Definition of Terms

Question 1

Criminal Procedure

Answer 1

Network of laws and procedure which governs procedural administration of justice. It is a proceeding whereby the State prosecutes a person for an act or omission punishable by law.

Question 2

Jurisdiction

Answer 2

The power of the court to hear and decide cases, and to execute judgment thereon.

Question 3

Criminal Jurisdiction

Answer 3

The authority to hear and try a particular offense, and to impose punishment to it

Question 4

Venue

Answer 4

Geographical location where he case shall be instituted, heard and tried.

Question 5

Pleading

Answer 5

Written statement of the respective claims and defenses of the parties submitted to the court for proper judgment.

Question 6

Motion

Answer 6

Application for relief other than by a pleading

Question 7

Affidavit

Answer 7

A statement of facts under oath. A sworn statement in writing sworn before a notary or other officer entitled to administer oaths or take acknowledgments.

Question 8

Counter Affidavit

Answer 8

Affidavit submitted in opposition to another affidavit, made and presented in contradiction or opposition to an affidavit which is made the basis or support of a motion or application.

Question 9

Barangay Protection Order (BPO)

Answer 9

Protection Order issued by the Punong Barangay, or in his absence the Barangay Kagawad, ordering the perpetrator to desist from committing acts of violence against the family or household members particularly women and children. (Sections 5a and 5b of RA 9262)

Question 10

Arrest

Answer 10

Taking of a person into custody in order that he maybe bound to answer for the commission of an offense

Question 11

Warrant of Arrest

Answer 11

Legal Process issued by competent authority directing the arrest of a person or persons upon the grounds stated therein. It is usually directed to regular officers of the law, but occasionally , to a private person named in it.

Question 12

Custodial Investigation

Answer 12

Any questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.

Question 13

Preliminary Investigation

Answer 13

An inquiry or proceeding to determine whether there is sufficient ground to engender a well-founded belief that a crime has been committed and the respondent is probably guilty thereof, and should be held for trial.

Question 14

Extrajudicial Confession

Answer 14

A declaration made at any time by a person, voluntarily and without compulsion or inducement , stating or acknowledging that he has committed or participated in the commission of a crime.

Question 15

Corpus Delicti

Answer 15

The fact of the commission of the crime charged or to the body or substance of the crime,

Question 16

Inquest Proceeding

Answer 16

An informal and summary investigation conducted by a public prosecutor in criminal cases involving persons arrested and detained without the benefit of a warrant of arrest issued by the court, for the purpose of determining whether or not said persons should remain under custody and correspondingly be charged before the court.

Question 17

Search Warrant

Answer 17

An order in writing issued in the name of People of the Philippines signed by a judge and directed to a peace officer , commanding him to search for personal property described therein and bring it before court.

Question 18

Probable Cause

Answer 18

Such facts and circumstances that would engender a well-founded belief that a crime has been committed and the respondent is probably guilty thereof, and should be held for trial.

Question 19

Subpoena

Answer 19

A process directed to a person requiring him to attend and testify at the hearing or trial of an action , or at any investigation conducted by a competent authority ,or the taking of the deposition.

Question 20

Criminal Complaint

Answer 20

A sworn written statement charging a person with an offense, subscribed by the offended party, any peace officer , or other public officer charged of the enforcement of the law violated.

Question 21

Criminal Information

Answer 21

An accusation in writing charging a person with an offense, subscribed by the prosecutor and filed with the court.

Question 22

Offended Party

Answer 22

The person against whom or against whose property the offense was committed ,

Question 23

Amendment

Answer 23

The modification of a complaint or information by the public prosecutor which changes its form or substance. The amendment is only in form, if it does not affect or alter the nature of the offense charged.

Question 24

Prejudicial Question

Answer 24

A question which arises in a previous(Civil) case, whereas the resolution of which , is a logical antecedent of the issue involved in the criminal case and the cognizance of which refers to another tribunal.

Question 25

Provisional Remedy

Answer 25

Writs and processes available during the pendency of the action which maybe resorted to by the litigant, to preserve and protect certain rights and interests therein during the pending rendition, and for purposes of the ultimate effects of the final judgment in the case.

Question 26

Preliminary Attachment

Answer 26

Provisional remedy issued upon the order of the court where the action is pending , to be levied upon the property or properties of the defendant therein , the same to be held after by the sheriff as security for the satisfaction of whatever judgment might be rendered in said action, in favor of the attaching creditor, against the defendant.

