POLGOV FINALS Flashcards
(1) No person shall be detained solely by reason of his political
beliefs and aspirations.
(2) No involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as a
punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted.
Section 18 (THE 1987 CONSTITUTION)
Under the Bill of Rights the political beliefs of people whether
they are pro-Marxists, communists, socialists rightists or leftists
cannot be a basis for arrest and detention. If there are no overt
acts which are illegal in nature in relation to their political beliefs,
the government cannot arrest and imprison them.
THE RIGHT AGAINST DETENTION SOLELY BY REASON OF POLITICAL BELIEFS AND ASPIRATIONS
This provision is highlighted in our Constitution to protect
political prisoners who are detained solely on the basis of their
political beliefs. Under Martial Law, President Marcos arrested
and detained political prisoners whose ideologies and political
beliefs were critical of the status quo
THE RIGHT AGAINST DETENTION SOLELY BY REASON OF POLITICAL BELIEFS AND ASPIRATIONS
Involuntary servitude is forced labor or compulsory service
rendered by one person to another.
Under our Bill of Rights, no person can be forced to work for
other persons or company if s/he does not want to. A debt to an
employee to his or her employer is not a sufficient ground for
forcing the employee to continue to work in the company.
THE RIGHT AGAINST INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE
The indebted employee can always provide a promissory note
but he or she cannot be prevented to resign as this would be
tantamount to slavery.
THE RIGHT AGAINST INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE
(1) Excessive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel, degrading
or inhuman punishment inflicted….
(2) The employment of physical, psychological, or degrading
punishment against any prisoner or detainee or the use of
substandard or inadequate penal facilities under subhuman conditions
shall be dealt with by law.
Section 19 THE 1987 CONSTITUTION
This provision prohibits the imposition of excessive fines for
violation of law or ordinance. Considering the nature of the
offense and financial capacity of the offender, fines must be
reasonable. And the courts have the discretion how much fine
the offender must pay.
THE RIGHT AGAINST EXCESSIVE FINES;
The right against cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment can
only be invoked after the accused is convicted in court.
The Constitution is against any inhuman form of punishment
and against disproportionality of punishment to the nature of the
offense.
THE RIGHT AGAINST CRUEL, DEGRADING OR
INHUMAN PUNISHMENT
In a civilized society, inhuman punishment which uses torture or
lingering death is condemnable.
Punishment is degrading if it lowers his dignity of a convicted
person, brings shame and humiliation on him, or exposes him to
public ridicule.
THE RIGHT AGAINST CRUEL, DEGRADING OR
INHUMAN PUNISHMENT
is also inhuman if the punishment is not proportionate to the nature of the crime.
Punishment
No person shall be imprisoned for debt or non-payment
of poll tax.
Section 20
Our Constitution prevents the power of the State to force the
payments of debts.
The control of the creditor over the person of the debtor has
been abolished in our Bill of Rights for humanitarian
considerations. A person cannot be arrested and imprisoned by
the government for
THE RIGHT AGAINST IMPRISONMENT FOR NON-PAYMENT OF DEBT OR POLL TAX
under this provision means any liability to pay money arising out of contract, express or implied. It refers to civil debt but not to debt arising from a criminal offense
“debt”
Thus if a person borrows money from another and promises to
pay on a certain date with interest but fails to do it because of
unexpected bankruptcy cannot be ordered by a judge to be
arrested and imprisoned after a criminal complaint is filed by the
creditor.
THE RIGHT AGAINST IMPRISONMENT FOR NON-
PAYMENT OF DEBT OR POLL TAX
Nonpayment of civil debt cannot be a subject of a criminal case
punishable by imprisonment.
The filing of a civil case or collection of debt is the proper
remedy where the properties of the debtor can be used as
payment for the unpaid debt
THE RIGHT AGAINST IMPRISONMENT FOR NON-
PAYMENT OF DEBT OR POLL TAX
is a tax of a fixed amount imposed on residents within
a specified territory such as a barangay, whether citizens or not,
without regard to their property or the occupation in which they
may be engaged (De Leon 1997: 117).
A poll tax
No person shall be twice put in jeopardy of punishment for the
same offense, if an act is punished by a law and an ordinance,
conviction or acquittal under either shall constitute a bar to another
prosecution for the same act.
Section 21
This constitutional provision protects a person from the danger
of second punishment and trial for the same offense he or she
has been charged and sentenced by a court.
The right to double jeopardy means that when an accused is
charged with an offense and the case is decided by the court
either by acquittal or conviction, s/he cannot be charged again
in another case with the same offense
THE RIGHT AGAINST DOUBLE JEOPARDY
The issue of double jeopardy can arise in three different ways
(Munoz & Gonzales-Munoz 2002: 56):
(1) When the accused is charged with the same offense in two
separate pending cases, in one of which he has validly pleaded;
(2) When the accused is prosecuted anew for the same offense
after he or she has previously convicted or acquitted thereof or
the charge therefore has been dismissed without his or her
consent; or
(3) When the prosecution makes a legally unauthorized appeal
from a judgment in the same case.
No ex post facto law or bill of attainder shall be enacted.
Section 22
This provision prohibits the legislature to pass laws which can
prejudice the rights of the prisoner or the accused. Although
Congress is vested by the Constitution to enact laws, it cannot
legislate on matters that violate some basic rights of the
citizens. It cannot pass the following type of bills or laws:
THE RIGHT AGAINST EX POST FACTO LAW OR
BILL OF ATTAINDER
Ex Post Facto Law is a law which is penal in nature, retroactive
in effect and prejudicial or disadvantageous to the accused.
(i) makes an act done before the passage of a law, innocent
when done, criminal, and punishes such act; or
(ii) aggravates a crime or makes it greater when it was
committed;.
(iii) changes the punishment and inflicts a greater punishment
than what the law annexed to the crime, when committed; or
(iv) alters the legal rules of evidence and receives less
testimony than or testimony from what the law required at the
time of the commission of the offenses, in order to convict the
offender
Ex Post Facto Law
is a legislative act which inflicts punishment
without a judicial trial.
This means that Congress cannot just pass a law and declare
individuals or groups to be guilty of an offense with judicial trial
(De Leon 1997).
In bill of attainder, it is the legislature, not the courts, which
determines the guilt of the accused and not by the court.
Bill of Attainder
This is against due process since every charge in court the guilt
of the accused must first be established by evidence in a court
proceeding.
Thus if a law is passed in Congress who states that members of
the Communist Party in the Philippines are guilty of rebellion
and must all be imprisoned is a bill of attainder as the courts
must first determine who among them are directly involved in
rebellion.
BILL OF ATTAINDER