessary consequence

thereof

Unity of purpose and intention in the commission of the crime may

Multiple rape each rapist is liable for anothers crime because

each cooperated in the commission of the rapes perpetrated by the
others

were united in execution.

6.

Conspirator not liable for the crimes of the other which is not the

Exception: in the crime of murder with treachery all the offenders

must at least know that there will be treachery in executing the

be shown in the following cases:

crime or cooperate therein.

1.

Spontaneous agreement at the moment of the commission of

the crime

Example: Juan and Pedro conspired to kill Tomas without the previous plan
of treachery. In the crime scene, Juan used treachery in the presence of

2.

Active Cooperation by all the offenders in the perpetration of

the crime

3.

Contributing by positive acts to the realization of a common

criminal intent

4.

Presence during the commission of the crime by a band and

Pedro and Pedro knew such. Both are liable for murder. But if Pedro stayed
by the gate while Juan alone killed Tomas with treachery, so that Pedro
didnt know how it was carried out, Juan is liable for murder while Pedro
for homicide.

negligence. However, special laws may make one a co-principal.

lending moral support thereto.

5.

Example: Under the Pure Food and Drug Act, a storeowner is liable
for the act of his employees of selling adulterated coffee, although

While conspiracy may be implied from the circumstances

he didnt know that coffee was being sold.

attending the commission of the crime, it is nevertheless a rule

that conspiracy must be established by positive and conclusive
evidence.

No such thing as conspiracy to commit an offense through

Conspiracy is negatived by the acquittal of co-defendant.

That the culprits carried out the plan and personally took part in

2.

the crime by the material executor

the execution, by acts which directly tended to the same end:

1.

The principals by direct participation must be at the scene of the

crime, personally taking part, although he was not present in the
scene of the crime, he is equally liable as a principal by direct
participation.

2.

One serving as guard pursuant to the conspiracy is a principal direct

d. Forms of Inducements
1.

By Price, reward or promise

2.

By irresistible force or uncontrollable fear

3.

Commander has the intention of procuring the commission of the

participation.

If the second element is missing, those who did not participate in

such inducement be the determining cause of the commission of

crime
4.

Commander has ascendancy or influence

5.

Words used be so direct, so efficacious, so powerful

6.

Command be uttered prior to the commission

7.

Executor had no personal reason

4.

Imprudent advice does not constitute sufficient inducement

5.

Requisites for words of command to be considered inducement:

6.

Words uttered in the heat of anger and in the nature of the

the commission of the acts of execution cannot be held criminally

liable, unless the crime agreed to be committed is treason, sedition,
or rebellion.
Principals by Induction
a.
2.

Those who directly force or induce others to commit it

Principal by induction liable only when principal by direct
participation committed the act induced

3.

Requisites:

command that had to be obeyed do not make one an inductor.

1.

inducement be made directly with the intention of procuring the

commission of the crime

INDUCTOR

PROPOSES TO COMMIT A FELONY

Induce others

Same

Liable only when the crime is

executed

Covers any crime

2.

Cooperation through another act (includes negligence)

Punishable at once when proposes to

commit rebellion or treason. The person
to whom one proposed should not
commit the crime, otherwise the latter
becomes an inductor

*there is collective criminal responsibility when the offenders are

Covers only treason and rebelli

criminally liable in the same manner and to the same extent. The
penalty is the same for all.

conspiracy.

Effects of Acquittal of Principal by direct participation on liability

of principal by inducement
1.

Conspiracy is negated by the acquittal of the co-defendant.

2.

One can not be held guilty of instigating the commission of the

there is individual criminal responsibility when there is no

Art. 18.

Accomplices. Accomplices are those persons

who, not being included in Art. 17, cooperate in the execution of

the offense by previous or simultaneous acts.

crime without first showing that the crime has been actually

Requisites:

Examples: a) Juan was choking Pedro. Then Tomas ran up and hit

committed by another. But if the one charged as principal by direct

participation be acquitted because he acted without criminal intent
or malice, it is not a ground for the acquittal of the principal by

Pedro with a bamboo stick. Juan continued to choke Pedro until he

inducement.

was dead. Tomas is only an accomplice because the fatal blow came
from Juan. b) Lending a dagger to a killer, knowing the latters

Principals by Indispensable Cooperation

1.

