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THE PHILIPPINE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Introduction

The view of criminal justice as a system is important for our understanding of the place of the
corrections in it but we must recognize that the system does not necessarily operate in a
smooth, orderly manner with the accused persons entering upon arrest and henceforth moving
briskly toward the disposition of their cases. The realities of the administration of justice lead
many people to believe that it is not a system at all because the well-oiled machine implied by
the word system is not just there – the parts are not functioning as the organization chart or
rules specify. But social scientists know that the system departs from the formally stated goals
and procedures as various types of political, individual, and organizational influence are brought
into play. And the criminal justice system – a loose confederation of agencies at all levels of the
government that together provide the means by which offenders are apprehended, tried and
punished – is susceptible to a multitude of such influences.

System Characteristics

As a system, criminal justice is made up of a set of interesting parts – that is, all the institution
and processes by which decisions are made. For criminal justice to achieve its goals, each part
must make its own contribution. None can function without some degree of contact with at least
one other part. To group what it is that they do, we must look at their relationship with one
another: the police with prosecutors, probation officers with judges.

Plea bargaining between a prosecutor and the defendant is probably the most obvious example
of exchange of relationship. The defendant pleads guilty in exchange for some valued reward: a
reduction of the charges, the prosecutor’s recommendation of a light sentence, a parole officer’s
agreement to ease the rules in exchange for the so-called face-to-face relationships are found
throughout the system.

I. Definition of Terms

1. Criminal Justice System – is the machinery which the Philippine society uses in the
prevention and control of crimes. It is a group of agencies or legislators responsible in
the adjudication of criminal laws.

2. Criminal Justice Process – it is the decision-making point from the initial investigation or
arrest by the police to the offender and his re-entry to society.

3. Criminal Justice – is a field of study which deals with the nature of crimes in the society
as well as analyzing the formal process and social agencies which have been
established for crime control.

4. Court – refers to the body in the government which is charged with the responsibility of
the administration of justice.

5. Corrections – deals with punishment, treatment, incarceration, rehabilitation of offenders.

6. Probation – is a disposition under which a defendant, after conviction and sentence, is

released subject to conditions imposed by the court to the supervision of a probation
officer or a suspended sentence during good behavior (PD 968 – Probation Law of
1976)

7. Complaint – a sworn written accusation charging a person with an offense subscribed by

the offended party and a peace officer or other public office charged with the law
violated.

8. Information – is an accusation in writing charging a person with an offense subscribed by

the fiscal and filed with court.

9. Arrest – it is the taking of a person into custody in order that he may be forthcoming to
answer for the commission of offenses.

10. Police power – the inherent power of the State to enact laws subject to limitations (Bill of
Attainder @ Ex-Post Facto Law).
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Bill of Attainder – inflicting punishment without judicial trial

Ex-Post Facto Law – it is a bill punishing an act which are not punishable at the
time of commission.

11. Bail – security for the temporary release or liberty of the accussed.

a. cash bail
b. surety bond (insurance)
c. character bail (custody)

12. Arraignment – stage of the proceeding wherein the accused will be informed about the
nature and cause of the accusation against him and ask him guilty or not guilty for the
offense charged.

13. Mittimus – a warrant issued by a court bearing its seal and the signature of the judge
directing the jail or prison authorities to receive the convicted offender for service of
sentence imposed therein.

14. Penology – is the study of reformation and rehabilitation of criminals and the
management of prisons.

15. Warrant of Arrest – is an order in writing signed by the judge directed to a peace officer
to arrest a person and bring him before the court.

II. Function of Criminal Justice System

1. Preventing the commission of crime, enforcing the law.

2. Protecting life, individual rights and property.
3. Removing dangerous persons from the community.
4. Deterring people from indulging in criminal activities.
5. Investigating, apprehending, prosecuting, and sentencing those who cannot de deterred
from violating the rules of the society.
6. Rehabilitating offenders and returning them to the community as law abiding citizens.

