Consti 2-Finals

• Rights of a suspect (before a criminal prosecution)

  • Free access to the courts and quasi-judicial bodies and adequate legal assistance shall not be denied to any person by reason of poverty
  • Indigent party may be authorized to litigate as an indigent if the court is satisfied the party has no money or property sufficient for food, shelter and basic necessities
  • Indigent litigants exempt from payment of legal fees if gross income and property value are below certain thresholds
  • Matter of right if applicant meets salary and property requirements, matter of discretion if not
• Sheriff's expenses


  Amount deposited to the Clerk of Court upon filing of the complaint to defray the actual travel expenses of the sheriff, process server or other court-authorized persons in the service of summons, subpoena and other court processes
• Sheriff's expenses are not considered as legal fees
• Free Legal Assistance Act of 2010


  Legal services to be performed by a lawyer refers to any activity which requires the application of law, legal procedure, knowledge, training and experiences including legal advice, counsel, preparation of instruments and contracts, appearance before administrative and quasi-judicial offices, bodies and tribunals
• Availing of benefits and services under Free Legal Assistance Act


  1. Lawyer or professional partnership secures certification from PAO, DOJ or accredited association of Supreme Court that legal services are within defined services and agencies cannot provide

  2. Lawyer or partnership rendering actual free legal services entitled to deduction from gross income up to 10% or amount that could have been collected, excluding minimum 60-hour mandatory legal aid services
• Indigent litigants exempt from payment of legal fees


  • Whose gross income and immediate family do not exceed double the monthly minimum wage
  • Who do not own real property with fair market value over 300,000 pesos
• Litigant must execute affidavit attesting to income and property requirements, supported by disinterested person's affidavit, with current tax declaration attached
• Any falsity in the affidavits shall be sufficient cause to dismiss the complaint or action or strike out the pleading, without prejudice to criminal liability
• Authorizing indigent litigant to litigate


  1. Court, upon ex parte application and hearing, is satisfied party has no money or property sufficient for food, shelter and basic necessities

  2. Includes exemption from payment of docket and other lawful fees, and transcripts

  3. Amount exempted is lien on any favorable judgment, unless court provides otherwise

  4. Adverse party may contest grant of authority before judgment
• Custodial rights of a suspect


  • Right to be informed of right to remain silent and have competent and independent counsel preferably of own choice
  • No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means which vitiate the free will shall be used
  • Secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado, or other similar forms of detention are prohibited
  • Any confession or admission obtained in violation shall be inadmissible in evidence
• Miranda rights under Sec. 12(1)


  • Right to remain silent
  • Right to have competent and independent counsel preferably of own choice
  • Right to be informed of such rights
• Purpose of Miranda rights


  • To prohibit incommunicado interrogation of individuals in a police-dominated atmosphere, resulting in self-incriminating statement without full warnings of constitutional rights
  • To ensure police do not coerce or trick captive suspects into confessing, to relieve the inherently compelling pressures generated by the custodial setting, and to free courts from scrutinizing individual cases to determine voluntariness of confessions
• Silence of a person under investigation is not an implied admission of guilt
• Warning of right to remain silent must be accompanied by explanation that anything said can and will be used against the individual in court
• Purpose of right to counsel


  To preclude the slightest coercion that would lead the accused to admit something false, but the lawyer should never prevent the accused from freely and voluntarily telling the truth
• Right to counsel is mandatory, and must be provided if person cannot afford it
• Counsel of choice not exclusive


  The constitutional requirement is satisfied when a counsel is engaged by anyone acting on behalf of the person under investigation, or appointed by the court upon petition of the said person or by someone on his behalf
• Counsel cannot be


  • A special counsel
  • Public or private prosecutor
  • Counsel of the police
  • A municipal attorney whose interest is admittedly adverse to that of the accused
  • Barangay captain
  • Lawyer applying for a position in the NBI where it was NBI conducting the investigation
• Competent counsel


  An effective and vigilant counsel, present and able to advise and assist his client from the time the confessant answers the first question asked by the investigating officer until the signing of the extrajudicial confession
• Right to be informed


  Transmission of meaningful information about the right to remain silent and to counsel
• Persons who cannot be considered as competent counsel


  • Prosecutor
  • Counsel of the police
  • A municipal attorney whose interest is admittedly adverse to that of the accused
  • Barangay captain
  • Lawyer applying for a position in the NBI where it was NBI conducting the investigation
• Competent counsel


  An effective and vigilant counsel
• An "effective and vigilant counsel" necessarily and logically requires that the lawyer be present and able to advise and assist his client from the time the confessant answers the first question asked by the investigating officer until the signing of the extrajudicial confession
• Right to be informed


  Transmission of meaningful information rather than just the ceremonial and perfunctory recitation of an abstract constitutional principle
• Effective communication on the part of the police


