CRIMINAL

In the legal sense, a criminal is any person who has been

found to have committed a wrongful act in the course of the
standard judicial process; there must be a final verdict of his
guilt.
In the criminological sense, a person is already considered
a criminal the moment he committed a crime.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF CRIMINALS
1) On the basis of etiology:
a. Acute criminal – is a person who committed crime as a result
of reacting to a situation or during a moment of anger or burst of
feeling.
b. Chronic criminal – is one who committed a crime with intent or
deliberated thinking such as:
1. Neurotic criminal – is one who has mental disorder.
2. Normal criminal – a person who commits crimes because he looks
up to, idolizes people who are criminals
3. Criminaloids – caused by an organic pathological process
- are individuals whose criminal behavior is influenced by an
organic pathological process, meaning that their actions stem from
a biological or medical condition.
2) According to the type of offender:
a) ordinary criminals –a criminal who engages in crimes which do
not require specialized or technical skill . It said to be
the lowest form of criminal career.
b) organized criminals –these criminals have a high degree of
organization that enables them to commit crimes without being
detected and committed to specialized activities which can be
operated in large scale of businesses. It involved in certain
criminal activities that require planning and strategizing.
c) professional criminals – these are highly skilled and able to
obtain considerable amount of money without being detected
because of organization and contact with other professional
criminals.
3) According to criminal activities
A. professional criminals – those who earn their living through
criminal activities
B. Situational criminal – a person who got involved in criminal
act because the situation presented itself.
C. Habitual criminal – one who repeatedly commits criminal act for
different reasons.
D. Accidental criminal – a person who accidentally violated the
law due to some circumstances beyond his control.
4. Based on Mental Attitude
1. Active Aggressive Criminals – those who commit crime in an
impulsive manner usually due to the aggressive behavior of
the offender, such attitude is clearly shown in crime of
passion, revenge or resentment.
2. Passive-inadequate Criminals –are individuals who commit
crimes not out of their own initiative, but because they are
push to it by inducement, reward or promise without
considering its consequence.
3. Socialized delinquents – those who are normal in their
behavior but merely defective in their socialization
processes. These individuals are often educated and respected
members of society but may commit crimes due to particular
circumstances or pressures they face.
CODE OF HAMMURABI
1. Hammurabi, the king of Babylon during the eighteenth century
BC, is recognized as the first codifier of laws . It is
believed that it was during his reign that the code was
created, thus, it was named after him. This code, which was
carved in stone, provided the first comprehensive view of the
laws during his time. The provisions of the code was premised
on the law of talion,”An eye for an eye, a tooth for a
tooth”. Under the principle of the law of talion, the
punishment should be same as the harm inflicted on the victim.
2. THE HITTITES
The Hittites existed about two centuries after the reign
of Hammurabi and they eventually conquered Babylon. The laws
of the Hittites may also be characterized as brutal, just
like the code of Hammurabi, because they used death as
punishment for many offense.
3) CODE OF DRAKON
- This was codified by Drakon, the Athenian lawgiver in Athens,
Greece in the seventh century BC. This is known as the ultimate
in severity because they used death as punishment for many
offenses.
4) LAWS OF SOLON
 - Solon, also ana Athenia, was appointed archon and was given
legislative powers. During his time, he repealed almost all
the laws of the code of Drakon and created laws that provided
just punishments. He was one of the first to see that a
lawgiver had to make laws that applied equally to all
citizens and also saw that the law of punishment had to
maintain proportionality to the crimes committed.
- Solon had a great impact in the history of law-making that
now the term “solon” is used to refer to any member of the
Senate or House of Representatives.
5) ROME’S TWELVE TABLES

