The Philippine Criminal Justice System PDF

## The Philippine Criminal Justice System ### The Judiciary * **Judge** - A public officer so named in his commission and appointed to preside over and to administer the law in the court of justice * **Judicial Independence** - The freedom of the court to settle legal controversies or disputes wi...

## The Philippine Criminal Justice System ### The Judiciary * **Judge** - A public officer so named in his commission and appointed to preside over and to administer the law in the court of justice * **Judicial Independence** - The freedom of the court to settle legal controversies or disputes with an impartial eye and an even hand and bowing to no one except the law. It is the freedom of the judges to perform their functions without interferences from the executive or legislative branch of the government. * **Judicial Review** - The power of the courts, ultimately the Supreme Court, to interpret the constitution and to declare any legislative or executive act invalid because it is in conflict with the fundamental law. ### Organization of Courts (Batas Pambansa Bilang 129 as Amended by RA 11576) #### Regular Courts * **Metropolitan Trial Court, Municipal Trial Court, Municipal Circuit Trial Court** * Jurisdiction: 1. All violations of city or municipal ordinances 2. All offenses punishable with imprisonment not exceeding 6 years irrespective of the amount or fine. * **Regional Trial Court** * Jurisdiction: 1. All criminal cases not within the exclusive jurisdiction of any court, tribunal or body, except those now falling under the exclusive and concurrent jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan. 2. Appellate jurisdiction over all cases decided by Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts in their respective territorial jurisdictions. #### Special Courts * **Court of Tax Appeals** - Has original jurisdiction and is an appellate court for matters related to taxes. It is an appellate court, equal to the Court of Appeals. * **The Sandiganbayan** - A special court set up to deal with instances of corruption involving a government official or an official in a government-owned body. Cases are filed at the Sandibanbayan by the Ombudsman. * **Sharia Courts** - Have limited jurisdiction over cases relating to Muslims. They also have limited territorial jurisdiction, which is determined by the Supreme Court. #### Quasi-Judicial Agencies Unlike regular and special courts, quasi judicial bodies do not possess judicial power. Instead, they possess, and in fact, exercise what are termed as quasi-judicial power. Even though they are not courts of justice, either the constitution or the special statutes empower these agencies to exercise such quasi-judicial power solely in aid of the administrative powers that they are administrative agency are allowed only for the empowered to exercise. Some of the Philippine-recognized quasi-agencies are: * National Labor Relations Commission * Civil Service Commission * Commission on Elections * Commission on Audit ### Maximum Periods in Rendering Decisions * **Supreme Court** - 24 months * **Court of Appeals and other Collegiate appellate courts** - Within 12 months unless reduced by the Supreme Court * **Lower Courts** - Within 3 months ### Corrections (Third Pillar) * Correction is the branch of the administration of CJS charged with the responsibility for the custody, supervision, and rehabilitation of convicted offenders. It is also defined as the **STUDY OF JAIL OR PRISON MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION** as well as the rehabilitation and reformation of criminals. ### The Corrections as a Component of the Criminal Justice System Jail administration and control in our country is distributed to at least four agencies: * **The BUREAU OF CORRECTIONS (BUCOR)** - Under the DOJ, which has supervision over the national penitentiary and its penal farms. * **The BUREAU OF JAIL MANAGEMENT AND PENOLOGY (BJMP)** - Under the DILG, which has the exclusive control over all city, municipal, and district jails nationwide. * **The PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS** - Under DILG; which supervise and control their respective provincial and sub-provincial jails; and * **The DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT (DSWD)** - Which takes care of, among others, youthful offenders entered in detention centers for juveniles. ### The Parole and Probation Administration * **The Parole and Probation Administration (PPA)** - Under the Department of Justice (DOJ). * **The Board of Pardons and Parole** - Also under the Department of Justice. ### The Primary Schools of Penology 1. **The Classical School** - It maintains the "doctrine of psychological hedonism" or "free will." That the individual calculates pleasures and pains in advance of action and regulates his conduct by the result of his calculations. 