DEFINITION OF TERMS ON CRIMINAL LAW BOOK 1:

1. ABBERATIO ICTUS – mistake in blow.

2. ABSOLUTE PARDON - a form of executive clemency removing or extinguishing criminal convictions

without any condition.

3. ABSOLUTE THEORY- is to inflict punishment as a form of retributive justice. It is to destroy wrong in its
effort to annihilate right, to put an end to the criminal activity of the offender

4. ABSOLUTORY CAUSES - where the act committed is a crime but for some reason of public policy and
sentiment, there is no penalty imposed. Exempting and justifying circumstances are absolutory causes.

5. ACCOMPLICES - Persons who do not act as principals but cooperate in the execution of the offense by
previous and simultaneous acts, which are not indispensable to the commission of the crime. They act as
mere instruments that perform acts not essential to the perpetration of the offense.

6. ACT – an overt or external act. Any bodily movement tending to produce some effect in the external
world.

7. ACTION - lawsuit brought by one or more individuals seeking redress for or prevention of a wrong or
protection of a right.

8. ACTUS ME INVITOFACTUS NON ESTMEUSACTUS – Any act done by me against my will is not my
act.

9. ACTUS REUS - proof that a criminal act has occurred.

10. ADJUDICATED FATHER - man determined by the court to be the father usually through a court action
and genetic testing.

11. ADJUDICATION - giving or pronouncing a judgment or decree; also the judgment given. Decision made
by a court or administrative agency with respect to a case.

12. ADMINISTRATIVE DOCUMENTATION - records such as case-related conversations, evidence receipts,

description of evidence packaging and seals, and other pertinent information.

13. ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW - an evaluation of the case report and supporting documentation for
consistency with laboratory policies, editorial correctness and compliance with the submission request.

14. ADMISSIBLE - evidence that can be legally and properly introduced in a civil or criminal trial.

15. ADOPTION - legal proceeding in which an adult takes as his/her lawful child an individual usually a minor
who is not the adoptive parents or natural offspring.

16. ADVERSARY SYSTEM - trial methods in which opposing parties are given full opportunity to present
and establish their evidence and to test by cross-examination the evidence presented by their adversaries
under established rules of procedures before an impartial judge.

17. AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE - without denying the charge, defendant raises extenuating or mitigating
circumstance such as insanity, self-defense, or entrapment to avoid civil or criminal responsibility.

18. AGENT - subordinate public officer charged w/ the maintenance of public order and protection and
security of life and property.

19. AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES - Those which, if attendant in the commission of the crime, serve to
have the penalty imposed in its maximum period provided by law for the offense or those that change the
nature of the crime.

20. ALTERNATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES – Those which must be taken into consideration as aggravating or
mitigating according to the nature and effects of the crime and the other conditions attending its
commission.

21. AMICUS CURIAE - friend of the court, a person who petitions the court for permission to provide
information to the court on a matter of law that is in doubt or one who is not a party to a lawsuit but who is
allowed to introduce evidence, arguments or authority to protect one's interest.

22. APPEAL - a request by the losing party in a lawsuit that the judgment be reviewed by a higher court.
Request to a higher court to change the decision of a trial court, usually appeals are made and decided
on questions of law only. Issues of fact are left to the trial judge discretion.

23. ASSAULT - intentional display of force that would give the victim reason to fear or expect immediate
bodily harm.
24. ASTUCIA – (Craft) involved the use of intellectual trickery or cunning on the part of the accused. A
chicanery resorted to by the accused to aid in the execution of his criminal design. It is employed as a
scheme in the execution of the crime.

25. ATTEST - to bear witness; to affirm as true or genuine.

26. ATTORNEY-AT-LAW - an officer in a court of justice who is employed by a party in a case to manage it
for him.

27. BAIL - money or security given to secure a person's release from custody which is at risk shall he/she
subsequently fail to appear before the court.

