Short answer. For someone sentenced to reclusion perpetua, civil interdiction is imposed for life, not just while the sentence runs. Article 41 of the Revised Penal Code attaches civil interdiction to reclusion perpetua and reclusion temporal for life or during the period of the sentence, as the case may be — the lifetime term pairs with the perpetual penalty.
What the law says
The penalties of reclusion perpetua and reclusion temporal shall carry with them that of civil interdiction for life or during the period of the sentence as the case may be, and that of perpetual absolute disqualification which the offender shall suffer even though pardoned as to the principal penalty, unless the same shall have been expressly remitted in the pardon.
Revised Penal Code, Article 41 — Accessory Penalties Of Reclusion. Read the full provision →
An accessory penalty that attaches automatically
Civil interdiction is not a penalty a judge chooses to add. Under Article 41, the penalties of reclusion perpetua and reclusion temporal shall carry with them that of civil interdiction for life or during the period of the sentence as the case may be. The word carry does the work: once the court imposes reclusion perpetua or reclusion temporal as the principal penalty, civil interdiction follows as an accessory penalty by operation of law, whether or not the judgment spells it out. The same sentence also brings perpetual absolute disqualification. Neither accessory needs to be separately proven or argued; they are consequences the Code itself attaches to the gravity of these two penalties.
For life, or only during the sentence — which applies
Article 41 covers two principal penalties and gives two possible durations, joined by as the case may be. The phrase matches each duration to the penalty it fits. Reclusion perpetua is a perpetual penalty — the sentence itself has no fixed end — so the civil interdiction that accompanies it runs for life. Reclusion temporal, by contrast, is a temporary penalty with a defined period, so its accessory civil interdiction lasts only during the period of the sentence and ends when that period does. For the person asking about reclusion perpetua specifically, the answer is the harder one: the deprivations of civil interdiction do not expire on release; on the face of the Code they continue for the rest of the offender's life.
What civil interdiction actually takes away
The content of the penalty is defined elsewhere in the Code, in Article 34. A person under civil interdiction is deprived, during the time of the sentence, of parental authority, of guardianship over the person or property of any ward, of marital authority, of the right to manage his property, and of the right to dispose of that property by any act or conveyance inter vivos. In practical terms, someone serving reclusion perpetua cannot sell or donate property, administer a business, or exercise authority over his children while the interdiction stands. Transfers that take effect only at death sit outside the ban, which is why making a will remains possible.
Pardon changes less than people expect
Article 41 closes with a warning about pardons: the accessory of perpetual absolute disqualification stays with the offender even though pardoned as to the principal penalty, unless the same shall have been expressly remitted in the pardon. A pardon that lifts the prison term, in other words, does not by itself wipe out the accessory consequences; the pardon has to say so expressly. Anyone relying on executive clemency to restore civil rights should read the instrument's actual terms rather than assume the accessories fell with the principal penalty. How a particular pardon affects a particular accessory is ultimately a question about that document's wording, which is worth taking to counsel before acting on it.
Related provisions
- Revised Penal Code, Article 41 — Accessory Penalties Of Reclusion
- Revised Penal Code, Article 34 — Civil Interdiction Explained