Fulfillment of duty or exercise of right or office, A11(5) Revised Penal Code

1. Concept

Fulfillment of duty or exercise of right or office – refers to a justifying circumstance wherein no criminal liability results for a crime committed by an accused who was fulfilling a duty or exercising a right or office.

Read more: Justifying circumstances

a. Legal basis

Article 11. Justifying circumstances. - The following do not incur any criminal liability:

5. Any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or office.

(Revised Penal Code)

2. Fulfillment of duty or lawful exercise of a right

For the 5th justifying circumstance: any person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or office

a. Requisites

Requisites for performance of a duty or lawful exercise of a right:

1) That the offender acted in the performance of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right; and

2) That the injury or offense committed be the necessary consequence of the performance of such duty or the lawful exercise of such right or office. (Lacanilao v. CA, G.R. No. L-34940, June 27, 1988, Per Sarmiento, J.)

1) Requisite 1: Performance of a duty or lawful exercise of a right

For the 1st requisite: the offender acted in the performance of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right

People v. Oanis, En Banc, G.R. No. L-47722, July 27, 1943, Per Moran, J.:

• As the deceased was killed while asleep, the crime committed is murder with the qualifying circumstance of alevosia. T...