28. BAILBOND - the obligation signed by the accused to secure his/her presence at the trial which he/she
may lose by not properly appearing for trial.

29. BAILIFF - a court attendant who keeps order in the court room.

30. BAR - the term means the whole body of lawyer’s. Historically, the partition separating the general public
from the space occupied by the judge's, lawyers, and other participants in a trial.

31. BATTERED WOMAN SYNDROME - a collection of symptoms that are manifest in women who have
suffered prolonged and extensive abuse from their spouses.

32. BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT - the standard in a criminal case requiring that court be satisfied to a
moral certainty that every element of a crime has been proven by the prosecution, all reasonable doubt
are removed from the mind of the ordinary person.

33. BILL OF ATTAINDER – A legislative act which inflicts punishment without trial.

34. BRIEF - a written statement prepared by one side in a lawsuit to explain to the court its view of the facts
of a case and the applicable law.

35. BRUTALIZATION - the proposition that the use of capital punishment actually increases the crime rate by
sending a message that it is acceptable to kill those who have wronged us.

36. CAPITAL CRIME - a crime punishable by death.

37. CASE LAW - law created as a by-product of a court decisions made in resolving unique disputes as
distinguished from statutory law.

38. CASE RECORDS - all notes, reports, custody, records, charts, analytical data, and correspondence
generated pertaining to a particular case.

39. CAVEAT - a warning; a note of caution.

40. CERTIFICATION - procedure by which a certifying body formally recognizes that a body or person
complies with given qualifications.

41. CHAMBERS - a judge's private office.

42. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE - that evidence that only suggests an association with a past occurrence.
Any evidence in a case for which an inference is needed to relate it to the crime. Not observed by an
eyewitness. Fact from which another fact can be reasonably inferred.

43. CIVIL COMMITMENT - the legal proceeding by which a person who is mentally ill and imminently
dangerous is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital.

44. CLOSING ARGUMENT - also known as final argument, attorney's final statement to the court summing
up the case and the points proven as well as those points not proven by opposing counsel.

45. COMMON LAW - body of law based on judicial decisions (precedents or customs and usage) generally
derived from justice, reason and common sense rather than legislative enactments.

46. COMMUTATION – change in the decision of the court by the chief regarding the degree of the penalty by
decreasing the length of the imprisonment or fine.

47. COMPETENCY - possession of characteristics that qualify a witness to observe, recall, and testify under
oath; personal qualification of the witness to give testimony which differs from the witness ability to tell the
truth.

48. COMPLAINANT - the party who complain or sues, one who applies to the court for legal redress, also
called the plaintiff.
49. CONCUR - to agree with the judgment of another. When one court concurs with another, it agrees with or
follows the precedent set by that court's decision.

50. CONCURRENT SENTENCE - sentences for more than one violation that is to be served at the same time
rather that one after the other.

51. CONDITIONAL PARDON – an act of grace proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of
laws, which exempts the individual from the punishment the law inflicts for the crime but with attached
conditions

52. CONFESSION - an oral or written statement acknowledging guilt.

53. CONSENT SEARCH - exception to the requirement for a search warrant; written or oral permission is
required from a person with authority to give it.

54. CONSPIRACY - a combination of two or more person whose purpose is to commit unlawful or criminal
act or to commit a lawful act by criminal means.

55. CONSUMMATED FELONIES - when all the elements necessary for its execution and accomplishment
are present.

56. CONTEMPT OF COURT - willful disobedience of a judge's command or of an official court order.

57. CONTINUANCE - court order that postpones legal action, such as a court hearing until later time.

58. CONTINUED CRIME – refers to a single crime consisting of a series of acts but all arising from one
criminal resolution. Although there is a series of acts, there is only one crime committed, so only one
penalty shall be imposed.

59. CONVICTION - a judgment of guilt against a criminal defendant.

60. CORPUS DELICTI - the proof that a crime has been committed, consisting of two components 1. That
each element of the crime be satisfied 2. That someone is responsible for inflicting the injury or loss
sustained.

