Text of the provision
Art. 78. When and how a penalty is to be executed. -No penalty shall be executed except by virtue of a final judgment. A penalty shall not be executed in any other form than that prescribed by law, nor with any other circumstances or incidents than those expressly authorized thereby. In addition to the provisions of the law, the special regulations prescribed for the government of the institutions in which the penalties are to be suffered shall be observed with regard to the character of the work to be performed, the time of its performance, and other incidents connected therewith, the relations of the convicts among themselves and other persons, the relief which they may receive, and their diet. The regulations shall make provision for the separation of the sexes in different institutions, or at least into different departments, and also for the correction and reform of the convicts.
Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, Act No. 3815, as amended. Reproduced in full from the official enactment and verified against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings.
What this article means
No penalty may be carried out except under a final judgment, and only in the form and with the incidents the law expressly authorises. Prison regulations govern the work required, its timing, the convicts' relations with one another and with outsiders, the relief they receive and their diet, and must provide for the separation of the sexes and for the correction and reform of convicts.
Related provisions
- Article 66 — How Courts Fix Fines.
- Article 79 — Suspension For Insanity After Sentence.
On this text. This article is reproduced as the Revised Penal Code enacted it, verified word-for-word against two independent sources. Republic Act No. 10951 (2017) revised the penalty amounts in many other articles of this Code; where an amount appears below it is the figure this article itself carries.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.