Question 27

Preliminary Injunction

Answer 27

An order granted at any stage of an action or proceeding prior to the judgment or final order, requiring a party or a court, agency or a person to refrain from particular act or acts. It may also require the performance of particular act or acts.

Question 28

Replevin

Answer 28

Proceeding by which the owner or the one who has a general or special property in the thing taken or detained seeks to recover possession in specie, the recovery of damages being only incidental.

Question 29

Support Pendente Lente

Answer 29

An amount adjudicated by the trial court during the pendency of an action for support, upon application by the plaintiff at the commencement of the proper action or at anytime afterwards . It is the remedy rendered by the court as equity and justice may require.

Question 30

Bail

Answer 30

The security given for the release of a person in custody of law, furnished by him or a bondsman, to guarantee his appearance before any court as required under the conditions herein specified. Bail maybe given ,in the form of corporate surety ,property bond, cash deposit or recognizance.

Question 31

Capital Offense

Answer 31

An offense under the law , existing at the time of its commission and of the application for admission to bail, maybe punished with death.

Question 32

Recognizance

Answer 32

An obligation of record, entered into before some court or magistrate duly authorized to take it, with the condition to do some particular act, the most usual condition in criminal cases being the appearance of the accused for trial; and does not require the signature of the accused for its validity.

Question 33

SLAPP( Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation)

Answer 33

An action whether civil, criminal or administrative, brought against any person, institution , or any government agency or local government units or its official and employees with intent to harass, vex , exert, undue pressure or stifle any legal recourse that such person, institution, or governmental agency has taken or may take in the enforcement of environmental laws, protection of the environment or assertion of environmental rights.

Question 34

‘To Quash’

Answer 34

To annul, vacate or overthrow. The absence of probable cause for the issuance of a warrant of arrest is not a ground for the quashal of the information but is a ground for the dismissal of the case.

Question 35

Motion to quash the information

Answer 35

Mode by which an accused assails the validity of the criminal complaint or information filed against him for insufficiency on its face in point of law, or for defects which are apparent in the face of the information.
(It is the hypothetical admission of the facts alleged in the information…)

Question 36

Arraignment

Answer 36

The formal mode and manner of implementing the constitutional right of the accused to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him; to apprise the accused of the possible freedom, even of his life; depending on the nature of the crime imputed to him, or at the very least to inform him of why the prosecuting arm of the State is mobilized against him.

Question 37

Plea

Answer 37

The formal answer of the defendant in common law pleading or the answer of ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty in an arraignment for a criminal charge. Any pleading in an ecclesiastical count, whether the first or subsequent one. Any action at law.

Question 38

Bill of Particulars

Answer 38

An application for more particular specification of the matters set forth in the pleading.

Question 39

Pre-trial Conference

Answer 39

A procedural device used prior to trial to narrow issues to be tried, to secure stipulations as to matters and evidence to be heard , and to take all other steps necessary to aid the disposition of the case. Such conferences between opposing attorney’s maybe called at the discretion of the court. The actions taken at the conference are made the subject of an order which controls the future course of the action.

Question 40

Plea Bargaining

Answer 40

The process whereby the prosecutor in a criminal case work out a mutually satisfactory disposition of the case subject to court approval. It usually involves the defendant’s pleading guilty to a lesser offense or to only one or some of the counts of a multi-count indictment in return for a lighter sentence than that possible for the graver charge.

Question 41

Double Jeopardy

Answer 41

Common law and constitutional prohibition against a second prosecution after a first trial for the same. The evil sought to be avoided is double trial and double conviction, not necessarily double punishment. The evil sought to be avoided is double trial and double conviction, not necessarily double punishment.

Question 42

Trial

Answer 42

A trial is a judicial process of investigating and determining the legal controversies , starting with the production of evidence by the plaintiff and ending with his closing arguments.

Question 43

Trial on the merits

Answer 43

Trial of substantive issue in a case.

Question 44

Inverted Trial

Answer 44

A kind of trial in which the accused admitted the crime but interposes an exculpatory defense, and the burden of jurisdiction is now on him and he will be the first to present evidence.

Question 45

Trial in absentia

Answer 45

A kind of trial conducted after the accused has been arraigned and he was duly notified of the trial and his failure to appear thereat is unjustified.