III. Five Pillars of Criminal Justice System

1. Law Enforcement  Formal Organized components of criminal

2. Prosecution justice system
3. Courts

4. Corrections
5. Community – the basic element and considered the fifth component of the entire criminal
justice system. It can also be considered as the informal component of criminal justice
system

A. Law Enforcement

Functions of Law Enforcement Agencies

1. To protect lives and property, enforce law and maintain peace and order.
2. To prevent crimes, effect the arrest of criminal offenders and provide for their
detention and rehabilitation.
3. To investigate the commission of all crimes and offenses and bring the offenders to
justice
4. To take necessary measures to prevent and control fires.
5. To take all necessary steps to insure public safety.

The following are among the Law Enforcement Agencies

1. Philippine National Police (PNP)
2. National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
3. Finance Ministry Intelligence Bureau (FMIB)
4. Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)
5. Philippine Coast Guard
6. Commission on Immigration and Deportation (CID)
7. Bureau of Customs (BC)
8. Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)
9. Bureau of Forest Development (BFD)
10. Philippine Port Authority (PPA)
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11. Bureau of Air Transportation (BAI formerly CAA)

12. Land Transportation Commission (LTC)
13. Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB)
14. Task Force Anti-Gambling
15. Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) and others

B. Prosecution

Prosecutors, among the formal components of the criminal justice system, wield the
most extensive discretionary power – a power that has ramifications throughout the
criminal justice process if not used wisely.

The prosecution procedure requires the prosecutor to exercise his broad discretion in
the screening of cases, deciding which would be brought before the courts and which
could be dropped, and in determining the legal morality and degree of the crime with
which a law violator should be charged. With few exceptions, say authorities in criminal
justice it is at this point that the control of the prosecution falls entirely into his hands. It is
here that cases recommended for prosecution by the police department are screened,
and the processes of criminal justice with reference to any particular case or class of
cases may he halted. In the exercise of this discretion, innumerable influences may be
brought to hear.

Consideration that influence and modify the prosecutor’s discretion include the following:

1. The presence of absence and the strength or weakness of evidence proving the
existence of the element of the crime charged and connecting the alleged offender to
criminal act.

2. The nature of the complaint and attitude of the offended party.

3. The character of the accused, his status in the community and the impact of the
prosecution on his family.

4. The seriousness of the offense.

5. The exchange relationship among the components of the criminal justice system as
well as congestion within and resources demand placed upon the system.

6. Public opinion pressure.

In participating in the other phases of the criminal justice process, aside from the initial
disposition of cases, the prosecutor likewise use his discretionary power. This
discretionary power permeates the bail and plea of bargaining phases in jurisdiction
which allow the later practice.

C. Courts

Of all the components involved in securing the efficacy, efficiency, and fairness of the
administration of criminal justice, the courts stand in the position of vital importance.
These judicial bodies, manned by judges or magistrates and their personnel handle most
sensitive phase in the criminal justice process – the determination of the innocence or
guilt of the accused. Case congestions results in delay in the court process not only
diminish the deterrent effect of the entire criminal justice system in the eye of the
potential offenders but also undermine public confidence in the system effectiveness.
Case congestion confronts almost every judicial system in the world and it has been
attributed invariably to several factors.

The burgeoning of populace, the influx of the people, lured by all manner of glitter and
glamour, from rural nooks to urban centers, the increasing incidence of criminality and of
juvenile and domestic relations in densely populated areas, the rapid advances in the
science and technology, the worrisome annoyance of environmental pollution, the
tremendous increase in the number of motor vehicle attended by an ever-increasing
number of vehicular accidents and traffic violations, the novelty and complexity of the
cases, constantly multiplying legislation, antiquated and effectual courts methods and
inefficient personnel in a vastly complex and attenuated rules of procedure.

