Republic Act No. 47, enacted on October 3, 1946, amends Article 80 of the Revised Penal Code concerning the treatment of minor delinquents. It stipulates that if a minor under sixteen years old is accused of a grave or less grave felony, the court may suspend the proceedings and commit the minor to a benevolent institution or a responsible person, rather than convicting them. The commitment is subject to supervision by the Director of Public Welfare or other designated representatives until the minor reaches adulthood or for a period deemed appropriate by the court. This act emphasizes rehabilitation over punishment for young offenders.
October 3, 1946
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 47
AN ACT TO AMEND ARTICLE EIGHTY OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE, AS AMENDED
SECTION 1. The first paragraph of article eighty of Act Numbered Thirty-eight hundred and fifteen, otherwise known as the Revised Penal Code, as last amended by Commonwealth Act Numbered Ninety-nine, is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Art. 80. Suspension of sentence of minor delinquents. — Whenever a minor of either sex, under sixteen years of age at the date of the commission of a grave or less grave felony, is accused thereof, the court, after hearing the evidence in the proper proceedings, instead of pronouncing judgment of conviction, shall suspend all further proceedings and shall commit such minor to the custody or care of a public or private, benevolent or charitable institution, established under the law for the care, correction or education of orphaned, homeless, defective, and delinquent children, or to the custody or care of any other responsible person in any other place subject to visitation and supervision by the Director of Public Welfare or any of his agents or representatives, if there be any, or otherwise by the superintendent of public schools or his representatives, subject to such conditions as are prescribed hereinbelow until such minor shall have reached his majority or for such less period as the court may deem proper.
SECTION 2. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: October 3, 1946
Not published in the Official Gazette