Practice question
A peace officer properly subscribes a sworn written complaint alleging an ordinary public offense. Separately, a prosecutor subscribes a written accusation for the same kind of offense and files it in court. A student calls both documents informations solely because both accuse someone. Which distinction is correct?
- Both are informations because accusation alone defines the term
- The first may be a complaint; the second meets the stated form of an information
- Both are judgments because a person is named
- Neither can charge a public offense
- The first is an information merely because a police officer signed it
Legal references
- https://lawphil.net/courts/rules/rc_110-127_crim.html — Rule110 §§2–4,5 private-crime clauses,10,15–16 and Rule111; read §5 first paragraph with AM02-2-07-SC amendment.
- https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2025/may2025/gr_277020_2025.html — Chua-Chiba v Chiba, GR277020, May19 2025, MAIN decision (offended-spouse complaint and statutory court jurisdiction).
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