D. Correction
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The function of correction serves to rehabilitate and neutralize the deviant behavior of
adult criminals and juvenile delinquents. This component of criminal justice system faces
a three-side task in carrying out the punishment imposed on the convicted offender by
the court, to deter, to inflict retribution and to rehabilitate. The component of the
correction affectuate their functions through different programs, probation, commitment,
to an institution and parole.

a. Jail – commitment place for individual who committed a violation of law awaiting
court judgment.

b. Prison – it is a big dormitory where final judgment is being served by the

offender.

c. Amnesty – it is a general pardon granted by the President of the Republic for the
offense against the government primarily in cases where whole group, classes or
sector is involved.

d. Commitment Order – a written order of the court or authority consigning a

prisoner to a jail or prison or prison for detention.

e. Penology – is the study of the reformation and rehabilitation of criminals and the
management of prisons.

f. Corporal Punishment – physical injury inflicted on the body of a person

particularly on one convicted of a crime.

g. Detainee – a person who is detained in the violation of law or ordinance and has
not yet been convicted.

h. Prisoner – a person confined in jail to serve a prison sentence after conviction by

a competent court of authority.

i. Detention house – a holding facility for the juvenile offenders, the infirmed, drug
additions and alcoholics. (Juvenile offenders – minors below 18 years who
commit vandalism)

j. Parole – the conditional release of a person from jail/prison prior to the full
service with his sentence of his own recognizance.

Classification of Prisoners

1. Insular Prisoner – sentence in 3 years and up.

2. Provincial Prisoner – sentence over 6 months but not exceeding 3 years.
3. City and Municipal Prisoner – sentence 6 months below.

Kinds of Releases

1. Absolute Pardon – granted by the President to convicted prisoners.

2. Conditional Pardon – granted to a prisoner who is no longer in need of
institutionalization but who is not eligible for parole.
3. Commutation of Sentence – a form of executive clemency which reduces the
sentence of a convicted prisoner to a shorter term.
(example: death to life sentence)
4. Amnesty – presidential clemency
5. Parole – the conditional release of a person from jail/prison to the full service
with his sentence of his own recognizance.

Seven (7) Confinement Facilities Under the Bureau of Prisons

1. New Bilibid Prisons

a. Main – Muntinlupa, Metro Manila
b. Youth Reception Center
c. Reception and Diagnostic Center
d. Camp Sampaguita
e. Camp Bukang Liwayway
2. Iwahig Penal Farm (Palawan)
3. Davao Penal Colony (Davao)
4. Sablayan Penal Farm (Mindoro)
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5. San Ramon Penal Farm (Zamboanga)

6. Leyte Regional Prison (Abuyog, Leyter)
7. Correctional Institute for Women (Mandaluyong. Metro Manila)

E. Community

Outside the formal organization, however the community is the basic element and
considered the fifth component of the entire criminal justice system. Without the support
of the citizenry, the system by itself cannot succeed. Thus these individuals, private
groups and public entities when performing related criminal justice activities, become
part of the system. In the same manner, a law-making body becomes a component of
the system at the time it is engaged in the process of enacting a proposed law intended
to improve law enforcement or correctional methods. In the same token, any executive
agency of the government such as the educational, welfare, labor, health, community
development or any public office becomes a part of the system while engaged in
activities directly or indirectly contributing to the prevention or control of crimes. Private
associations or unions, neighborhood actions groups and individual citizens may also
become important functionaries of the system if involved in such type of activity. The
formal criminal justice system plus the other public and private agencies and citizens
make up the so-called larger criminal justice system.

The administration of criminal justice is not the exclusive responsibility of the police, the
prosecutors, the judges and correction personnel. Out of necessity, it has been said, the
criminal justice system relies on citizen participation.

Without the active participation of the members of the community, the process of the
criminal justice system cannot operate. The police rely on the citizens to report crimes
and assist them in the conduct of investigation. The prosecutors and the judges depend
upon citizens as witnesses in the prosecution of the offenders. The corrections staff trust
them to support community-based corrections programs. These notwithstanding citizens
often lack the proper conception of their role in the criminal justice system
underestimating their potentials in serving the end of justice.

