Complex Crimes are discussed primarily in the context of the plurality of crimes under the Revised Penal Code, specifically Article 48.

• Definition: A complex crime is a single act which constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies. It can also occur when an offense is a necessary means for committing another offense. Under Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code, a complex crime refers to the commission of at least two grave or less grave felonies that must both (or all) be the result of a single act, or one offense being a necessary means for committing the other offense (or others). Light felonies are excluded from Article 48.
• Legal Basis and Nature: Complex crimes are governed by Article 48 of the Revised Penal Code. Article 48 is described as a procedural device allowing the single prosecution of multiple felonies falling under its categories.
• Distinction from other Pluralities:
  • It is different from delito continuado or a continuous crime, which is a series of acts arising from a single criminal resolution or intent not susceptible of division.
  • It contrasts with real/material plurality, where the accused performs acts or different acts with distinct purposes resulting in different crimes. In real plurality, there are different criminal intents.
  • Complex crime falls under Formal/Ideal plurality, where a single act constitutes two or more infractions.
• Underlying Principle: The principle behind complex crimes is that the offenses are treated as one, subject to a single criminal liability, because they arise from a single criminal impulse. The commission of one crime is resorted to in order to insure or facilitate the commission of another crime. The components crimes are considered as elements of the complex crime.
• Penalty: When Article 48 applies, the penalty for the most serious crime is imposed in its maximum period.
• Types and Examples:
  • Complex Crimes under Article 48: These involve either a single act resulting in multiple crimes or one crime being a necessary means for another.
    • An example of one offense being a necessary means for another is the crime of estafa through falsification of a public document.
    • Compound crime is a type of complex crime where a single act constitutes two or more grave or less grave felonies. Examples include a single bullet resulting in the death of two or more persons, or throwing a grenade that results in the death of another person and injuring four others.
    • Incriminatory machination through unlawful arrest is described as a complex crime.
  • Special Complex Crimes (or Composite Crimes): These are defined by law as a single indivisible and unique offense, even though they are composed of two or more crimes. They are treated as one, subject to a single criminal liability. While they consist of two or more component crimes, the law treats them as a single indivisible crime with a specific penalty.
    • Examples of special complex crimes include:
      • Rape with homicide.
      • Robbery with homicide.
      • Robbery with rape.
      • Kidnapping with serious physical injuries.
      • Kidnapping with murder or homicide.
      • Carnapping with homicide.
• Nuances and Exceptions:
  • The theory of absorption applies in rebellion cases, where common crimes committed in furtherance of the political offense are absorbed by the crime of rebellion, and this is distinct from the concept of complex crime under Article 48.
  • There is no complex crime if the means is defined as a crime itself in certain contexts, such as when killing is committed by means of fire or explosion, resulting in no complex crime of arson with homicide. This implies that for certain legally defined composites like arson with homicide, the treatment might differ from the general rule of one offense being a necessary means for another under Article 48.