PHILIPPINE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM PRIMER

What is the Criminal Justice System? The Criminal Justice System (CJS) is the machinery which society uses in the prevention and control of crime. The process is the totality of the activities of law enforcers, prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges and corrections personnel, as well as those of the mobilized community in crime prevention and control.

What are the major components of the CJS?

Law Enforcement Prosecution Courts Corrections Mobilized Community What are the functions of the major components of the CJS? To prevent and control the commission of crime; To enforce the law; To safeguard lives, individual rights, and properties; To investigate, apprehend, prosecute and sentence those who violated the rules of society; and, To rehabilitate the convicts and reintegrate them into the community as law-abiding citizens. How does the CJS Operate? The first four pillars, i.e., law enforcement, prosecution, courts, and corrections, pertain to the traditional agencies vested with the official responsibility in dealing with crime or in crime control. The community pillar is the most broadbased. Under the concept of a participative criminal justice system in the Philippines, public and private agencies, as well as citizens, become a part of the CJS when they become involved in issues and participate in activities related to crime prevention and control.

Law Enforcement Pillar The first pillar consists mainly of the Philippine National Police (PNP). The work of the PNP is the prevention and control of crimes, enforcement of laws, and effecting the arrest of offenders, including the conduct of lawful searches and seizures to gather necessary evidences so that a complaint may be filed with the Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecution Pillar The second pillar takes care of the investigation of the complaint. In the rural areas, the PNP may file the complaint with the inferior courts (i.e., the Municipal Trial Courts or the Municipal Circuit Trial Courts). The judges of these inferior courts act as quasi-prosecutors only for the purpose of the preliminary investigation. Once a prima facie case has been determined, the complaint is forwarded to the City or Provincial Prosecutor's Office which will review the case. When the complaint has been approved for filing with the Regional Trial Court, a warrant of arrest for the accused will be issued by the court once the information has been filed. Courts Pillar The third pilllar of the CJS is the forum where the prosecution is given the opportunity to prove that there is a strong evidence of guilt against the accused. It is also in the courts that the accused is given his "day in court" to disprove the accusation against him. The Constitutional presumption is the innocence of any person accused of a crime unless proved otherwise. This means that the courts must determine the guilt of the accused - beyond reasonable doubt -- based on the strength of the evidence of the prosecution. If there is any reasonable doubt that the accused committed the crime, he has to be acquitted. The Rules of Court, however, provides that the accused can be convicted of a lesser crime than the crime he has been charged with in the information. But the elements of the lesser offense should be necessarily included in the offense charged, and such lesser crime . was proven by competent evidence. Primer on Criminal Justice System 3

Corrections Pillar

The fourth pillar takes over once the accused, after having been found guilty, is meted out the penalty for the crime he committed. He can apply for probation or he could be turned over to a non-institutional or institutional agency or facility for custodial treatment and rehabilitation. The offender could avail of the benefits of parole or executive clemency once he has served the minimum period of his sentence. When the penalty is imprisonment, the sentence is carried out either in the municipal, provincial or national penitentiary depending on the length of the sentence meted out.

Community Pillar The fifth pillar has a two-fold role. First, it has the responsibility to participate in law enforcement activities by being partners of the peace officers in reporting the crime incident, and helping in the arrest of the offender. Second, it has the responsibility to participate in the promotion of peace and order through crime prevention or deterrence and in the rehabilitation of convicts and their reintegration to society. Rehabilitation takes place when the convict is serving his sentence. A convict may be paroled or may even be placed on probation. Under the concept of a participative criminal justice system in the Philippines, public and private agencies as well as citizens, become part of the CIS when they participate and become involved with issues and activities related to crime prevention. Thus, citizen-based crime prevention .groups become part of the CJ within the framework of their involvement in crime prevention activities and in the ns integration of the convict who SJbtlf be reJessed from the corrections pillar mto the mainstream

of soccety. Why should you be concerned about the CJS? You should be concerned about the CJS because it affects your life, your work, your activities and, in general, your pattern of behavior and relationship in the community. This is why the community pillar is also the base of the entire CJS as there will never be criminal cases, in the first place, if the community is healthy and law-abiding. But for the few who may have gone astray, they should be reintegrated into the community once they are released from the penitentiary and should be helped to become law-abiding members of the community. What is Citizen's Arrest?

Arrest may be effected with or without a warrant. Warrantless arrest may be effected by a peace officer or a private person under any of the following circumstances:

a. When in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;

b. When an offense has, in fact, just been committed, and he has personal knowledge of facts indicating that the person to be arrested has committed it; and,

c. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment or is temporarily confined during the pendency of the case, or has escaped while being transferred from one confinement facility to another.

The suspect, arrested with or without a warrant, should be immediately turned over to the nearest police station for proper investigation.

What can you do to help in the CJS? Organize anti-crime groups. Report crime, suspicious strangers or events to your barangay or police. If you are a witness to the commission of a crime, help in the prosecution of

the case. Organize visits to correctional institutions. This is one way of instilling social

awareness on the part of the public. This could also be an instrument whereby the public can extend material and morale support to the convicts and inspire rehabilitation.

Help in the assimilation of released prisoners in the community to enable them to be reintegrated into the mainstream of society.

AGENCIES AND OFFICES COMPRISING THE PHILIPPINE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

LAW ENFORCEMENT Philippine National Police (PNP) National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) OTHER AGENCIES WHICH ENFORCE SPECIAL LAWS SUCH AS: Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC) Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Land Transportation Office (LTO) Bureau of Customs (BOC) Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (EIIB) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Philippine Aviation Security Command (PASC) Marine Industry Authority (MARINA) Bureau of Fish and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Air Transportation Office (ATO) Other regulatory bodies with law enforcement functions Prosecution National Prosecution service (NPS-DOJ) Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) Office of the Ombudsman Judge Advocate Generals Office (JAGO)

Courts Supreme Court Court of Appeals Sandiganbayan Regional Trial Court Metropolitan Trial Court Municipal Circuit Trial court Court of tax Appeals Corrections Bureau of corrections (BUCOR) Parole and Probation administration (PPA) Board of pardons and Parole (BPP) Bureau of Jail Management and Penology(BJMP) Provincial Rehabilitation Center (PRC-DILG) City/Municipal Rehabilitation Center (C/MRC-BJMP) Regional Youth Rehabilitation Center (RYRC-DSWD) Community Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS-DILG) Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Public Assistance Reaction Against Crime (PARAC) Non-government Organizations (NGOs) Peoples Organizations (Pos) Other government offices, institutions and programs whose principal functions are geared toward the promotion of socioeconomic welfare.

-END-