61. COURT MARTIAL - military tribunal that has jurisdiction over offenses against laws of the service in
which the member is engaged. Military status is not sufficient, the crime must be service connected.

62. COURT OF APPEALS - a court that hears an appeal after a trial court has made a judgment.

63. COURT ORDER - directive issued by the court, and is enforceable as law; written command or directive
given by the judge.

64. CRIME – acts and omissions punishable by any law.

65. CRIMINAL LAW - A branch of municipal law which defines crimes, treats of their nature and provides for
their punishment.

66. CRIMINAL PROSECUTION - process that begins with the filing of charges against a person who has
allegedly violated criminal law and includes the arraignment and trial of the defendant. Criminal
prosecution may result in fine, restitution, imprisonment, or probation.

67. CRUELTY – there is cruelty when the culprit enjoys and delights in making his victim suffer slowly and
gradually, causing unnecessary physical pain in the consummation of the criminal act.

68. CUSTODY HEARING - legal process, usually in family and juvenile court, to determine who has the right

69. DAMAGES - money awarded by a court to a person injured by the unlawful act or negligence of another
person.

70. DAUBERTEST - a standard for determining the reliability of scientific expert testimony in court currently
adopted by many jurisdictions. Five factors are utilized to assess the scientific theory or technique testing
of theory, use of standards and control, peer review, error rate, and acceptability in the relevant scientific
community.

71. DEFAULT JUDGMENT - a decision of the court against the defendant because of failure to respond to a
plaintiff's action.

72. DEFENDANT - in a civil case, the person being sued. In a criminal case, the person charged with a
crime.

73. DEGREE – one whole penalty, one entire penalty or one unit of the penalties enumerated in the
graduated scales provided for in Art. 71
74. DEPOSITION - oral or written testimony under oath but outside the court room.

75. DESPOBLADO – (Uninhabited Place) one where there are no houses at all, a place at a considerable
distance from town, where the houses are scattered at a great distance from each other.

76. DETENTION - temporary confinement of a person by a public authority.

77. DIMINISHED CAPACITY - a variation of the insanity defense that is applicable if the defendant lacks the
ability to meaningfully premeditate the crime.

78. DIRECT EVIDENCE - proof of facts by witnesses who saw acts done or heard words spoken as
distinguished from circumstantial or indirect evidence. Information offered by witnesses who testify about
their own knowledge of the facts.

79. DISCERNMENT - mental capacity to fully appreciate he consequences of the unlawful act, which is
shown by the manner the crime was committed and conduct of the offender after its commission.

80. DISCOVERY - a pre-trial procedure by which one party can obtain vital facts and information material to
the case to assist in preparation for the trial. The purpose of discovery is to make for a fair trial and to
allow each party to know what document and information the opponents has in its possession.

81. DISFRAZ (DISGUISE) – resorting to any device to conceal identity.

82. DISMISSAL - action by the court that removes the court's jurisdiction over a given case.
83. DIVERSION - the process of removing some minor criminal, traffic or juvenile cases from the full judicial
process on the condition that the accused undergo some sort of rehabilitation or make restitution for
damages. Diversion may take place before the trial or its equivalent.

84. DOCKET - a list of cases to be heard by the court.

85. DOUBLE JEOPARDY - putting a person on trial more than once for the same crime.

86. DURESS - use of violence or physical force.

87. DWELLING - must be a building or structure exclusively used for rest and comforts (combination of house
and store not included), may be temporary as in the case of guests in a house or bed spacers. It includes
dependencies, the foot of the staircase and the enclosure under the house.

88. DYING DECLARATION - a statement made just prior to death with the knowledge of impending death.
Also called ante-Morten statement.

89. EL QUEESCAUSA DE LA CAUSAESCAUSADEL MAL CAUSADO - Spanish maxim which means: "He
who is the cause of the cause is the cause of the evil caused.

