Criminal
Revised Penal Code with the death penalty abolished and criminal libel retained
The Revised Penal Code of 1930 remains the base statute, supplemented by special penal laws. Capital punishment was abolished in 2006, and libel remains a criminal offence, extended online by the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Metropolitan and Municipal Trial Courts hear lesser offences; Regional Trial Courts try serious crimes. The Sandiganbayan tries graft by public officials, and the Ombudsman investigates them.
Governing law
- Act 3815Revised Penal Code, 1930
- Republic Act 9346abolishing the death penalty, 2006
- Republic Act 10175Cybercrime Prevention Act, 2012
In practice
Reclusion perpetua replaced death as the maximum penalty. The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act carries life imprisonment for trafficking, and the chain-of-custody requirements in section 21 are strictly construed, so procedural failures by police frequently produce acquittals. Cyberlibel carries a higher penalty than print libel and a longer prescriptive period, and remains a live risk for publishers. The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 permits detention up to twenty-four days on authorisation of the Anti-Terrorism Council, and the Supreme Court struck parts of it down in 2021 while sustaining the core. The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, though the ICC has continued its investigation into the drug war killings.