Practice question
A penal statute uses a general term but defines it through specified acts, objective criteria and an identifiable unlawful purpose. The charged conduct plainly falls within those definitions. The accused argues that every general word makes a law void for vagueness. Which is best?
- All general statutory terms are automatically unconstitutional
- A law must list every imaginable factual variation
- The definitions and statutory context must be examined; the use of a general term alone does not establish unconstitutional vagueness
- Only police officers may interpret statutory definitions
- The accused automatically wins if a dictionary has two meanings
Legal references
- https://lawphil.net/consti/cons1987.html — Constitution, Article III sections1 and14: due process, fair accusation, hearing and presumption of innocence.
- https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2001/nov2001/gr_148560_2001.html — Estrada v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. 148560, November 19, 2001, main decision: fair notice, objective standards and vagueness; not relied upon for historical death-penalty provisions.
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