Question 46

New Trial (Trial de Novo)

Answer 46

It is a complete retrial of the case after judgment has been rendered based on the grounds specified. It is an application for a relief requesting that the judge set aside the judgment and order a new trial on the basis that the trial was improper or unfair due to specified prejudicial errors that occurred.

Question 47

Public Trial

Answer 47

A trial held in public, in the presence of the public , or in a place accessible and open to the attendance of the public at large , or of a person who may properly admitted.

Question 48

Speedy Trial

Answer 48

A trial conducted according to the law of criminal procedure and the rules and regulations, free from vexatious , capricious delays.

Question 49

Joint or Consolidated Trial

Answer 49

When actions involving a common question of law or fact are pending before the court, it may order a joint hearing or trial of any or all the matters in issue in the actions; it may order all the actions consolidated; and it may make such orders concerning proceedings therein as may tend to avoid unnecessary costs or delay.

Question 50

Demurrer to evidence

Answer 50

Defined as ‘an objection by one of the parties in an action, to the effect that the evidence which his adversary produced is insufficient in point of law, whether true or not, to make out a case or sustain the issue.’ The party demurring challenges the sufficiency of the whole evidence to sustain a verdict. In passing upon the sufficiency of the evidence raised in a demurrer, the court is merely required to ascertain whether there is competent or sufficient proof to sustain the indictment or to support a verdict of guilt

Question 51

Offer of Evidence

Answer 51

Presentation or introduction of evidence . A document or article is not evidence when it is simply marked for identification. It must formally be offered as evidence.

Question 52

Judgment

Answer 52

Final ruling by a court of competent jurisdiction regarding the rights or other matters submitted to it in an action or proceeding.

The decision or sentence of the law given by a court of other tribunal as the result of proceeding instituted therein.

Question 53

Final Order

Answer 53

An order issued by the court which disposes of the subject matter in its entirety or terminates a particular proceeding or action , leaving nothing more to be done except to enforce by execution what the court has determined.

Question 54

Interlocutory Order

Answer 54

Something intervening between the commencement and the end of the suit which decides some point or matter but is not a final decision of the whole controversy. It resolves incidental matters and leaves something more to be done to resolve the merits of the case.

Question 55

Objection

Answer 55

An argument or reasons presented against an act of the adverse party or his counsel , or against the determination by the court in the court in the course of the case.

Question 56

Appeal

Answer 56

The elevation by an aggrieved party to any decision , order or award of a lower body to a higher body, by means of a document which includes assignment of errors , memorandum of arguments in support thereof , and the reliefs prayed for.

Question 57

Probation

Answer 57

A disposition under which a defendant , after conviction and sentence is released subject to conditions imposed by the court and to the supervision of a probation officer.

Question 58

Parole

Answer 58

Release from jail, prison or other confinement after actually serving a sentence. A conditional release of prisoner, generally under the supervision of a parole officer ,who has served part of the term he was sentenced to prison, Such maybe revoked if he fails to observe the conditions provided in the parole order.

Question 59

Pardon

Answer 59

An act of grace proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed, from the punishment which the law inflicts for a crime he has committed . It is the private through the official act of the executive magistrate delivered to the individual for whose the benefit is intended.

Question 60

Amnesty

Answer 60

A pardon granted by executive proclamation or by a statute for a specific crime or crimes committed , before a fixed date. The crimes are usually a public offense… It presupposes the commission of a crime, and when the accused maintains that he had not committed the crime, he cannot avail himself of it.

Question 61

Appellant

Answer 61

The party in a litigation that seeks to have a judgment in a lower court reviewed in whole or in part.

Question 62

Appellee

Answer 62

The parties in the old appeal of felony. The term appellee is often used instead of respondent in modern appellate procedure. The term appellor in a crime who charges his associates with it. (state witness- once a witness for prosecution.)

Question 63

Suspension of Sentence

Answer 63

The temporary or indefinite postponement by the courts of its judgment in criminal case.

Question 64

Reprieve

Answer 64

Suspension of the execution of the sentence until the time provided or in the law or in the grant of the president.

Question 65

Commutation of Sentence

Answer 65

Lowering of the sentence imposed.

Question 66

Execution

Answer 66

Remedy afforded by law for the enforcement of a judgment, to obtain satisfaction of the judgment on which the writ is issued. It issues by order of the court a quo, on motion of the judgment obligee, upon the finality of the judgment or order sought to be enforced.

Question 67

Service of Sentence

Answer 67

One of the grounds recognized by law through which criminal liability is totally extinguished.