Criminal Law Review Questions 1
1. Which form of executive clemency results in the total extinction of the criminal liability of the individual to whom it is granted?
A. Absolute Pardon
B. Conditional Pardon
C. Reprieve
D. Commutation of Sentence
Answer: A. An absolute pardon removes the penalties and legal disabilities resulting from the conviction and restores civil and political rights, subject to legal limitations. Unlike amnesty, it does not erase the fact that the crime was committed.
2. Which of the following is a mandatory requirement for the President to validly grant Amnesty under the 1987 Philippine Constitution?
A. Legislative concurrence
B. Judicial approval
C. Final conviction
D. Civilian recommendation
Answer: A. Unlike pardon, amnesty requires the concurrence of a majority of all the members of Congress to be valid.
Article VII, Section 19 of the 1987 Constitution requires the concurrence of a majority of all Members of Congress for amnesty.
3. What type of executive clemency is specifically intended for groups of people who have committed political offenses against the state?
A. Conditional Pardon
B. Absolute Pardon
C. Commutation
D. Amnesty
Answer: D, Amnesty is a public act that overlooks offenses against the state, typically political in nature, and is addressed to classes of persons.
4. A prisoner's death sentence is changed to Reclusion Perpetua by the President. What form of clemency was exercised?
A. Parole
B. Commutation of Sentence
C. Reprieve
D. Amnesty
Answer: B, Commutation is the act of the President reducing a heavier sentence to a lighter one, such as death to life imprisonment.
5. In Philippine jurisprudence, how is a pardon distinguished from Amnesty regarding the time it can be granted?
A. Amnesty follows conviction
B. Pardon follows conviction
C. Pardon precedes trial
D. Both require conviction
Answer: B, Under the 1987 Constitution, the President can only grant a pardon after a conviction by final judgment has been rendered. Amnesty, by contrast, may be granted before or after conviction.
6. Which term refers to the temporary stay or postponement of the execution of a sentence, especially the death penalty?
A. Absolute Pardon
B. Reprieve
C. Conditional Pardon
D. Commutation
Answer: B. A reprieve is a temporary relief or delay in the execution of a sentence, usually to allow for further investigation.
7. A person was granted a pardon on the condition that they never again reside in the province where the crime was committed. What is this called?
A. Conditional Pardon
B. Commutation
C. Amnesty
D. Absolute Pardon
Answer: A, A conditional pardon is a contract between the Chief Executive and the convict, where the convict must follow specific terms.
8. What is the legal effect if a convict violates the terms of their Conditional Pardon?
A. Extension of parole
B. Re-arrest and incarceration
C. Immediate grant of amnesty
D. Automatic absolute pardon
Answer: B, Violation of a conditional pardon (Art 159, RPC) allows for the re-arrest of the individual to serve the remaining unexpired portion of the sentence.
9. Which of the following describes the 'looking backward' nature of Amnesty compared to Pardon?
A. Amnesty obliterates the crime
B. Reprieve obliterates the crime
C. Commutation obliterates the crime
D. Pardon obliterates the crime
Answer: A, Amnesty 'looks backward' and treats the crime as if it were never committed, whereas pardon 'looks forward' and just remits the punishment.
10. Which official or body is primarily responsible for recommending the grant of executive clemency to the President of the Philippines?
A. Senate President
B. Supreme Court Justices
C. Board of Pardons and Parole
D. Director of Corrections
Answer: C, The BPP, under the Department of Justice, is the administrative body that reviews cases and recommends clemency to the President.
The President's constitutional power of clemency is discretionary. The Board of Pardons and Parole primarily serves as the body that investigates applications and recommends appropriate executive clemency, but the President is not constitutionally bound by its recommendations.
11. Which circumstance exists when a person acts in defense of his rights, provided there is unlawful aggression and reasonable necessity of the means employed?
A. Aggravating circumstance
B. Justifying circumstance
C. Mitigating circumstance
D. Exempting circumstance
Answer: B. Article 11 of the RPC states that self-defense is a justifying circumstance where the act is considered lawful, and no crime is committed.
Self-defense and defense of rights under Article 11 are justifying circumstances, provided the requisites are present.
12. An imbecile or an insane person is generally not criminally liable. Under which category does this fall?
A. Mitigating circumstance
B. Justifying circumstance
C. Exempting circumstance
D. Alternative circumstance
Answer: C. Article 12 provides that those acting without intelligence, such as imbeciles or the insane, are exempt from criminal liability.
Article 12 exempts imbeciles and insane persons from criminal liability, subject to exceptions for lucid intervals.
13. Under the Revised Penal Code, what is the effect of a 'plea of guilty' by the accused before the presentation of evidence for the prosecution?
