IN THE KNOW: Double jeopardy, prescription of the crime

The Philippine Law Dictionary defines “double jeopardy” to mean that “when a person is charged with an offense and the case is terminated either by acquittal or conviction or in any other manner without the consent of the accused, the latter cannot again be charged with the same or identical offense.”

The same dictionary defines “prescription of the crime” to mean the “termination of the right or power to prosecute and to punish the offender, after the lapse of a definite period from the commission of the offense, or if this is not known, from the day of its discovery and the beginning of the judicial proceedings for investigation and punishment.”

Article 90 of the Revised Penal Code provides for a 20-year prescription period for crimes punishable by death, reclusion perpetua and reclusion temporal. Kate Pedroso, Inquirer Research

Source: Philippine Law Dictionary, Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, Inquirer Archives