- Statute
- Philippine Revised Penal Code
- Article
- Art. 124
- Topic
- Arbitrary detention
- Status
- In force
- Year
- 1930
- Cited by
- A Supreme Court decision
The provision
Art. 124. Arbitrary detention. — Any public officer or employee who, without legal grounds, detains a person, shall suffer:
1. The penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period, if the detention has not exceeded three days;
2. The penalty of prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods, if the detention has continued more than three but not more than fifteen days;
3. The penalty of prision mayor, if the detention has continued for more than fifteen days but not more than six months; and
4. That of reclusion temporal, if the detention shall have exceeded six months.
The commission of a crime, or violent insanity or any other ailment requiring the compulsory confinement of the patient in a hospital, shall be considered legal grounds for the detention of any person.
Intellegal Wiki · In plain terms
A public officer or employee who detains a person without legal grounds commits arbitrary detention, and the punishment increases with how long the detention lasted—from a lighter term for three days or less, up to reclusion temporal when it exceeds six months. Detaining someone is considered legally grounded if it is because they committed a crime, or because violent insanity or another illness requires their compulsory confinement in a hospital.
An editorially maintained plain-language explanation of this provision — not legal advice.
Cases applying this article
- Arreglo v. Office of the Deputy Ombudsman G.R. No. 241924