  The right of a person under custodial investigation to be informed of his rights to remain silent and to counsel implies a correlative obligation on the part of the police investigator to explain and to contemplate an effective communication that results in an understanding of what is conveyed
• When accused was merely told of his constitutional rights but was never asked whether he understood what he was told or whether he wanted to exercise or avail of such rights is an ineffective and inadequate compliance with the mandates of the constitution
• Any confession obtained under these circumstances is flawed and cannot be used as evidence not only against the declarant but also against his co-accused
• Custodial investigation


  Any questioning initiated by law enforcement officers (PNP, DOJ, NBI) after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way, i.e., Signing of arrest reports and booking sheets
• The constitutional provision on custodial investigation does not apply to a spontaneous statement, not elicited through questioning by the authorities but given in an ordinary manner whereby the suspect orally admits having committed the crime
• Requisites for custodial investigation


  • The person arrested, detained, invited or under custodial investigation must be informed in a language known to and understood by him of the reason for the arrest and he must be shown the warrant of arrest, if any
  • He must be warned that he has a right to remain silent and that any statement he makes may be used as evidence against him
  • He must be informed that he has the right to be assisted at all times and have the presence of an independent and competent lawyer, preferably of his own choice
  • He must be informed that if he has no lawyer or cannot afford the services of a lawyer, one will be provided for him; and that a lawyer may also be engaged by any person in his behalf, or may be appointed by the court upon petition of the person arrested or one acting in his behalf
  • That whether or not the person arrested has a lawyer, he must be informed that no custodial investigation in any form shall be conducted except in the presence of his counsel or after a valid waiver has been made
  • The person arrested must be informed that, at any time, he has the right to communicate or confer by the most expedient means – telephone, radio, letter or messenger – with his lawyer (either retained or appointed), any member of his immediate family, or any medical doctor, priest or minister chosen by him or by any one from be visited by/confer with duly accredited national or international nongovernment organization. It shall be the responsibility of the officer to ensure that this is accomplished
  • He must be informed that he has the right to waive any of said rights provided it is made voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently and ensure that he understood the same
  • In addition, if the person arrested waives his right to a lawyer, he must be informed that it must be done in writing AND in the presence of counsel, otherwise, he must be warned that the waiver is void even if he insist on his waiver and chooses to speak
  • That the person arrested must be informed that he may indicate in any manner at any time or stage of the process that he does not wish to be questioned with warning that once he makes such indication, the police may not interrogate him if the same had not yet commenced, or the interrogation must ceased if it has already begun
  • The person arrested must be informed that his initial waiver of his right of his rights does not bar him from invoking it at any time during the process, regardless of whether he may have answered some questions or volunteered some statements
  • He must also be informed that any statement or evidence, as the case may be, obtained in violation of any of the foregoing, whether inculpatory or exculpatory, in whole or in part, shall be inadmissible in evidence
• When rights are not available


  • During a police line-up
  • During administrative investigations
  • Confessions made by an accused at the time he voluntarily surrendered to the police or outside the context of a formal investigation
  • Statements made to a private person
  • The rights do not apply to a person undergoing audit because an audit examiner is not a law enforcement officer
  • The rights do not apply to a verbal admission made to a radio announcer who was not part of the investigation
  • The rights do not apply to an admission made to a mayor who is approached not as mayor but as confidante
  • The rights do not apply to an interview recorded on video in the presence of newsmen, but the Supreme Court warned that trial courts should admit similar confessions with extreme caution
  • The rights do not apply to persons who voluntarily surrender, where no written confession was sought to be presented in evidence as a result of a formal custodial investigation
  • The rights do not apply to spontaneous statements, not elicited through questioning by the authorities, but given in an ordinary manner whereby the accused orally admits having committed the crime
  • Administrative proceedings
  • Signing of arrest reports and booking sheets
• When rights end


  The Miranda rights or the Section 12(1) rights were conceived for the investigation prior to the filing of charges. Outside of this situation, Section 12(1) no longer applies and Sections 14 and 17 come into play instead
• The right to counsel under Section 12 (1) of Article III of the Constitution applies in criminal proceedings, but not in administrative proceedings
• Waiver


  Any waiver by a person arrested or detained under the provisions of Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code, or under custodial investigation, shall be in writing and signed by such person in the presence of his counsel; otherwise the waiver shall be null and void and of no effect
• The presumption is always against the waiver, and the prosecution must prove with strongly convincing evidence that the accused willingly and voluntarily submitted his confession and knowingly and deliberately manifested that he was not interested in having a lawyer assist him during the taking of that confession
• Exclusionary rule


  • Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this section shall be inadmissible in evidence against him (the accused)
  • Any evidence obtained by virtue of an illegally obtained confession is also inadmissible, being the fruit of a poisoned tree
• Presumption


  Always against the waiver
• Prosecution


  Must prove with strongly convincing evidence that the accused willingly and voluntarily submitted his confession and knowingly and deliberately manifested that he was not interested in having a lawyer assist him
• Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this section shall be inadmissible in evidence against him (the accused)
• Any evidence obtained by virtue of an illegally obtained confession is also inadmissible, being the fruit of a poisoned tree