VII. Criminal Procedure

VI. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

A. Criminal Jurisdiction

B. Prosecution of Offenses (Rule 110)

C. Prosecution of Civil Action (Rule 111)

D. Preliminary Investigation (Rule 112)

E. Arrest, Search and Seizures

F. Bail (Rule 114); Recognizance Act of 2012 (R.A. No. 10389)

G. Rights of the Accused (Rule 115)

H. Arraignment and Plea (Rule 116)

I. Motion to Quash Information (Rule 117)

J. Pre-trial (Rule 118)

K. Trial (Rule 119)

L. Judgment (Rule 120)

M. New Trial or Reconsideration (Rule 121)

N. Appeal (Rule 122)

O. Provisional Remedies (Rule 127)

Criminal Procedure

It is the method prescribed by law for the apprehension and prosecution of persons accused of any criminal offense and for their punishment, in case of conviction.

It is the series of processes by which criminal laws are enforced and by which the State prosecutes persons who violate the penal laws. It regulates the steps by which one who committed a crime is punished. (PP v. Lacson, G.R. No. 149453, 2003)

Whereas civil procedure is that branch of remedial law concerned with civil rights and redress of private wrongs not amounting to crime.

Criminal Action

One by which the State prosecutes a person for an act or omission punishable by law.

Liberal Construction of the Rules of Procedure

The rules of criminal procedure shall be liberally construed in favor of the accused and strictly against the State to even the odds in favor of the accused against whom the entire machinery of the State is mobilized. It is construed as a legal safeguard in furtherance of the rights of the accused.

These Rules shall be liberally construed in order to promote their objective of securing a just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of every action and proceeding (Rule 1, Sec. 6)