• Roman law began with the Twelve Tables which were written in
the middle of the sixth century BC.
• The Twelve Tables were the foundation of all laws in Rome and
written in tablets of bronze.
• The Twelve Tables were drafted by the Decemvirs, a body of
men composed of patricians.
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF CRIMINAL LAW
CRIMINAL Or PENAL LAW is that branch of public law which
defines crimes treats of their nature and provides for their
punishment
Note: Revised Penal Code or Act No. 3815
Book that contains the Philippine Criminal Law and different
special laws and decrees which are penal in nature. It is called
as RPC because the old penal code which took effect in the
country on July 14,1887 and was in force until Dec. 31, 1931
was revised by the Committee created by Administrative Order
No.94 of the Department of Justice, dated Oct. 18, 1927,
composed of Anacleto Diaz as Chairman, Alex Reyes and Mariano
de Joya as members. The RPC was approved on Dec. 8, 1930 and
took effect on January 1,1932.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CRIMINAL LAW
1) GENERALITY
The provisions of the criminal or penal law must be applied
equally to all persons within the territory regardless of sex,
race, nationality and other personal circumstances, with the
following exceptions:
• heads of state or country
• foreign diplomats and ambassadors
2) TERRITORIALITY
 As part of the right of a state to self-preservation, each
independent country has the right to promulgate laws enforceable
within its territorial jurisdiction, subject only to the
limitations imposed by treaties of preferential applications and
by the operation of international law of nations. The Revised
Penal Code and the other special laws are applicable only to the
areas within the Philippine territorial jurisdiction, such as:
a) Philippine archipelago – all the islands that comprise the
Philippines
b) atmosphere water – all bodies of water that connect all the
islands such as bays, rivers and streams
c) maritime zone – the three (3) mile limit beyond our shore
measured at low tide
3) PROSPECTIVITY
No person may be punished for his act when at the time he
committed the act, it is still not yet punishable by law. However,
penal laws may be given retroactive effect when it is favorable to
the accused who is not delinquent.(Art.22RPC).
4) It is specific and definite.
Criminal law must give a strict definition of a specific act
which constitutes an offense.
Where there is doubt as to whether a definition embodied in
the Revised Penal Code applies to the accused or not, the judge is
obligated to decide the case in favor of the accused. Criminal
law must be construed liberally in favor of the accused and
strictly against the state.
5) It is uniform in application.
An act described as a crime is a crime no matter who committed
it, wherever committed in the Philippines and whenever committed.
No exceptions must be made as to the criminal liability.
The definition of crimes together with the corresponding
punishment must be uniformly construed, although there may be a
difference in the enforcement of a given specific provision of the
penal law.
6) There must be a penal sanction or punishment.
Penal sanction is the most essential part of the definition
of the crime. If there is no penalty to a prohibited act, its
enforcement will almost be impossible.
 The penalty is acting as a deterrence and as a measure of
self-defense of the state to protect society from the threat and
wrong inflicted by the criminal.
School of Thoughts in Criminology
School of Thought- The phrase “school of thought” refers to a
specific way of thinking or a group of people who share a common
opinion. It is devised for organizing fundamentally differing
views of human nature and relation them to issues surrounding crime
and its control.
Theory = comes from the Greek word Theoria, which means “viewing”,
thinking or reflecting.
- is a set of statements devised to explain behaviors, events or
phenomenon, especially one that has been repeatedly tested and
widely accepted.
Demonology Theory - It states that people commit crime because
they are possessed by evil spirits, According to this explanation
individuals were thought to be possessed by good or evil spirits,
which cause good or evil behavior. The theory maintains that
criminal behavior was believed to be the result of evil spirits
and demons something of natural force that controls his/her
behavior.
This theory has long been REJECTED obviously because such
belief is not supported by any concrete proof and can not be
studied and verified using a scientific method.
1. CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY(Focused of crimes)
• This school of thought is based on the assumption that
individuals choose to commit crimes after weighing the
consequences of their actions. According to classical
criminologists, individuals have free will. They can choose
legal or illegal means to get what they want, fear of
punishment can deter them from committing crime and society
can control behavior by making the pain of punishment greater
than the pleasure of the criminal gains.

• This theory, however, does not give any distinction

between an adult and a minor or a mentally-handicapped in as
far as free will is concerned.
Founders of classical school of criminology are Cesare Beccaria
and Jeremy Bentham.
1. Cesare Beccaria (Cesare Bonesana Marchese di Beccaria) (1738-
1794)
-Father of Classical criminology
 -an Italian Philosopher and politician best known for his essay,
“On Crimes and Punishment” which presented key ideas on the
abolition of torture as legitimate means of extracting
confession.
-He believed that the action is based on Hedonism human beings
choose those actions that give pleasure and avoid those that
brings pain.
2. Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham’s contribution to Classical school of criminology
is the concept of Utilitarianism and the felicific Calculus.
Utilitarianism is a philosophy which argues that what is right is
the one that would cause the greatest good for the greatest number
of people. Others refer to it as the greatest happiness principle
or the principle of utility.

