Lectures on Fundamentals of
Criminal Investigation
Subject Description
• The course focuses on the study of crime investigation as an
integral function in police operation. Equally important is the need
on the study of intelligence which is vital in criminal investigation.
NATURE AND CONCEPT OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
ETYMOLOGY OF INVESTIGATION
• The term came from the Latin word INVESTIGARE (vestig are in some
books) which means “to track or to look into for traces”.
• Fundamentally, it may have been derived from VESTIGIUM, another
Latin word which means footprint. (MS Encarta Reference Library,
2009)
• Criminal Investigation came from the Latin term INVESTIGAT, which
means “to inquire or to discover” during the 5th century
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Criminal- refers to a person who committed an offense and convicted
with final judgement
Investigation refers to the process of carrying out a detailed
examination or inquiry usually in official manner, to discover
something or somebody.
Criminal Investigation is a logical process of collection and analysis of
facts about persons, things and places relative to a crime. It includes:
Investigation Defined: The collection of facts
to accomplish a threefold aim:
• Identification of the guilty party
• The location of the whereabouts of the guilty party, and
• Providing admissible evidence to establish the guilt of the parties
involved in the crime.
• Criminal investigation is an undertaking that seeks, collects, and
gathers evidence of a crime for a case or specific purpose
Criminal Investigator Defined
A criminal investigator is a person who is charged with the duty of
carrying on the objectives of criminal investigation, e.g., to identify and locate
the guilty and provide evidence of his guilt.
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AS
• an art based on intuition and sometimes by chance.
• a science because it involves the application of knowledge of forensic
science;
• a process because it involves systematic procedure.
Basic concepts and Principles of criminal investigation
Criminal Investigation-
is an art which deals with the identity and location of the
offender and provides evidence of guilt through criminal
proceedings.
The exception to the general rule perhaps is the 1987 Constitution
which states among other things, that an arrested person under
custodial investigation is afforded with the three Constitutional
rights. Such as:
• The right to remain silent
• The right to counsel
• The right to be informed of the nature and the cause of the
accusation
• Miranda doctrine
• Miranda right
• Arizona vs Miranda
What is the legal consequence if an arrested
person under custodial investigation is deprived of
the constitutional rights?
• Any testimony of statement taken from the arrested person who is
departed of the three constitutional rights would be inadmissible as
evidence in the Courts of Justice. On the other hand, the investigator
may be held criminally liable for the violation of law.
Republic Act No. 9745-
AN ACT PENALIZING TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL,
INHUMAN AND DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT AND PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFOR
Sin vs Crime
