FELONIES || CRIMES | OFFENSES | 5-minute Explanation!!! Criminal Law Lecture Series

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Crimes are acts and omissions punishable by laws. If the crimes are punishable under the Revised Penal Code, they are called felonies. However, if they are punishable under the special laws, they are called offenses. But now, offenses are now being used to refer to crimes in general.

Article 3 of the Revised Penal Code provides that felonies are acts and omissions which are punishable by laws. They are also being referred to as delitos. Felonies are committed in two ways: 1) by means of deceit or dolo, or 2) by means of fault or culpa.

A felony is committed by deceit or dolo when the act is performed with deliberate intent. Hence, it is intentional. Now, there are two elements of an intentional felony that we need to be familiar with. The first one is actus reus or criminal act and the second one is criminal intent.

Criminal act is required to be committed to consummate a felony. If the criminal act is not performed then no felony is committed. For example, one needs to commit murder in order for him to consummate the crime of murder. Hindi pwedeng sa isip mo lang nafulfill ‘yong pagpatay tapos sasabihin na meron ka nang napatay or nakacommit ka na ng isang criminal act. Dahil kung ganon, marami na siguro ang kriminal dahil madali lang pumatay kung sa sa isip.

The second element of intentional felony is criminal intent. It is what drives a person to commit a criminal act. It is a basic rule that actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea, that is, an act cannot be criminal unless the mind of the actor is criminal.

Let me give you an example to better understand it. Taking a property belonging to another, for instance isang wallet na nakapaibabaw sa isang lamesa, is criminal if the mind of the taker is to gain something from the act of taking. That is theft. And that is punishable under Book 2 of the Revised Penal Code. Pero kung kinuha niya lang ‘yong wallet sa pagaakalang ‘yong kinuha niya ay sa kanya, then there is no criminal act because criminal intent is absent. In order for the crime of theft to be performed, the taker should have a criminal intent to do a criminal act. Without the criminal intent, no crime is committed.

Now we also have to remember that a felony can be committed by means of fault or culpa. Here, even though there is no criminal intent, a felony can be committed. There is fault when the wrongful act results from imprudence, negligence, lack of foresight or lack of skill. Imprudence indicates a deficiency in action. Negligence, on the other hand, indicates a deficiency in perception.

Reckless imprudence shows that a person fails to take the necessary precaution to avoid injury to another person or damage to property. Halimbawa, nagmamaneho ako. Dahil hindi ako naging maingat, nakabangga ako ng isang pedestrian at nagtamo siya ng mga gasgas sa katawan. I may not have the intent to cause harm to him pero dahil sa aking imprudence, I committed a felony, particularly, reckless imprudence resulting to physical injury.

Now, if a person fails to pay proper attention and to use diligence in foreseeing the injury or damage impending to be caused, there is negligence. In the medical practice, there is a case wherein the Court held a doctor is criminally liable under the Captain of the Ship Doctrine dahil he allowed somebody in the operating room na maging pabaya and causing serious harm to the patient.

To sum it up, we have to remember that a felony is an act and omission penalized under the Revised Penal Code. It can be committed by means of deceit or dolo or by means of fault or culpa.

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#doloculpa
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