-devised the pseudo-mathematical formula called “felicific

calculus” or the pleasure- and – pain principle which states that
individuals are human calculators who put all the factors into an
equation in order to decide whether a particular crime is worth
committing or not.
- This is a theory that proposes that individuals calculate the
consequences of his actions by weighing the gain or “pleasure”
and the suffering or “pain” he would derive from doing the action.
If the pleasure outweighs the pain , then he would most probably
proceed to doing the act. But if the possibility of pain is greater
than the pleasure, he would choose not to do it.
2. NEO - CLASSICAL CRIMINOLOGY –from the word” neo” which means
new.(focused on other factors)
This theory modified the doctrine of free will by stating
that free will of men may be affected by other factors and crime
is committed due to some compelling reasons that prevail. It argued
that since children and lunatics are incapable of calculating pain
and pleasure or any condition that will make it impossible for the
individual to exercise free will entirely. They should be treated
differently.
3. POSITIVIST or ITALIAN SCHOOL(focused on person)
-views crime as a product of the internal and external factors
which are beyond one’s control. It implores science in explaining
the causes of crime and proposed the idea of individualized
treatment of offenders. Criminal offenders should be considered as
part of and not apart from the society.
Proponents of the Positivist School
 a. Dr. Cesare Lombroso- an army physician in Italy who is
credited today as the “ Father of Modern Criminology” . He
studied prisoners anatomical dispositions and correlated it
with criminal’s propensity to commit crime and published a
book entitled “Criminal Man”.
Criminal man- the first book which described the causes of crime.
It contains the argument that a criminal can be identified through
his/her biological make up or physical appearance.
b. Enrico Ferri- a student of Cesare Lombroso. He focused his study
on the influences of psychological factors and sociological
factors such as economics, on crimes.
• He believed that criminals could not be held morally
responsible because they did not choose to commit crimes,
but rather were driven to commit crimes by conditions in
their lives
C. Raffaelle Garofalo- an Italian , a politician, and a notable
writer, was also a student of Cesare Lombroso.
- argued that criminals are morally deficient and are therefore be
eliminated from the society either through death penalty or other
forms of incapacitation.
THE (UN) HOLY THREE (3) OF CRIMINOLOGY
1. Cesare Lombroso
2. Enrico Ferri
3. Raffaelle Garofalo
Cesare Lombroso
- recognized as the “Father of Modern and Empirical Criminology”
due to his application of modern scientific methods to trace
criminal behavior, however, most of his ideas are now discredited
- known for the concept of atavistic stigmata (the physical
features of creatures at an earlier stage of development).
- he claimed that criminals are distinguishable from non-criminals
due to the presence of atavistic stigmata and crimes committed by
those who are born with certain recognizable heredity traits.
• according to his theory, criminals are usually in possession
of huge jaws and strong canine teeth, the arm span of
criminals is often greater than their height, just like that
of apes who use their forearms to push themselves along the
ground
• other physical stigmata include deviation in head size and
shape, asymmetry of the face, excessive dimensions of the jaw
and cheekbones, eye defects and peculiarities, ears of
unusual size, nose twisted, upturned or flattened in thieves,
or aqualine or beaklike in murderers, fleshy lips, swollen
 and protruding, and pouches in the cheek like those of
animal’s toes
• Lombroso’s work supported the idea that the criminal was a
biologically and physically inferior person
Classes of criminals:
1. born criminals – individuals with at least five (5) atavistic
stigmata
2. insane criminals – those who are not criminals by birth; they
become criminals as a result of some changes in their brains
which interfere with their ability to distinguish between
right and wrong
3. criminaloids - those with make up of an ambiguous group that
includes habitual criminals, criminals by passion and other
diverse types