Govt now in final phase of updating 80-year-old Penal Code

The government is now in the final part of a two-phase revision of the 80-year-old Revised Penal Code (RPC), enacted during the American occupation in 1932.

 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said the Criminal Code Committee (CCC), created in April 2011 to carry out the task of updating the country's general criminal code, has started "Phase 2" or drafting "Book 2" of the proposed RPC.

 

The new Criminal Code is a priority project of the Aquino administration to simplify, codify and rationalize more than 400 criminal laws, according to the DOJ.

 

The DOJ said Book 2 of the new RPC would be composed of three main parts that tackle: 1) crimes against property; 2) crimes against persons; and 3) crimes against the State.

 

The CCC assured the public that the draft of Book 2 of the new RPC would be ready for submission "by the end of 2013."

 

The CCC is composed of representatives from the following:

 

In November last year, the CCC completed Phase 1 or Book 1 of the new Penal Code and contained general principles applicable to the punishment of crimes.

 

Under the proposed criminal code, criminal offenses would be divided into six levels: Levels 1 to 5, and the gravest which is punishable by life imprisonment.

 

Furthermore, each level will also no longer carry Spanish names. Lawyers and other legal professionals often had to go to the original Spanish text of Act No. 3815 (the Revised Penal Code) because it is the Spanish text and not the English translation that is controlling. In fact, most provisions were copied from the old Spanish Penal Code.

 

Under that policy, the stages in the commission of crimes would be simplified and there would no longer be a "frustrated" stage.

 

The CCC also proposed that criminal liability would also be lowered to 12 years old.

 

However, teenagers aged 12 and above would only get jail time if the crime committed falls under heinous crimes or under Level 5. If the crime committed is less grave, he would be subject under "community interventions" instead.

 

Under the proposed code, fines would also be based on a person's minimum daily wage and would be determined by the court.

 

On Tuesday, the DOJ said that the CCC has conducted 42 "experts group meetings" for the creation of an updated RPC. — RSJ, GMA News