Illegal Recruitment

August 29, 2008

Read this article from Inquirer.net about a woman getting penalty of 60 years imprisonment for illegal recruitment.  Since I’m taking up criminal law 2, I decided to have an advance reading about the elements of thsi crime.  It turned out that this crime is not listed under the Revised Penal Code but instead it can be found under the Labor Code.  Under Article 38, it provides that illegal recruitment involves:

(a) Any recruitment activities, including the prohibited practices enumerated under Article 34 of this Code, to be undertaken by non-licensees or non-holders of authority shall be deemed illegal and punishable under Article 39 of this Code. The Ministry of Labor and Employment or any law enforcement officer may initiate complaints under this Article.(b) Illegal recruitment when committed by a syndicate or in large scale shall be considered an offense involving economic sabotage and shall be penalized in accordance with Article 39 hereof.

Illegal recruitment is deemed committed by a syndicate if carried out by a group of three (3) or more persons conspiring and/or confederating with one another in carrying out any unlawful or illegal transaction, enterprise or scheme defined under the first paragraph hereof. Illegal recruitment is deemed committed in large scale if committed against three (3) or more persons individually or as a group.

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