CONSTI LAW 2 DUE PROCESS

1. definition: Due Process

A law which hears before it condemns, which proceeds upon inquiry and renders
judgment only after trial. Responsiveness to the supremacy of reason, obedience to
the dictates of justice. The embodiment of the sporting idea of fair play.

Constitutional safeguard of DP is briefly worded thus:

No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without DP of law.

2. Procedural Due Process and Substantive Due Process

• Procedural – This serves as a restriction on actions of judicial and quasi-judicial agencies

of the government. “Which hears before it condemns, which proceeds upon inquiry and
renders judgment only after trial”.

As per SC, twin requirements of NOTICE and HEARING constitute the essential
elements of DP and neither of these elements can be eliminated without running afoul of
the constitutional guaranty.

Requisites:
a. An impartial court or tribunal clothed with judicial power to hear and determine
the matter before it. (judges have as much interest as counsel in the orderly and
expeditious presentation of evidence, and have the duty to as questions that
would elicit the facts on the issue involved, clarify ambiguous remarks by
witnesses, and address the points overlooked by counsel.)

b. Jurisdiction must be lawfully acquired over the person of the defendant and over
the property which is the subject matter of the proceeding. (it should be
emphasized that the service of summons is not only required to give the court
jurisdiction over the person of the defendant but also to afford the latter the
opportunity to be heard on the claim made against him. Thus, compliance with
the rules regarding the service of summons is as much an issue of DP as of
jurisdiction.)

c. The defendant must be given an opportunity to be heard. (“to be heard” does not
only mean verbal arguments in court. One may be heard also through pleadings.
Where the opportunity to be heard, either through oral arguments or pleadings, is
accorded, there is no denial of procedural DP.)

d. Judgment must be rendered upon lawful hearing. (no decision shall be rendered
by any court w/o expressing therein clearly and distinctly the facts and the law on
which it is based.)

• Substantive – This serves as a restriction on government’s law and rule-making powers.

The inquiry in this regard is not whether or not the law is being enforced in accordance
with the prescribed manner but whether or not, to begin with, it is a proper exercise of
legislative power.

Requisites:
a. The interest of the public, in general, as distinguished from those of a particular class,
require the intervention of the State.

1
 CONSTI LAW 2 DUE PROCESS

b. The means employed are reasonably necessary for the accomplishment of the
purpose, and not unduly oppressive on individuals.

3. Judicial Due Process and Administrative Due Process

• Judicial –

Requirements:
a. There must be an impartial court or tribunal clothed with judicial power to hear
and determine the matter before it.

b. Jurisdiction must be lawfully acquired over the person of the defendant and over
the property which is the subject matter of the proceeding.

c. The defendant must be given an opportunity to be heard.

d. Judgment must be rendered upon lawful hearing.

• Administrative –

Requisites:
a. The right to hearing, which includes the right to present one’s case and
submit evidence in support thereof;

b. The tribunal must consider the evidence presented;

c. The decision must have something to support itself;

d. The evidence must be substantial;

e. The decision must be rendered on the evidence presented at the

hearing; or at least contained in the record and disclosed to the parties;

f. The tribunal or any of its judges must act on its or his own independent
consideration of the facts and the law of the controversy;

g. The board or body should, in all controversial questions, render its

decision in such manner that the parties to the proceeding will know the various
issues involved, and the reasons for the decision.

** DP in quasi-judicial proceedings before the comelec requires notice and hearing **

4. Instances when no notice and hearing are required without violation of DP:

• Cancellation of the passport of a person sought for the commission of a crime;

• The preventive suspension of a civil servant facing a administrative charges;
• The distraint of properties for tax delinquency;
• Padlocking of restaurants found to be insanitary or theaters showing obscene movies;
• The abatement of nuisance per se

5. Extradition Proceedings and Criminal Proceedings

2
CONSTI LAW 2 DUE PROCESS

Section 2(a) of Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 1069 (The Philippine Extradition Law) defines
"extradition" as "the removal of an accused from the Philippines with the object of placing him at
the disposal of foreign authorities to enable the requesting state or government to hold him in
connection with any criminal investigation directed against him or the execution of a penalty
imposed on him under the penal or criminal law of the requesting state or government."

Extradition has thus been characterized as the right of a foreign power, created by treaty, to
demand the surrender of one accused or convicted of a crime within its territorial jurisdiction, and
the correlative duty of the other state to surrender him to the demanding state. 8 It is not a criminal
proceeding.9 Even if the potential extraditee is a criminal, an extradition proceeding is not by its
nature criminal, for it is not punishment for a crime, even though such punishment may follow
extradition.10 It is sui generis, tracing its existence wholly to treaty obligations between different
nations.11 It is not a trial to determine the guilt or innocence of the potential extraditee.12 Nor
is it a full-blown civil action, but one that is merely administrative in character.13 Its object is to
prevent the escape of a person accused or convicted of a crime and to secure his return to the
state from which he fled, for the purpose of trial or punishment.14

But while extradition is not a criminal proceeding, it is characterized by the following: (a) it entails
a deprivation of liberty on the part of the potential extraditee and (b) the means employed to
attain the purpose of extradition is also "the machinery of criminal law." This is shown by
Section 6 of P.D. No. 1069 (The Philippine Extradition Law) which mandates the "immediate
arrest and temporary detention of the accused" if such "will best serve the interest of justice."
We further note that Section 20 allows the requesting state "in case of urgency" to ask for the
"provisional arrest of the accused, pending receipt of the request for extradition;" and that
release from provisional arrest "shall not prejudice re-arrest and extradition of the accused if a
request for extradition is received subsequently."

Obviously, an extradition proceeding, while ostensibly administrative, bears all earmarks of a

criminal process. A potential extraditee may be subjected to arrest, to a prolonged restraint
of liberty, and forced to transfer to the demanding state following the
proceedings. "Temporary detention" may be a necessary step in the process of extradition, but
the length of time of the detention should be reasonable.