Indeterminate Sentence Law Example: Homicide with one mitigating

Act No. 4103, as Amended circumstance.

The maximum penalty prescribed by law is
The Indeterminate Sentence Law modifies the reclusion temporal. Since there is one
imposition of penalties under both the Revised mitigating and no aggravating it will be in
Penal Code and special laws, and is based on the minimum or reclusion temporal
the penalty actually imposed. minimum period. On the other hand, the
minimum is one degree next lower to
It applies only when the penalty served is
reclusion temporal without considering the
imprisonment.
mitigating circumstance and that will be
It is intended to favor the accused particularly prision mayor. The range of prision mayor
to shorten his term of imprisonment, depending will depend upon the discretion of the
upon his behavior and his physical, mental, court. Therefore, the indeterminate penalty
and moral record as a prisoner to be is a minimum of prision mayor (within the
determined by the Board of Indeterminate range fixed by the court) to a maximum of
Sentence. reclusion temporal minimum period.

Purposes of the Law: 2. Under Special Laws

1.) Promote the prisoner's reformation by If the offense is punished by any other law,
allowing him to serve sentence under a the court shall sentence the accused to an
parole officer. indeterminate sentence, the maximum term
2.) Decongest the jails by allowing prisoners of which shall not exceed the maximum
to be admitted into parole. fixed by said law and the minimum shall not
be less than the minimum term prescribed
3.) Allow the government to save money on by the same.
maintaining the jails.
It is anything within the inclusive range of
4.) Prevent the prisoners' economic the prescribed penalty. Courts are given
usefulness from going to waste. discretion in the imposition of the
indeterminate penalty. The aggravating and
mitigating circumstances are not
Application on the Imposed Sentence: considered unless the special law adopts
1. Under the Revised Penal Code, or its the same terminology for penalties as those
amendments used in the Revised Penal Code (such as
reclusión perpetua and the like).
The court shall sentence the accused to an
indeterminate sentence the maximum term
of which shall be that which, in view of the Note: In case the penalty comes from the
attending circumstances, could be properly result of a plea-bargaining, the minimum
imposed under the rules of the said Code, penalty will be the one lower than that of the
and the minimum which shall be within the downgraded offense.
range of the penalty next lower to that
prescribed by the Code for the offense.
The maximum is the penalty imposed as Reasons for Fixing the Maximum and
provided by law, depending upon the Minimum Terms in the Indeterminate
attending circumstances. The minimum is Sentence:
one degree next lower to the penalty The minimum and maximum terms in the
prescribed for the offense. The latter is Indeterminate Sentence must be fixed,
determined without considering the because they are the basis for the following:
attending circumstances to the penalty
prescribed, and is left to the discretion of 1. Whenever a prisoner has:
the court. (People vs. Yco, G.R. No. L- (a) served the MINIMUM penalty imposed
6545, July 27, 1954) on him, and
(b) is fit for release of the prisoner on
parole, upon terms and conditions
prescribed by the Board.
2. But when the paroled prisoner violates any
of the conditions of his parole during the
period of surveillance, he may be
rearrested to serve the remaining unexpired
portion of the MAXIMUM sentence.
3. Even if a prisoner has already served the Conditions of Parole
MINIMUM, but he is not fitted for release on
the parole, he shall continue to serve Every prisoner released from confinement on
until the end of the MAXIMUM term. parole by virtue of this Act shall report
personally to such government officials or other
parole officers.
The maximum penalty is necessary for the
imposition of accessory penalties while the The limits of residence of such paroled
minimum penalty is important to allow the prisoner during his parole may be fixed and
prisoner the chance for parole. In short, he is from time to time changed by the said Board in
given a chance to redeem himself. its discretion.
If during the period of surveillance such
Once the minimum term is served, the prisoner paroled prisoner shall show himself to be a
becomes eligible for parole if he proves that he law-abiding citizen and shall not violate any of
has complied with the conditions imposed on the laws of the Philippine Islands, the Board of
him when he was made to serve sentence. Indeterminate Sentence may issue a final
certificate of release in his favor, which shall
entitle him to final release and discharge.
Coverage:
The Indeterminate Sentence Law is mandatory
in all cases, EXCEPT if the accused will fall in Sanction for Violation of Conditions of the
any of the following exceptions: Parole:
1. Those sentenced to death penalty, When the paroled prisoner shall violate any of
reclusion perpetua, or life imprisonment. the conditions of his parole:
2. Those convicted of treason, conspiracy (a) the Board may issue an order for his arrest,
and proposal to commit treason, misprision and thereafter,
of treason, espionage, or piracy. (b) the prisoner shall serve the remaining
3. Those convicted of rebellion or sedition. unexpired portion of the maximum sentence
for which he was originally committed to
4. Those who are habitual delinquents.
prison.
5. Those who have escaped from
confinement, or evaded sentence.
6. Those who having granted conditional Examples and Illustrations on the
pardon by the President shall have Application of ISLAW:
violated the terms thereof.
7. Those who are sentenced to prison terms How to get maximum and minimum penalty in
of not more than one (1) year. Special Law:

8. Those already serving final judgment upon 1. The maximum penalty should NOT
the approval of this Act. exceed the maximum provided for by
that law.
9. Those who are sentenced to the penalty of
destierro, disqualification or suspension 2. The minimum penalty should NOT fall
only. below the minimum provided by the law.

