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The Supreme Court decides: Using common family terms – like “niece” or “uncle” – in a criminal charge is enough to inform the accused of the nature of their relationship to the victim, especially when that relationship qualifies the crime and increases the penalty.

The Supreme Court has reiterated that using common family terms – like “niece” or “uncle” – in a criminal charge is enough to inform the accused of the nature of their relationship to the victim, especially when that relationship qualifies the crime and increases the penalty.

Obstruction of Apprehension and Prosecution of Criminal Offenders (Presidential Decree No. 1829)

Article 20 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) enumerates the accessories who are exempt from criminal liability, particularly those who are such with respect to their spouses, ascendants, descendants, legitimate, natural, and adopted brothers and sisters, or relatives by affinity within the same degrees, with the single exception of accessories falling within the provisions of paragraph 1 of the next preceding article.
However the aforesaid accessories who are exempted under Article 20 can still be held liable as principals for obstruction of justice under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1829 or “Penalizing Obstruction Of Apprehension And Prosecution Of Criminal Offenders”.

Section 1 of the PD No. 1829 provides for the acts that may be considered as obstruction of justice.

Coverage of the Rules on Expedited Procedures in the First Level Courts

The Supreme Court promulgated the Rules on Expedited Procedures in the First Level Courts to address the need to recalibrate, reconcile, and harmonize the coverage of the 1991 Revised Rule on Summary Procedure and 2016 Revised Rules on Small Claims Cases to efficiently attain their objectives. The new Rules enumerate the cases covered by these procedures.

What are the differences between Guaranty and Surety?

A contract of suretyship is an agreement whereby a party, called the surety, guarantees the performance by another party of an obligation or undertaking in favor of another party.

Under a normal contract of guarantee, the guarantor binds himself to the creditor to fulfill the obligation of the principal debtor in case the latter should fail to do so. However, the guarantor cannot be compelled to pay the creditor unless the latter has exhausted all the property of the debtor and resorted to all the legal remedies against the debtor.

AMLA: Covered Transactions vs. Suspicious Transactions

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Regulatory Issuance No. 2, Series of 2023, amended the Guidelines for Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBP Guidelines). Accordingly, all covered transactions must be reported to the AMLC within five (5) working days. Additionally, suspicious transactions, including attempted transactions, must be promptly filed to the AMLC by the next working day following their occurrence.