A. Aggravating circumstance
B. Exempting circumstance
C. Justifying circumstance
D. Mitigating circumstance
Answer: D. Article 13, paragraph 7, lists the voluntary confession of guilt before the court as a circumstance that lowers the penalty.
Voluntary plea of guilty before the presentation of evidence is a mitigating circumstance under Article 13(7)
14. Which circumstance increases the penalty because the offender took advantage of the darkness to facilitate the commission of the crime?
A. Alevosia
B. Ignominy
C. Nocturnity
D. Relationship
Answer: C. Nighttime, or nocturnity, is an aggravating circumstance under Article 14 when purposely sought or taken advantage of to facilitate the crime..
1. Concept Nighttime (nocturnity), as an aggravating circumstance under the Revised Penal Code, refers to the circumstance when the offender specifically sought out the nighttime to take advantage of it in committing the crime.
Legal basis Article 14. Aggravating circumstances. - The following are aggravating circumstances:
6. That the crime be committed in the nighttime… whenever such circumstances may facilitate the commission of the offense. (Revised Penal Code)
2. Nighttime (nocturnity) For the aggravating circumstance of nighttime (nocturnity), the offender specifically sought out the nighttime to take advantage of it in committing the crime. The fact alone that the crime was committed at night does not automatically aggravate the crime. (People v. Gallego, G.R. No. 130603, August 15, 2000, Per Puno, J.) a. Elements. By and of itself, nighttime is not an aggravating circumstance. It becomes aggravating only when [the following elements are present]. (People v. Gaffud, Jr., En Banc, G.R. No. 168050, September 19, 2008, Per Puno, C.J.) Elements of nighttime or nocturnity:
1) It is specially sought by the offender;
2) The offender takes advantage of it; or
3) It facilitates the commission of the crime by ensuring the offender's immunity from identification or capture. (People v. Cortes, En Banc, G.R. No. 137050, July 11, 2001, Per Pardo, J.)
15. What is the classification of 'intoxication' when it is not habitual and not subsequent to the plan to commit a felony?
A. Aggravating
B. Mitigating
C. Justifying
D. Exempting
Answer: B. Under Article 15, intoxication is mitigating if it is not habitual and not intentional (not used to brace one's nerves for the crime).
Under Article 15, intoxication is mitigating when not habitual and not intentional to facilitate the commission of the crime.
16. Which aggravating circumstance is present when the offender commits any of the crimes against persons, employing means which tend directly to ensure its execution without risk to himself?
A. Unlawful entry
B. Evident premeditation
C. Treachery
D. Recidivism
Answer: C. Treachery, or alevosia, is defined by Article 14, paragraph 16, as employing means that prevent the victim from defending themselves.
Treachery (alevosia) exists when means are employed to ensure execution without risk to the offender from any defense the victim might make.
17. A person acts under the compulsion of an irresistible force. What is the effect on their criminal liability?
A. Penalty is increased
B. Liability is justified
C. Actor is exempt
D. Liability is mitigated
Answer: C. Article 12, paragraph 5, exempts a person from liability if they act under the compulsion of an irresistible physical force.
18. In the 'state of necessity' as a justifying circumstance, the evil sought to be avoided must be greater than that done. Who bears the civil liability?
A. The state government
B. None, it is extinguished
C. The persons benefited
D. The person acting
Answer: C. Article 11, paragraph 4, specifies that civil liability falls upon the persons benefited by the prevention of the greater evil.
In Philippine criminal law, specifically under Article 11 of the Revised Penal Code, the state of necessity is a justifying circumstance. It applies when a person commits an act to avoid a greater evil or injury, provided that the harm avoided is greater than the harm caused.
However, while the act itself is justified (no criminal liability), civil liability remains. The law states that the persons benefited by the act bear the civil liability.
This means that if someone destroys another’s property to save several lives, the people whose lives were saved are the ones who must indemnify the owner of the destroyed property.
19. What circumstance is considered when the offender has no intention to commit so grave a wrong as that committed?
A. Obfuscation
B. Praeter intentionem
C. Incomplete defense
D. Proximate cause
Answer: B. Article 13, paragraph 3, refers to 'praeter intentionem' as a mitigating circumstance when the result exceeds the intent.
Lack of intent to commit so grave a wrong as that committed is a mitigating circumstance under Article 13(3).
20. When an offender commits a crime in a manner that adds ignominy to the natural effects of the act, what type of circumstance is present?
A. Mitigating
B. Exempting
C. Aggravating
D. Justifying
Answer: C. Article 14, paragraph 17, lists ignominy as an aggravating circumstance because it increases the moral suffering of the victim.
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