Indeterminate sentence is mandatory where Example: Penalty is one year to 5 years.

imprisonment would exceed one year.
Indeterminate sentence may be one year to 3
A person who violated the Dangerous Drugs years or 3 years to 5 years.
Act can qualify for indeterminate sentence if
the maximum penalty he is facing is not life
imprisonment. How to get maximum and minimum penalty in
Revised Penal Code:
The settled practice is to give the accused the Example: In the crime of homicide, under the
benefit of the law even in crimes punishable Revised Penal Code, the offender is sentenced
with death or life imprisonment provided the to reclusion temporal.
resulting penalty, after considering the
attending circumstances, is reclusion temporal
or less. (People vs. Cempron, 187 SCRA 278)
The maximum penalty under the Indeterminate Suppose in the example above, 1 aggravating
Sentence Law is reclusion temporal. But circumstance was proven. What is now the
reclusion temporal is a divisible penalty maximum penalty?
consisting of maximum, medium and minimum It would still be reclusion temporal, but it
periods. Which period will we place the shall be placed in the maximum period
maximum term of the Indeterminate Sentence? because of the presence of 1
aggravating circumstance.
Guide for determining the maximum penalty:
How about the minimum penalty?
1. Determine the entire range of the penalty.
It would still be 1 degree lower from
2. Determine if there is mitigating or reclusion temporal, which is prision
aggravating circumstance. mayor. In which period? It shall be
discretionary upon the court.
Which period will the maximum penalty be Some More Illustrations:
placed?
1 mitigating but NO aggravating
Pursuant to Article 64 of the Revised
maximum penalty: reclusion temporal in the
Penal Code, when there is no
minimum period
mitigating and no aggravating
minimum penalty: prision mayor in any period
circumstance, it should be placed at the
medium period.
2 mitigating, NO aggravating (privileged
Thus, the maximum penalty for the mitigating)
example above is reclusion temporal in maximum penalty: prision mayor in the medium
the medium period. period
What is the minimum penalty now? minimum penalty: prision correccional any
period
In getting the minimum penalty, the rule
is to simply get the penalty one (1) The preceding example is an exception to the
degree lower from the maximum penalty rule. If there is a privileged mitigating
without taking into account the circumstance, we take it into account first in
mitigating and aggravating order to obtain the proper maximum penalty.
circumstance. Then, from that maximum penalty, we obtain
Thus, the penalty one degree lower from the proper minimum penalty by getting the
reclusion temporal, without taking into penalty 1 degree lower. Same rule applies as
account any mitigating or aggravating to the period of the minimum penalty.
circumstance, is prision mayor. Prision
mayor is now the minimum penalty for Remember: It will never become a privileged
our example. mitigating circumstance if there is an
aggravating circumstance present. 8 mitigating
and 1aggravating will never become privileged
Important: If the maximum penalty is mitigating circumstance.
wrong, it follows that the minimum penalty
will also be wrong. 3 mitigating, NO aggravating
maximum penalty: prision mayor in the
Again, prision mayor is a divisible penalty. minimum period
Which period can it be placed? minimum penalty: prision correccional any
Under the Indeterminate Sentence Law, period
it would depend upon the discretion of
the court on which period to place it. In the preceding example, there are 3
Thus, the minimum penalty is prision mitigating circumstance present and no
mayor in any of its period. aggravating circumstance. The first two
mitigating circumstance shall be a privileged
mitigating circumstance. Thus, the penalty will
Factors that could affect the imposition of be reduced by 1 degree from reclusion
minimum penalty: temporal to prision mayor. The 3rd mitigating
1. Age circumstance shall place the penalty in the
minimum period.
2. Conduct during trial
3. Mental or physical condition
4 mitigating, NO aggravating Case: People vs. Campuhan, G.R. No.
maximum penalty: prision correccional in the 129433, March 30, 2000
medium period The penalty for attempted rape is two (2)
(2 privileged circumstance. Thus we lower by 2 degrees lower than the imposable penalty of
degrees) death for the offense charged, which is
minimum penalty: arresto mayor any period statutory rape of a minor below seven (7)
years.
5 mitigating, NO aggravating
maximum penalty: prision correccional in the Two (2) degrees lower is reclusion temporal,
minimum period the range of which is twelve (12) years and one
minimum penalty: arresto mayor any period (1) day to twenty (20) years.
Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, and
At most we can only lower by 2 degrees. Thus, in the absence of any mitigating or
if there are 6 mitigating circumstance and NO aggravating circumstance, the maximum of the
aggravating: penalty to be imposed upon the accused shall
maximum penalty: prision correccional in the be taken from the medium period of reclusion
minimum period temporal, the range of which is fourteen (14)
minimum penalty: arresto mayor any period years, eight (8) months and (1) day to
seventeen (17) years and four (4)
months, while the minimum shall be taken from
How is Indeterminate Sentence Law applied in the penalty next lower in degree, which is
complex crimes (Article 48)? prision mayor, the range of which is from six
A complex crime is punished by the most (6) years and one (1) day to twelve (12) years,
serious offense and shall be imposed in its in any of its periods.
maximum period.
Example: Estafa through falsification of public
documents
Under the Revised Penal Code, falsification of
public documents (Article 171) is a more
serious offense punished by prision mayor than
estafa (Article 315), punished only by prision
correccional.
Thus, applying the Indeterminate Sentence
Law, the maximum penalty for estafa through
falsification of public documents shall be
prision mayor in the maximum period.
Minimum penalty shall be prision correccional,
any period.
Suppose there was 1 mitigating circumstance
proven. Maximum penalty would still be prision
mayor in the maximum period.
Pursuant to Article 48 of the Revised Penal
Code, even if there is a mitigating
circumstance present, it should still be imposed
at the maximum period.
How about if there are 2 mitigating
circumstance and no aggravating?
The rule is, if it is a privileged mitigating
circumstance, we lower the penalty by one
degree but still place it at the maximum period.
Thus, the maximum penalty shall be prision
correccional in the maximum period.

4 mitigating, NO aggravating
maximum penalty: arresto mayor in its
maximum period