90. ELEMENT OF A CRIME - specific factors that define a crime, every element of which the prosecution
must prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to obtain a conviction.

91. EN CUADRILLA – (BAND) whenever there are more than 3 armed malefactors that shall have acted
together in the commission of an offense.

92. ENGLISH RULE– Such crimes are triable in that country, unless they merely affect things within the
vessel or they refer to the internal management thereof.

93. ENTRAPMENT - an act by enforcement agencies that lures an individual into committing a crime not
otherwise contemplated for the purpose of prosecuting him/her.

94. ENTRAPMENT - ways and means are resorted to for the purpose of trapping and capturing the
lawbreaker in the execution of his criminal plan.

95. ERROR IN PERSONAE – mistake in identity.

96. EX POST FACTO LAW - An act which when committed was not a crime, cannot be made so by statute
without violating the constitutional inhibition as to ex post facto laws.

97. EXCLUSIONARY RULE - the rules that defines whether evidence is admissible in a trial.

98. EXEMPTING CIRCUMSTANCES - grounds for exemption from punishment because there wants in the
agent of the crime any of the conditions which make the act voluntary or negligent.

99. EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES - exception to the requirement for a search warrant when there is no time
to get a warrant and failure to search will lead to destruction or concealment of evidence, injury to police
or others, or escape of the suspect.

100. EX-PARTE ORDER - an order issued by a judge on its own.

101. EXPERT TESTIMONY - statements given to the court by witnesses with special skills or
knowledge in some arts, science, profession, or technical area. Experts educate the court by assisting it
in understanding the evidence or in determining an issue of fact.

102. EXPERT WITNESS - a legal term used to describe a witness who by reason of his/her special
technical training or experience is permitted to express an opinion regarding the issue or a certain aspect
of the issue that is involve in a court action.

103. EXPUNGE - to strike out, obliterate, or mark for deletion from the court record.

104. EXTRADITION - the process by which one state surrenders to another state a person accused or
convicted of a crime in the other state.

105. FELONIES – acts and omissions punishable by the Revised Penal Code.

106. FENCE – is a person who commits the act of fencing. A fence who receives stolen property as
above- provided is not an accessory but principal in the crime defined in and punished by the Anti-
Fencing Law.

107. FENCING – is an act, with intent to gain, of buying, selling, receiving, possessing, keeping, or in
any other manner dealing in anything of value which a person knows or should have known to be derived
from the proceeds of the crime of robbery or theft.

108. FLUVIAL JURISDICTION -is the jurisdiction exercised over maritime and interior waters.

109. FRAUD - an intentional misrepresentation or deception employed to deprive another of property

or a legal right or to otherwise do them harm.

110. FRENCH RULE– Such crimes are not triable in the courts of that country, Unless their
commission affects the peace and security of the territory or the safety of the state is endangered

111. FRYE STANDARD - a set of standards set by the court of appeals of the District of Columbia in
1923 in the U.S in Frye vs. the United States. The standards in general define when a new scientific test
should be admissible as evidence in the court system.

112. FRYETEST - a test emphasizing that the subject of an expert witness's testimony must conform
to a generally accepted explanatory theory.

113. GAG ORDER - a trial judge's order to attorney's and witnesses not to talk to the press about the
case.

114. GAULT DECISION - land mark U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming that juveniles are entitled
to the same due process rights as adults the right to counsel, the right to notice of the charges, the right to
confront and cross-examine a witness, the right to remain silent, and the right to subpoena witnesses in
defense.

115. GENERAL CRIMINAL INTENT- is presumed from the mere doing of a wrong act. This does not
require proof. The burden is upon the wrong doer to prove that he acted without such criminal intent.

