Week 5 - Preliminary Examination (Prelim Exam)

This is the Preliminary Examination week, testing everything covered in Weeks 1 through 4: the nature and sources of remedial law, the accusatorial system, liberal construction of the Rules, the different kinds and elements of criminal jurisdiction (especially the Sandiganbayan's twin jurisdictional tests), how criminal actions are instituted and when they prescribe, the sufficiency and amendment of complaints and informations, venue, and the full Rule 111 framework on civil actions — implied institution, suspension, independent civil actions, the Bayotas doctrine on death of the accused, effect of acquittal, and prejudicial questions. Given how dense the sufficiency-of-information and Sandiganbayan-jurisdiction clusters are, budget extra review time for those two areas specifically, since they are both the most heavily populated with case law on your syllabus and consistently among the most tested topics in bar-style questions.