2. **The Neo-classical School** - It maintained that while the classical doctrine is correct in general, children and lunatics cannot calculate the differences of pleasures from pain, they should not be regarded as criminals. Hence, they should be free from punishment. 3. **The Positivist/Italian School** - It adheres that crimes, as any other act, is a natural phenomenon. Criminals are considered as sick individuals who need to be treated by treatment programs rather than punitive actions against them. ### Purposes/Justifications of Punishment 1. **Retribution** - The punishment should be provided by the state whose sanction is violated, to afford the society or the individual the opportunity of imposing upon the offender suitable punishment as might be enforced. Offenders should be punished because they deserve it. 2. **Expiation or Atonement** - It is punishment in the form of group vengeance where the purpose is to appease the offended public or group. 3. **Deterrence** - Punishment gives a lesson to the offender by showing to others what would happen to them if they violate the law. Punishment is imposed to warn potential offenders that they cannot afford to do what the offender has done. 4. **Incapacitation and Protection** - The public will be protected if the offender is being held in conditions where he cannot harm others, especially the public. Punishment is effected by placing offenders in prison so that society will be ensured from further criminal depredations of criminals. 5. **Reformation or Rehabilitation** - It is the establishment of the usefulness and responsibility of the offender. Society's interest can be better served by helping the prisoner to become a law-abiding citizen and productive upon his return to the community by requiring him to undergo an intensive program of rehabilitation in prison. ### Duration of Penalties * **Death Penalty** - Capital punishment * **Reclusion Perpetua** - Life imprisonment, a term of 20 years and 1 day-40 yrs imprisonment * **Reclusion Temporal** - 12 yrs and 1 day to 20 years imprisonment * **Prision Mayor** - 6 yrs and 1 day to 12 years * **Prision Correctional** - 6 months and 1 day to 6 years * **Arresto Mayor** - 1 month and 1 day to 6 months * **Arresto Menor** - 1 day to 30 days ### General Classification of Prisoners 1. **Detention Prisoners** - Those detained for investigation, preliminary hearing, or awaiting trial. 2. **Sentenced Prisoners** - Offenders who are committed to the jail or prison in order to serve their sentence after final conviction by a competent court. 3. **Prisoners who are on Safekeeping** - Includes non-criminal offenders who are detained in order to protect the community against their harmful behavior. Ex. Mentally deranged individuals, insane person. ### Classification of Sentenced Prisoners 1. **Insular or National Prisoners** - Those sentenced to suffer a term of sentence of ３years and 1 day to life imprisonment. 2. **Provincial Prisoners** - Those persons sentenced to suffer a term of imprisonment from 6 months and 1 day to 3 years. 3. **City Prisoners** - Those sentenced to suffer a term of imprisonment from 1 day to 3 years. Those detained therein whose cases are filed with the MTC. 4. **Municipal Prisoners** - Those confined in Municipal jails to serve an imprisonment from 1 day to 6 months. ### The Institutionalized Treatment Programs 1. **Prison Education** - The cornerstone of rehabilitation. It is the process or result of formal training in school or classrooms intended to shape the mind and attitude of prisoners towards good living upon their release. 2. **Work Programs** - These are programs conducive to change behavior in morale by training prisoners for a useful occupation. It is purposely to eliminate idleness on the part of prisoners, which may contribute to "Prison stupor," and it affects the incidence of Prison riot. 3. **Religious Services in Prison** - The purpose of this program is to change the attitudes of inmates by inculcating religious values or belief. 4. **Recreational Programs** - The only program that is conducted during free time schedule. 5. **Medical and Health Services** - Medical and health services include: * Mental and physical examination * Diagnosis and treatment * Immunization * Sanitary inspections * Participation in training 6. **Counseling and Casework** ### Modes and Guidelines for Release An inmate may be released through: * Service of sentence * An order of the court * Parole * Pardon * Amnesty ### Community (Fifth Pillar) The community pillar includes private persons, private groups, and entities. It covers work with communities and organized groups in fighting criminality, collectively impose limitations on citizens' behavior to deter criminality/criminal behavior, and serve as society at large where a person convicted of a crime goes back to after serving his/her sentence. ### Social Institutions in the Community * Family * School * Church * Media * Other Non-Government Organizations