116. GENERALITY - of criminal law means that the criminal law of the country governs all persons
within the country regardless of their race, belief, sex, or creed. However, it is subject to certain
exceptions brought about by international agreement. Ambassadors, chiefs of states and other diplomatic
officials are immune from the application of penal laws when they are in the country where they are
assigned

117. GENERIC - those which apply to all crimes.

118. GOOD CONDUCT ALLOWANCE DURING CONFINEMENT – Deduction for the term of
sentence for good behavior.

119. HABEAS CORPUS - a writ that commands that a person be brought before a judge.A writ of
habeas corpus is a legal document that forces law enforcement authorities to produce a prisoner they are
holding and to legally justify his or her detention.

120. HABITUAL DELINQUENCY OR MULTI-RECIDIVISM – Where a person within a period of ten

years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical
injuries, robbery, theft, estafa or falsification, is found guilty of the said crimes athird time or oftener. This
is an extraordinary aggravating circumstance.

121. HEARING - judicial or legal examination of the issues of law and fact between the parties.

122. HEARSAY - a statement made during a trial or hearing that is not based on the personal,
firsthand knowledge of the witness. Statement made out of court and offered in court to support the truth
of the facts asserted in the statement.
123. HOLOGRAPHIC DOCUMENT - any document completely written and signed by one person. A
holographic may be probated without anyone having witnessed its execution.

124. HOSTILE WITNESS - a witness whose testimony is not favorable to the party who calls him or
her as witness.

125. IGNOMINY – is a circumstance pertaining to the moral order, which adds disgrace and obloquy to
the material injury caused by the crime?

126. IMBECILE - one while advanced in age has a mental development comparable to that of children
between 2 and 7 years old. He is exempt in all cases from criminal liability.

127. IMMUNITY - grant by the court in which someone will not face prosecution in return for providing
criminal evidence.

128. INCOMPETENCY - lacking the physical, intellectual, or moral capacity or qualification to perform
a required duty.

129. INDETERMINATE SENTENCE - a sentence of imprisonment to a specified minimum and

maximum period of time, specifically authorized by statute, subject to termination by a parole board or
other authorized agency after the prisoner has served the minimum term.

130. INFRACTION - a violation of law not punishable by imprisonment. Minor traffic offenses are
generally considered infractions.

131. INJUNCTION - a preventive measure by which a court orders a party to refrain from doing a
particular act. A preliminary injunction is granted provisionally until a full hearing can be held to determine
if it should be made permanent.

132. INSANE - one who acts with complete deprivation of intelligence/reason or without the least
discernment or with total deprivation of freedom ofwill? Mere abnormality of the mental faculties will not
exclude immutability.

133. INSTIGATION - Instigator practically induces the would-be accused into the commission of the
offense and himself becomes a co-principal.

134. INSUPERABLE CLAUSE - some motive, which has lawfully, morally or physically prevented a
person to do what the law commands.

135. IRRESISTIBLE FORCE - offender uses violence or physical force to compel another person to
commit a crime.

136. JUDICIAL REVIEW - authority of a court to review the official actions of other branches of
government, also the authority to declare unconstitutional the actions of other branches,

137. JURISDICTION - the nature and scope of a court's authority to hear or decide a case. Inherent
power and authority of a particular court to hear and determine cases.

138. JUSTICE - fairness, providing outcomes to each party in line with what they deserve.

139. JUSTIFYING CIRCUMSTANCES - where the act of a person is in accordance with law such that
said person is deemed not to have violated the law.

140. JUVENILE - characteristic of youth means less than 18 years of age.

141. JUVENILE COURT - a court which decides criminal charges brought against children less than
18 years of age.

142. LEGAL CUSTODY - right and responsibility to make the decisions regarding the health,
education and welfare of a child/person.

143. LIABLE - responsible or answerable for some action.

144. LITIGATION - a case, controversy, or lawsuit.

145. MALA IN SE - acts or omissions that are inherently evil.

146. Mala Prohibita - acts made evil because there is a law prohibiting it.

147. MALFEASANCE - the commission of an unlawful, wrongful act; any wrongful conduct that
affects, interrupts, or interferes with the performance of official duties.
148. MALPRACTICE - improper or unethical conduct by the holder of a professional or official
position.