Above all the community has very string influence in dissuading a criminal offender from
re-committing a criminal act after his release from the correctional institution by
accepting him as part and respectable member of the community. Several former
criminals return to criminal activities because the community refuse to accept them.
Nobody would like to trust them, they being frown upon and denied employment
because of their criminal records. This kind of attitude of the community actually force
former criminal offenders to return to criminal activity as revenge on the community that
hate them and also in order to survive in the world which they believe is cruel to them as
a result of the actuation of the community.

Various Sequential Criminal Stages through which the Offender Passes Five (5) Pillars
of Criminal Justice System.

1. Law enforcement
a. arrest
b. investigation (constitutional rights of the suspect)
c. custody (reglamentary periods in the custody of the suspect)

2. Prosecution
d. filing of complaint (by the offender party/peace officer by public officer
charged with the law violated)
e. Preliminary investigation/Preliminary Examination (to determine whether
there is a Prima Facie evidence in filing the case in court)
f. Plea of Bargaining (amicable settlement and payment of damages)
g. Filing of information in the court by the Fiscal
h. Recommendation of Bail by the Fiscal to the court or detention

3. Court
i. Issuance of warrant of arrest by the Judge (basis for detaining the suspect)
j. Adjudication of the case of trial (statutory rights of the accused)
k. Disposition of the case (convicted or acquitted)
l. Post conviction remedies (municipal court – city or metropolitan trial court –
RTC Regional Trial Court – Intermediate Appellate Court – Supreme Court or
can apply for probation)
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4. Corrections
m. community supervision (penal farm/colony)
n. incarceration (prison, Ex. NBP)
o. Release (parole/absolute pardon/conditional pardon/amnesty)

5. Community
p. restoration of rights
q. community-based program (cottage industry/KKK/KSS/NACIDA projects,
etc.)

Constitutional Rights of the Accused Under Custodial Investigation

(Art. 3, Sec. 12 of the New Constitution)

1. Right to be informed about the nature of the accusation against him

2. Right to remain silent
3. Right to counsel of his own choice, if the accused cannot afford the services of a
counsel, he must be provided with one, the right cannot be waived except in writing
and presence of the counsel.
4. Right to be informed that any statement he will give to the investigation may be used
as evidence against him in court.

Statutory Rights of the Accused or Rights of the Accused at the Trial

(Rule 115, Sec. 1 of the Revised Rules of Court)

1. The right to presume innocent until the contrary is proved beyond reasonable doubt
2. Right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him
3. Right to be exempt from being compelled to be a witness against himself
4. Right to have a speedy, impartial, and public trial
5. Right to appeal in all cases allowed and in the manner prescribed by law
6. To confront and cross-examine the witnesses against him at the trial
7. To testify as a witness in his own behalf but subject to the cross-examination on
matters covered by direct examination. His silence shall not in any matter prejudice
him.
8. To have compulsory process issued to secure the attendance of witness and
production of other evidence in his behalf
9. To be present and defend in person and by counsel at every stage of the
proceedings from the arraignment to the promulgation of the judgement

When may arrest can be effected even without warrant (citizen’s arrest)
(Sec. 5, Rule 113, Rules of Court as Announced in 1985)

Note: A peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a person:

1. When the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing or is about to

commit an offense in his presence.
2. When an offense has in fact been committed, and he has personal knowledge of
facts indicating that the person to be arrested has committed it.
3. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal
establishment or place where he is serving final judgment or temporarily confined
while his case is pending, or has escaped while being transferred from one
confinement to another.

Reglamentary Period to hold a Person Lawfully Arrested without Warrant

Light offense - 12 hours

Less Grave offense - 18 hours
Grave offense - 36 hours