Friday, June 30, 2006
Life imprisonment has no term: judge
The Spanish phrase reclusion perpetua means perpetual imprisonment.
But in Philippine criminal law, it’s a penalty that makes one stay jailed from somewhere between 20 and 40 years, Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 58 Judge Gabriel Ingles said.
Life imprisonment, on the other hand, has no period.
Penalties, as set forth in Article 24 of the Revised Penal Code, come in four tiers—capital punishment, affective penalties, correctional penalties and light penalties.
The death sentence, abolished by a law President Arroyo signed last Saturday, was a capital penalty.
Reclusion perpetua (20 to 40 years), reclusion temporal (12 years and one day to 20 years) and prision mayor (six years and one day to 12 years) are considered affective penalties.
Prision correccional (six months and one day to six years) and arresto mayor (one month and one day to six months) are correctional penalties.
Light penalties meanwhile include arresto menor (one day to one month) and public censure. (KNR)
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