RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED contrary is proved (Sec.

14(2), Art 3, 1987

Constitution).
Every circumstance favoring the innocence
There are 9 rights of an accused of the accused must be taken into account.
1. Due process; The proof against him must survive the test
2. Be presumed innocent; of reason; the strongest suspicion must not
3. Be heard by himself and counsel; be permitted to sway judgment.
4. Be informed of the nature and cause of It can be invoked only by an individual
the accusation against him; accused of a criminal offense; a corporate
5. A speedy, impartial and public trial; entity has no personality to invoke the same.
6. Meet the witnesses face to face;
7. Have compulsory process to secure the
attendance of witnesses and production
RIGHT TO BE HEARD
of evidence on his behalf;
8. Against double jeopardy; and It means the accused is amply
9. Bail accorded legal assistance extended by a
counsel who commits himself to the cause of
the defense and acts accordingly. It is an
CRIMINAL DUE PROCESS efficient and truly decisive legal assistance,
and not simply a perfunctory representation.
No person shall be held to answer for
a criminal offense without due process of The right of the accused to present
law[1987 Constitution, Sec. 14(1), Art. III]. evidence is guaranteed by no less than the
Constitution itself. Article III, Section 14(2)
thereof, provides that in all criminal
REQUISITES OF CRIMINAL DUE prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
PROCESS (NO-CPJ) right to be heard by himself and counsel.

1. Accused is heard by a Court of This constitutional right includes the

competent jurisdiction; right to present evidence in one’s defense,
2. Accused is proceeded against under the as well as the right to be present and defend
orderly Processes of law; oneself in person at every stage of the
3. Accused is given Notice and Opportunity proceedings. Stripping the accused of all his
to be heard; pre-assigned trial dates constitutes a patent
4. Judgment must be rendered after lawful denial of the constitutionally guaranteed right
hearing. to due process

The right to appeal is neither a natural right

nor part of due process. It is a mere statutory Question: In a murder case, Gerald
right, but once given, denial constitutes was convicted in the trial court but
violation of due process. was not given the right to testify and
to present additional evidence on his
behalf. Is the conviction correct?
PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE
Answer: NO. An accused has the
Basis In all criminal prosecutions, the constitutional right “to be heard by himself
accused shall be presumed innocent until the and counsel” and the right “to testify as a
witness in his own behalf.” The denial of such REQUISITES FOR PROPERLY
rights is a denial of due process. The INFORMING THE ACCUSED OF THE
constitutional right of the accused to be NATURE AND CAUSE OF ACCUSATION:
heard in his defense is inviolate. “No court of
1. Information must state the name of
justice under our system of government has
the power to deprive him of that right” the accused;
2. Designation given to the offense by
statute;
3. Statement of the acts or omission so
ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL
complained of as constituting the
The right of a person under investigation is to offense;
have a “competent and independent counsel 4. Name of the offended party;
preferably of his own choice.” The purpose is 5. Approximate time and date of
to preclude the slightest coercion as would commission of the offense;
lead the accused to admit something else 6. Place where offense was committed;
and
Elements of the Right to Counsel 7. Every element of the offense must be
1. Court’s duty to inform the accused of alleged in the complaint or
his right to counsel before being information.
arraigned;
2. It must ask him if he desires the
services of counsel; RIGHT TO SPEEDY, IMPARTIAL AND
3. If he does, and is unable to get one, PUBLIC TRIAL
the Court must give him one; if the
accused wishes to procure private
counsel, the Court must give him time Right to speedy trial (2000, 2001 Bar)
to obtain one; and
The term “speedy” means free from
4. Where no lawyer is available, the
vexatious, capricious and oppressive delays.
Court may appoint any person
In determining whether the accused's right to
resident of the province and of good
repute for probity and ability. speedy trial was violated, the delay should
be considered in view of the entirety of the
proceedings.
RIGHT TO BE INFORMED OF THE The factors to balance are the following:
NATURE AND CAUSE OF ACCUSATION
a) Duration of the delay;
Purpose b) Reason thereof or;
c) Assertion of the right or failure to
1. To furnish the accused with such a
assert it; and
description of the charge against him d) Prejudice caused by such delay.
as will enable him to make his
defense;
2. To avail himself of his conviction or
Right to impartial trial
acquittal for protection against further
prosecution for the same cause; Impartial trial means that the accused is
entitled to cold neutrality of an impartial
judge, one who is free from interest or bias.
 If the evidence to be adduced is “offensive to
decency or public morals,” the public may be
Right to speedy disposition of cases
excluded.
This is a right that is available to all persons
in all kinds of proceedings, whether criminal,
civil, or administrative, unlike the right to RIGHT OF CONFRONTATION
speedy trial which is available only to an
Two-Fold Purpose
accused in a criminal case and, therefore,
only the accused may invoke such. 1. To afford the accused an opportunity
to test the testimony of a witness by
The right to speedy disposition of cases is
cross examination; and
different from the right to speedy trial to the
2. To allow the judge to observe the
extent that the former applies to all cases,
deportment of the witness.
whether judicial, quasi-judicial, or
administrative cases (1987 Constitution,Art. If the failure of the accused to cross-examine
III, Sec. 16); whereas, the latter applies to a witness is due to his own fault or was not
criminal cases only[1987 Constitution, Art. due to the fault of the prosecution, the
III, Sec. 14(2)]. testimony of the witness should not be
excluded.
The affidavits of witnesses who are not
WHEN IT IS VIOLATED?
presented during trial are inadmissible for
The right to a speedy disposition of a case, being hearsay. The accused is denied the
like the right to a speedy trial, is deemed opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses.
violated only when the proceedings are
attended by vexatious, capricious, and
oppressive delays; or when unjustified RIGHT TO COMPULSORY PROCESS TO
postponements of the trial are asked for and SECURE ATTENDANCE OF WITNESS
secured; or even without cause or justifiable AND PRODUCTION OF EVIDENCE
motive, a long period of time is allowed to
elapse without the party having his case tried Means available to the parties to compel the
attendance of witnesses and the production
of documents and things needed in the
prosecution or defense of a case
Right to public trial
General Rule: 1. Subpoena ad testificandum and
subpoena duces tecum;
1. Trial must be public in order to 2. Depositions and other modes of
prevent possible abuses which may discovery; and
be committed against the accused; 3. Perpetuation of testimonies.
and