Those who cooperate in the commission of the offense by another

purpose.

act without which it would not have been accomplished

2.

Requisites:

1.

Participation in the criminal resolution

An accomplice has knowledge of the criminal design of the principal

and all he does is concur with his purpose.

There must be a relation between the acts done by the principal and
those attributed to the person charges as accomplice

In homicide or murder, the accomplice must not have inflicted the

mortal wound.

1.

there be a community of design (principal originates the design,

Chief Executive, or is known to be habitually guilty of some other

crime.

accomplice only concurs)

2.

3.

he cooperates in the execution by previous or simultaneous acts,

Example of Par 1: person received and used property from another,

knowing it was stolen

Example of Par 2: placing a weapon in the hand of the dead who

intending to give material and moral aid (cooperation must be

was unlawfully killed to plant evidence, or burying the deceased who

knowingly done, it must also be necessary and not indispensable

was killed by the principals

There be a relation between the acts of the principal and the

alleged accomplice
Art. 19.

the escape of the principal of any crime (not light felony) with abuse
of his public functions, b) private persons who harbor, conceal or

Accessories. Accessories are those who, having

assist in the escape of the author of the crime guilty of treason,

knowledge of the commission of the crime, and without having

parricide, murder or an attempt against the life of the President, or

participated therein, either as principals or accomplices, take

who is known to be habitually guilty of some crime.

part subsequent to its commission in any of the following

manners:
1. By profiting themselves or assisting the offender to profit by
the effects of the crime.

Example of Par 3: a) public officers who harbor, conceal or assist in

General Rule: Principal acquitted, Accessory also acquitted

Exception: when the crime was in fact committed but the principal
is covered by exempting circumstances.

2. By concealing or destroying the body of the crime, or the

effects or instruments thereof, in order to prevent its discovery.
3. By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the
principals of the crime, provided the accessory acts with abuse of
his public functions or whenever the author of the crime is guilty
of treason, parricide, murder, or an attempt to take the life of the

Example: Minor stole a ring and Juan, knowing it was stolen, bought it.
Minor is exempt. Juan liable as accessory

Trial of accessory may proceed without awaiting the result of the

separate charge against the principal because the criminal

degrees, with the single exception of accessories falling within

responsibilities are distinct from each other

the provisions of paragraph 1 of the next preceding article.

Liability of the accessory the responsibility of the accessory is

Basis: Ties of blood and the preservation of the cleanliness of ones

subordinate to that of a principal in a crime because the accessorys

name which compels one to conceal crimes committed by relatives

participation therein is subsequent to its commission, and his guilt is

so near as those mentioned.

directly related to the principal. If the principal was acquitted by an

exempting circumstance the accessory may still be held liable.

brothers and sisters, or relatives by affinity within the same

Difference of accessory from principal and accomplice:

Nephew and Niece not included

Accessory not exempt when helped a relative-principal by profiting

from the effects of the crime, or assisted the offender to profit from

1.

Accessory does not take direct part or cooperate in, or induce the

the effects of the crime.

commission of the crime

2.

Only accessories covered by par 2 and 3 are exempted.

Public officer who helped his guilty brother escape does not incur

Accessory does not cooperate in the commission of the offense by

acts either prior thereto or simultaneous therewith

criminal liability as ties of blood constitutes a more powerful

3.

Participation of the accessory in all cases always takes place after

incentive than the call of duty.

the commission of the crime

4.

Takes part in the crime through his knowledge of the commission of

PENALTY suffering inflicted by the State for the transgression of a

law.

the offense.
Art. 20.

Accessories who are exempt from criminal liability.

The penalties prescribed for accessories shall not be imposed

upon those who are such with respect to their spouses,
ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural, and adopted

3 fold purpose:

Juridical Conditions of Penalty

1.

retribution or expiation penalty commensurate with the gravity of

the offense

2.

correction or reformation rules which regulate the execution of

penalties consisting of deprivation of liberty

3.

social defense inflexible severity to recidivists and habitual

delinquents

a. Must be productive of suffering limited by the integrity of human

personality
b. Must be proportionate to the crime
c. Must be personal imposed only upon the criminal
d. Must be legal according to a judgment of fact and law
e. Must be equal applies to everyone regardless of the circumstance
f. Must be correctional to rehabilitate the offender