GR L 50; (April, 1946) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-50; April 30, 1946
EL PUEBLO DE FILIPINAS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. LUZ JOSE DE MARTINEZ, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
This is a case of serious oral defamation. The accused, Luz Jose de Martinez, was convicted by the Court of First Instance of Cavite and sentenced to twenty (20) days of minor arrest, with costs. She appealed the judgment. No complaint signed and sworn to by either of the two alleged offended parties was presented. The complaint filed by the interim fiscal of the city of Cavite initiated the proceedings.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court acquired jurisdiction over the criminal case for defamation in the absence of a sworn written complaint by the offended party, given that the defamation consisted of imputing a non-criminal but dishonorable act.
RULING
The appealed judgment is revoked, with costs de oficio. The entire proceedings are declared null and void ab initio.
Paragraph 4 of Article 360 of the Revised Penal Code provides that “no criminal action for defamation which consists in the imputation of a crime which cannot be prosecuted de oficio shall be instituted except at the instance of and upon complaint expressly filed by the offended party.” This provision is clear and mandatory. Under its phrasing, a criminal action against the defamer through a simple complaint by the fiscal, without the need for an instance or written complaint from the offended party, is permissible only when the defamation consists of imputing a crime prosecutable de oficio. When the defamation imputes a crime not prosecutable de oficio, or, as in the present case, a dishonorable but non-criminal act, the instance and written complaint of the offended party is absolutely indispensable. In the absence of such a complaint, the Court of First Instance of Cavite did not acquire jurisdiction over the subject matter of the litigation. The lack of jurisdiction can be raised at any stage of the case. Although no one raised it in this matter, since the lack of jurisdiction of the court a quo is evident, this Tribunal must dismiss the case motu proprio. All proceedings are null and void from the beginning and cannot be validated. Jurisdiction in criminal matters is not conferred upon the courts by express or implied waiver of the accused to challenge it; jurisdiction is conferred only by law.