The victim and an acquittal

THE freshman student in a college or school of law will inevitably study the constitutional proscription against double jeopardy. No person shall face jeopardy more than once for the same offense. It is principles (beliefs and myths, perhaps) like these that stand scrutiny if one is to engage in thorough philosophy of the law. To be sure, the prohibition is repeated by the organic laws of such international tribunals as the International Criminal Court and the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda: "ne bis in idem" — never twice for the same thing, is the way these international documents phrase the guarantee.

Double jeopardy and other legal principles — including the principle that the victim of a crime is at most only the witness of the State that is the real aggrieved party — were in issue before the Supreme Court in a case entitled Austria v. AAA and BBB, GR 205275, promulgated on June 28, 2022.