2. The attendance at the trial is open to Subpoena Ad Testificandum vs. Subpoena

all, irrespective of their relationship to Duces Tecum
the accused.
Exception:
SUBPOENA AD SUBPOENA
TESTIFICANDUM DUCES TECUM
 A process directed The person is also For instance, substance emitted from
to a person required to bring the body of the accused may be received as
requiring him to with him any books, evidence in prosecution for acts of
attend and to testify documents, or other lasciviousness (US v. Tan Teng, 23 Phil.
at the hearing or things under his 145, September 7, 1912).And morphine
trial of an action, or control forced out of the mouth of the accused may
at any investigation
also be used as evidence against him(US v.
conducted by
Ong Siu Hong, 36 Phil. 735, August 3, 1917).
competent
authority, or for the
taking of his
deposition. DOUBLE JEOPARDY
No person shall be twice put in jeopardy of
Requirements for the exercise of the right to punishment for the same offense. If an act is
secure attendance of witness punished by a law and an ordinance,
conviction or acquittal under either shall
1. The witness is really material; constitute a bar to another prosecution for
2. The attendance of the witness was the same act.
previously obtained;
3. The witness will be available at the Two kinds of double jeopardy
time desired; and
1. Double jeopardy for the same offense;(1st
4. No similar evidence could be
sentence, Sec. 21 of Art. III); and
obtained.
2. Double jeopardy for the same act (2nd
sentence, Sec. 21 of Art. III); (People v.
SELF-INCRIMINATION CLAUSE Quijada, 259 SCRA 191, July 24, 1995).
Basis
No person shall be compelled to be a witness Requisites
against himself.
Legal jeopardy attaches only upon:
This constitutional privilege has been defined
1. Valid complaint or information;
as a protection against testimonial
2. Filed before a competent court;
compulsion, but this has since been
3. The arraignment of the accused;
extended to any evidence “communicative in
4. To which he had pleaded; and
nature” acquired under circumstances of
5. Defendant was previously acquitted
duress.
or convicted, or the case dismissed
or otherwise terminated without his
express consent (Saldariega v.
NOTE: What is prohibited is the use of Panganiban, G.R. Nos. 211933 &
physical or moral compulsion to extort 211960, April 15, 2015).
communication from the witness or to
otherwise elicit evidence which would not NOTE: Consent of the accused to the
exist were it not for the actions compelled dismissal cannot be implied or presumed; it
from the witness–NOT the inclusion of his must be expressed as to have no doubt as to
body in evidence when it may be material. the accused’s conformity (Caes v. IAC, 179
SCRA 54, November 6, 1989).
Exceptions to the right against double b. Before conviction by the RTC of
jeopardy an offense not punishable by
death, reclusion perpetua or life
1. When the trial court acted with grave
imprisonment; and (Sec. 4, Rule
abuse of discretion amounting to lack or
114)
excess of jurisdiction; (Bangayan, Jr. v.
c. Before final conviction by all
Bangayan, G.R. No. 172777, and De
children in conflict with the law for
Asis Delfin v. Bangayan, G.R. No.
an offense not punishable by
172792, October 19, 2011)
reclusion perpetua or life
2. The accused was not acquitted nor was
imprisonment.
there a valid and legal dismissal or
termination of the case;
2. BAIL AS A MATTER OF DISCRETION
3. Dismissal of the case was during the
a. Upon conviction by the RTC of an
preliminary investigation;
offense not punishable by death,
4. It does not apply to administrative cases;
reclusion perpetua or life
and
imprisonment;
5. Dismissal or termination of the case was
b. Regardless of the stage of the
with the express consent of the accused.
criminal prosecution, a person
charged with a capital offense, or
an offense punishable by
RIGHT TO BAIL reclusion perpetua or life
Bail It refers to the security given for the imprisonment, when evidence of
release of a person in custody of law, guilt is not strong; and
furnished by him or a bondsman, conditioned c. A child in conflict with the law
upon his appearance before any court as charged with an offense
required (Sec. 1, Rule 114, Rules of Court) punishable by death, reclusion
perpetua or life imprisonment
when evidence of guilt is strong
(A.M. No. 02-1-18- SC, Sec. 28).
The following are entitled to bail:
1. Persons charged with offenses
punishable by death, reclusion NOTE: The prosecution cannot adduce
perpetua or life imprisonment, evidence for the denial of bail where it is a
when evidence of guilt is not strong; matter of right. However where the grant of
2. Persons convicted by the trial court bail is discretionary, the prosecution may
pending their appeal; show proof to deny the bail.
3. Persons who are members of the
AFP facing a court martial.

INSTANCES WHEN BAIL IS A MATTER

OF RIGHT OR OF DISCRETION
1. BAIL AS A MATTER OF RIGHT
a. Before or after conviction by the
metropolitan and municipal trial
courts;