Unjust Vexation Case Study

CHAPTER VII

IMPLICATIONS OF HAVING A CLEAR DEFINITION WITH ITS CORRESPONDING ELEMENTS FOR THE CRIME OF UNJUST VEXATION

Substantially, defining the crime of unjust Vexation with corresponding elements would bar any challenges against its constitutionality based on the grounds mentioned in Chapter V of this paper.

Procedurally, defining the crime of Unjust Vexation with corresponding elements will also help both the prosecution and the accused avail of several procedures recognized under our criminal procedure, such as:

Plea Bargaining The rule on the provisions on Pre –Trial indicates that plea bargaining is one of the matters to be considered during the pre-trial stage, a proceeding conducted before the trial. “Rule 116, Sec. 2: Plea of

The court shall allow the plea provided the following requisites concur: (a) The lesser offense is necessarily included in the offense charged; and (b) The Plea must be within the consent of both the offended party and the prosecutor. The consent of the offended party will not be required if said party, despite due notice, fails to appear during the arraignment. Section 2 of rule 116 of the Rules of Court present the basic requisites upon which plea bargaining may be made. The rules however, used the word may in the second sentence of Section 2, denoting an exercise of discretion upon the trial court on whether to allow the accused to make such plea. Trial courts are exhorted to keep in mind that a plea of guilty for a lighter offense than that actually charged is not supposed to be allowed as a matter of bargaining or compromise for the convenience of the accused. The rule allows a plea of guilty to a lesser offense, not only at arraignment but also after arraignment and after his prior plea is withdrawn, but said rule also provides that the same be made before trial. When there is a plea of guilty to a lesser offense and the same was allowed by the court, there is no need to amend the information or

5: When an offense includes or is included in another – An offense charged necessarily includes the offense proven when some of the essential elements or ingredients of the former, as alleged in the complaint or information, constitute the latter. And an offense charged is necessarily included in the offense proved, when the essential ingredients of the former constitute or form part of those constituting the latter”. An offense may be said to necessarily include another when some of the essential elements or ingredients of the former as alleged in the complaint or information constitute the latter – and vice versa, an offense may be said to be necessarily included in another when the essential ingredients of the former constitute or form part of those constituting the latter.

The crime of Unjust Vexation is necessarily included in the following crimes:

• Acts of Lasciviousness – The crime of Acts of Lasciviousness is similar to Unjust Vexation, the only difference being that in the latter offense, there element of lewd design is absent.

• Slander by Deed – The crime of Slander by Deed is similar to Unjust Vexation, the only difference being that the latter offense, there is no attending publicity.

Similar to plea bargaining, an accused convicted with a crime that is necessarily included in the offense charged does not need an amendment to the information or