149. MIRANDA WARNING - requirements that police tells a suspect in their custody of his/her
constitutional right before they questionhim. Result of the Miranda vs. Arizona ruling. Law enforcement
procedure that forewarns suspects of their right to remain silent when in police custody. Violation of this
right makes the suspect's confession inadmissible in evidence.

150. MISDEMEANOR - criminal offenses considered less serious than felonies. Misdemeanor is
generally punishable by fine or a limited local jail term in the local jail.

151. MISDEMEANOR - a minor infraction of law.

152. MISTAKE OF FACT - misapprehension of fact on the part of the person who caused injury to
another. He is not criminally liable.

153. MISTRIAL - a trial that is terminated before its normal conclusion and declared invalid prior to
judgment.

154. MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCE - factors such as age, mental capacity, motivation, or duress
which lessens the degree of guilt in a criminal offense and thus the nature of the punishment.

155. MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES - those which if present in the commission of the crime reduces
the penalty of the crime but does not erase criminal liability nor change the nature of the crime.

156. M'NAGHTENRULE - the test applied for the defense of insanity. Under this test, an accused is
not criminally responsible if suffering from a mental disease or defect at the time of committing the act and
not understanding the nature and quality of the act or that what was done was wrong.

157. MOOT - is one not subject to a judicial determination because it involves an abstract question or
a pretended controversy that has not yet actually arisen or has already passed.

158. MOTION - an application for a rule or order, made to a court or judge. An application to the court
requesting an order or a rule in favor of the applicant.

159. MOTIVE - it is the moving power which impels one to action for definite result.

160. NULLUMCRIMEN, NULLAPOENA SINE LEGE – There is no crime when there is no law
punishing it.

161. OBJECTION - the process by which one party takes exception to some statement or procedure.
An objection is either sustained or overruled by the judge. If the judge overrules the objection, the witness
may answer the question. If the judge sustains the objection, the witness may not answer the question.

162. OBSCURIDAD – (NIGHT TIME) that period of darkness beginning at the end of dusk and ending
at dawn.

163. OFFENSE - a crime punished under special law.

164. OMISSION – failure to perform a duty required by law.

165. OMNIBUSHEARING - hearing held in criminal court to dispose of appropriate issues such as
whether evidence is admissible before trial so as to ensure a fair and expeditious trial and avoid a
multiplicity of court appearances.

166. OPENING STATEMENTS - not part of the evidence, these orations made by the lawyers on each
side gives an overview of the evidence that will be presented during the trial.

167. OPINION - conclusion reported by a witness who qualified as an expert on a given subject.

168. ORDER - any written directive of a court or judge other than a judgment.

169. ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE - order to appear in court and present reasons why a particular order
should not be executed.

170. OVERRULE- judge’s decision not to allow an objection.Decision by a higher court finding that a
lower court

171. ABSOLUTE PARDON - a form of executive clemency removing or extinguishing criminal

convictions without any condition.

172. CONDITIONAL PARDON – an act of grace proceeding from the power entrusted with
theexecution of laws, which exempts the individual from the punishment the law inflicts for the crime but
with attached conditions
173. PAROLE – consists in the suspension of the sentence of a convict after serving the minimum
term of the indeterminate penalty, without granting pardon, prescribing the terms upon which the
sentence shall be suspended. In case his parole conditions are not observed, a convict may be returned
to the custody and continue to serve his sentence withoutdeducting the time that elapsed

174. PENALTY – suffering inflicted by the State for the transgression of a law.

175. PERIOD – one of 3 equal portions, min/med/max of a divisible penalty. A period of a divisible
penalty when prescribed by the Code as penalty for a felony is in itself a degree.

176. PERSON IN AUTHORITY - public authority or person who is directly vested with jurisdiction and
has the power to govern and execute the laws.

