Daily Serving of Legal Matters

In the criminal cases I handled, most of them were dismissed provisionally.  Provisional in the sense that such dismissal is not permanent yet. When a case is dismissed provisionally, the private complainant has the right to refile the same case again against the accused without violating the double jeopardy right of the accused. In cases falling within the jurisdiction of a Municipal Trial Court, the private complainant has the right to refile the same case within one (1) year from the date of the order of the dismissal.  In the Regional Trial Court cases, the private complainant has the right to refile within a period of two (2) years. If the private complainant does not refile the case within the period mentioned above, the dismissal shall become permanent. If the dismissal is already permanent, refiling can no longer be made because it would violate the double jeopardy right of the accused. Be it noted that any provisional dismissal shall have an explicit consent of the a...

My client asked me if she could file a criminal case to a person who has borrowed a sum of P90,000.00 from her. Her situation is very common to all of us.  Thus, I post this advice here to at least inform who would be reading this. First, you cannot file a CRIMINAL CASE against your borrower. There is no criminal ground to indict the borrower.  As a matter of fact, it is no less than our very own Constitution that provides that no person shall be imprisoned for debt. Second, what you could file to your borrower is only a CIVIL CASE.  It is simply a collection of a sum of money.  These are the steps on how to lodge a collection case against your borrower. 1.  Make it sure that you have all the documents showing the indebtedness of the person and the same shall be due and demandable. 2.  Make a written demand to your borrower providing him some time to pay his debt, otherwise, you would file a case against him. 3.  If the borrower will not pay, lodge a f...