Classes of Arbitrary Detention
(1) Arbitrary detention by
detaining a person without legal ground
(2) Delay
in the delivery of detained persons
to the proper judicial
authorities
(3) Delaying release
Art. 124. Arbitrary detention. — Any public
officer or employee
who, without legal grounds, detains
a person, shall suffer;
1. The penalty of arresto mayor
in its maximum period
to prision correccional in its minimum period,
if the detention has not exceeded three days;
2. The penalty of prision
correccional in its medium and maximum periods, if the detention
has continued more than three but not more than fifteen
days;
3. The penalty of prision mayor, if the detention
has continued for more than fifteen days but not more
than six months; and
4. That of reclusion temporal, if the detention shall have exceeded
six months.
The commission of a crime, or violent insanity
or any other ailment
requiring the compulsory confinement of the patient in a hospital, shall be considered legal grounds for the detention of any person.
Elements:
1. That
the offender is a
public officer or employee
2. That
he detains a person
3. That
the detention is without legal grounds
Public officer or employee
The offender
in arbitrary detention is a public officer or employee who must be vested with authority to detain or order
the detention of persons
accused of a crime, but when they detain a person, they have no legal
grounds.
Eg. policemen, mayors or judges
Illegal detention
If the detention is perpetrated by other public
officers, the crime committed may be illegal detention, because they are acting
in their private
capacity.
Private individuals who conspired
Private individuals who conspired with public officers in detaining certain
policemen are guilty of arbitrary detention.
When is there a detention?
When a person
is placed in confinement or there is a
restraint on his person.
“Without legal grounds”
1. When he has not committed
any crime or, at least, there is no reasonable ground for suspicion
that he has committed
a crime; OR
2. When
he is not suffering from violent insanity
or any other ailment requiring
compulsory confinement in a hospital.
Legal grounds for the detention
of a person
1. The
commission of a
crime;
2. Violent insanity or other ailment requiring
compulsory confinement in a hospital.
Arrest without a warrant – when lawful
A peace
officer or a private
person may, without
a warrant, arrest a person:
a.
When, in his presence, the person to be arrested
has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense;
b. When an offense
has in fact just been committed,
and he has personal knowledge of facts indicating that the person
to be arrested has committed it; and
c. When the person to be arrested is a prisoner
who has escaped from a penal establishment or a place where he is serving
judgment or temporarily
confined while his case is pending, or escaped
while being transferred from one confinement to another.
Exceptions to the requirement of a warrant of arrest must be strictly construed. Otherwise, it would infringe upon personal
liberty and set back a basic
rule so often violated and so deserving of full protection.
Arrest without warrant is the usual cause of arbitrary detention.
Meaning of “in his presence”
- Officer sees the offense
being committed although at a
distance, OR
- Hears the disturbances created thereby
and proceeds at once
to the scene OR
- When the offense is continuing or has not been consummated at the time the arrest is
made
Personal knowledge is required
A crime must in fact
or actually have been committed
In arbitrary
detention, the legality
of the detention does not depend upon the juridical
and much less the judicial fact of a crime, which
at the time of the commission, is not and cannot definitely be determined for lack of necessary data and of jurisdiction, but upon the nature of the deed. It being sufficient that the agent or person in
authority making the arrest has reasonably sufficient grounds to believe
the existence of an act having the characteristic of a crime and that the same ground exist for him to believe that the person sought to be detained participated herein.
The actual commission of a crime by the person
detained is not necessary to justify his detention. No reasonable ground if officer only wants to know the commission of crime.
That the police officer can make an arrest on mere complaint of the offended
party is a debatable question.
When the person to be arrested
is a prisoner who has escaped
Being a prisoner who has escaped,
he can be arrested without
a warrant of arrest not only by the authorities but also by any private
person. Reason: the escapee
is in the continuous act of committing a crime – by evading the serving of his sentence.
Periods of detention
penalized
1. if the detention
has not exceeded three days
2. if the detention has continued more than three days but not more than 15 days
3. if the detention has continued more than 15 days but not more than 6 months
4. if the detention
has exceeded 6 months
The law does not fix any minimum period of detention.
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