file:crimpro_part1_i.htm

Criminal Procedure

Part
1  Procedure in Trial Courts

1. JURISDICTION IN CRIMINAL CASES

A. Introduction

1. Criminal Jurisdiction defined

Criminal jurisdiction is the authority to hear and
try a particular offense and impose the punishment for it.1

2. Elements

2.1 The nature of the offense and/or penalty
attached thereto; and

2.2 Commission of the offense within the
territorial jurisdiction of the court.

The non-concurrence of either of these two (2)
elements may be challenged by an accused at any stage of the proceedings in the
court below or on appeal. Failing in one of them, a judgment of conviction is
null and void.2

B. Requisites for its valid exercise:

1. Jurisdiction over the subject matter;3

Philippine courts have no common law jurisdiction
or power, but only those expressly conferred by the Constitution and statutes
and those necessarily implied to make the express effective.4

The question of jurisdiction of the court over
the case filed before it is to be resolved on the basis of the law or statute
providing for or defining its jurisdiction.5

The jurisdiction of a court to try a criminal
action is determined not by the law in force at the time of the commission of
offense but by the law in force at the time of the institution of the action.6

Once vested, jurisdiction cannot be withdrawn or
defeated by a subsequent valid amendment of the information.7

2. Jurisdiction over the territory where the
offense was committed; and

3. Jurisdiction over the person of the accused.

C. Jurisdiction Determined by Allegations
of Complaint or Information

The averments in the complaint or information identify the crime charged and
determine the court before which it must be tried.8

To determine the jurisdiction of the court in a criminal case, the complaint
or information must be examined to ascertain if the facts set out therein and
the penalty prescribed by law fall within the jurisdiction of the court
regardless of the court’s findings after the trial.9

D. Jurisdiction Over Complex Crimes

Jurisdiction over the whole complex crime is lodged with the trial court
having jurisdiction to impose the maximum and most serious penalty imposable of
an offense forming part of the complex crime.10

Where the imposable penalty for the physical injuries charged would come
within the jurisdiction of the municipal trial court, while the fine for the
damage to the property, would fall on the Court of First Instance (now the
Regional Trial Court), the jurisdiction of the court to take cognizance of the
case must be determined not by the corresponding penalty for the physical
injuries charged but by the fine imposable for the damage to property resulting
from the reckless imprudence.11

E. Crimes Punishable by Destierro

Where the imposable penalty is destierro such as that imposed in the case of
concubinage in the crime of concubinage as defined in Article 334 of the
Revised Penal Code, the case falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the
Municipal Trial Court, considering that in the hierarchy of penalties under
Article 71 of the Revised Penal Code, destierro follows arresto mayor which
involves imprisonment.12