Legal Procedures 14: Criminal cases subject to Summary Procedure

Notes: (1) Please surf to the complete list of available PDFs on legal procedures in criminal and civil cases.

(2) BP 22 cases are now subject to the Revised Rules of Summary Procedure and to mediation.

(3) It is the judge, not the fiscal, who determines whether the case falls under the Revised Rules of Summary Procedure.

(4) If a case falls under Summary Procedure, the judge will not issue a warrant of arrest for the accused, even if the information contains the amount of bail recommended by the fiscal. The accused need not therefore post bail. Please review our discussion on bail.

(5) If the accused is absent during a hearing and he was notified of such hearing in open court or by registered mail, the judge will issue a “bench warrant” for his arrest. If the accused has a valid reason for being absent, his lawyer can file a motion to lift the warrant of arrest.

(6) Upon determining that the case falls under Summary Procedure, the court issues a summons for the private complainant and the accused to appear in court for the arraignment and to submit their affidavits.

During the arraignment and preliminary conference, the judge will ask if the parties (the private complainant and the accused) have submitted their affidavits. The parties may respectively adopt the complaint-affidavit and the counter-affidavit filed during the preliminary investigation. The defense counsel, for example, may manifest, “Your Honor, please, we are adopting the counter-affidavit filed by the accused during the preliminary investigation.”