177. PLURALITY OF CRIMES – consists in the successive execution by the same individual of
different criminal acts upon any of which no conviction has yet been declared.

178. PRAETOR INTENTIONEM - lack of intent to commit so grave a wrong.

179. PRELIMINARY HEARING - in criminal law, the hearing at which a judge determines whether
there is sufficient evidence against a person charged with a crime to warrant holding him or her for trial.

180. PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE - the standard for a judgment in a civil suit, the evidence for
one side outweighs that of the other even a slight margin.

181. PRESCRIPTION OF A CRIME – is the loss/forfeiture of the right of the state to prosecute the
offender after the lapse of a certain time.

182. PRESCRIPTION OF PENALTY - means the loss/forfeiture of the right of government to execute
the final sentence after the lapse of ascertain time.

183. PRO REO -  whenever a penal law is to be construed or applied and the law admits of two
interpretations, one lenient to the offender and one strict to the offender, that interpretation which is
lenient or favorable to the offender will be adopted.

184. PROBABLE CAUSE - a reasonable ground for suspicion, supported by the circumstances
sufficiently strong to justify the issuance of a search warrant or to make an arrest. Reasonable ground for
believing that a crime has been committed or that the person committed the crime.

185. PROBATION - a disposition under which a defendant after conviction and sentence is released
subject to conditions imposed by the court and tithe supervision of a probation officer.

186. PROXIMATE CAUSE - the cause, which in the natural and continuous sequence unbroken by
any efficient intervening cause, produces the injury, without which the result would not have occurred.

187. QUASI-RECIDIVISM – Where a person commits felony before beginning to serve or while
serving sentence on a previous conviction for felony. This is a special aggravating circumstance.

188. RANK - The designation or title of distinction used to fix the relative position of the offended party
in reference to others (There must be a difference in the social condition of the offender and the offended
party).

189. RECIDIVISM – Where a person, on separate occasions, is convicted of two offenses embraced in
the same title in the RPC. This is generic aggravating circumstance.

190. RECIDIVIST – one who at the time of his trial for one crime, shallhave been previously convicted
by final judgment of another crime embraced in the same title of the RPC.

191. REITERACION OR HABITUALITY – Where the offender has been previously punished for an
offense to which the law attaches an equal or greater penalty or for two crimes to which it attaches a
lighter penalty. This is a generic aggravating circumstance.

192. RELATIVE THEORY-purports to prevent the offender from further offending public right or to the
right to repel an imminent or actual aggression, exemplary or by way of example to others not to follow
the path taken by the offender and ultimately for reformation or to place him under detention to teach him
the obligations of a law-abiding citizen.

193. REPUBLIC ACT 75 - This law penalizes acts which would impair the proper observance by the
Republic and its inhabitants of the immunities, rights, and privileges of duly-accredited foreign diplomatic
representatives in the Philippines

194. SUMMARY JUDGEMENT - summary judgment is given on the basis of pleadings, affidavits, and
exhibits presented for the record without any need for a trial. It is used when there is no dispute as to the
facts of the case and one party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
195. TERRESTRIAL JURISDICTION- is the jurisdiction exercised over land.

196. TERRITORIALITY -means that the penal laws of the country have force and effect only within its
territory. It cannot penalize crimes committed outside the same. This is subject to certain exceptions
brought about by international agreements and practice. The territory of the country is not limited to the
land where its sovereignty resides but includes also its maritime and interior waters as well as its
atmosphere.

197. TREACHERY – when the offender commits any of the crimes against the person, employing
means, methods or forms in the execution thereof which tend directly and specially to insure its execution
without risk to himself arising from the defense which the offended partymight make.

198. UNCONTROLLABLE FEAR - offender employs intimidation or threat in compelling another to

commit a crime.

199. UNLAWFUL ENTRY - when an entrance is affected by a way not intended for the purpose.

200. YOUTHFUL OFFENDER – over 9 but undaer 18 at time of the commission of the offense.