PERSONS AND FAMILY RELATIONS
I. INTRODUCTION TO LAW
A. Concept of Law
1. General sense (derecho) – the science of moral rules,
founded on the rational nature of man, which govern his
free activity, for the realization of the individual and
social end, of a nature both demandable and reciprocal
• Set of obligatory rules established for the
purpose of governing the relations of people in a
society
2. Specific sense (ley) – juridical proposition or an
aggregate of juridical propositions, promulgated and
published by competent organs of the State in
accordance with the Constitution
• Rule of conduct, just, obligatory, promulgated by
legitimate authority, and of common observance
and benefit
B. Foundations of Law – regulates the relations of human
beings so that harmony can be maintained in a social
group, by placing restrictions on individual liberty in order
to make co-existence possible. Law is founded on: ORDER,
CO-EXISTENCE and LIBERTY
C. Characteristics of Law
1. Rule of human conduct
2. Promulgated by competent authority
3. Obligatory
4. Of general observance
D. Law and Morals – have a common ethical basis and come
from the same source: social conscience
1. Laws – have a legal sanction and can be enforced by a
public authority
2. Morals – more extensive; also covers man’s relationship
with the divine
E. General Divisions of Law
1. Divine Law – that which is God himself is the legislator
who has promulgated the law
2. Human Law – that which is promulgated by man to
regulate human relations
a. General or Public Law
i.
International law – that which governs the
relations between nations or states, between
human beings in their collective concept
ii. Constitutional law – that which governs the
relations between humans as citizens of state
and of a governing power
iii. Administrative law – that which governs the
relations between the officials and employees of
the government
iv. Criminal law – that which guarantees the
coercive power of the law so that it will be
obeyed
v. Religious law – that which regulates the practice
of religion
b. Individual or Private Law
i. Civil law – that which regulates the special
relations of individuals with other individuals for
purely private ends
ii. Mercantile law – that which regulates the special
relations produced by commercial transactions
iii. Procedural law – that which provides for the
means by which private rights may be enforced
c. Kinds of specific law
i. Mandatory – it commands that something be
done
ii. Prohibitory – it commands that something not be
done
iii. Permissive – it commands that what it permits to
be done should be tolerated or respected
iv. Absolute – obligatory
v. Suppletory – leaves the individual free to act, and
only when this has not manifested itself does the
law present the rule to determine the juridical
fact
II. CODIFICATION OF LAWS – collection of laws of the same kind;
body of legal provisions referring to a particular branch of the law
• Purpose: to reduce the bulk, clear out the refuse,
condense and arrange the residuum
A. History of Codification
1. Codification in Modern times –
2. Codification in Spain –
3. Codification in the Philippines –
B. Sources of Civil Law
1. Philippine Civil Code
2. Spanish Civil Law
3. Anglo-American Common law
4. Civil and Commercial Law
THE CIVIL CODE, CHAPTER I: EFFECT AND APPLICATION
OF LAWS
Art. I – This act shall be known as the Civil Code of the
Philippines.
Art. II – Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following
the completion of their publication in the Official Gazette,
unless it is otherwise provided. This code shall take
effect one year after such publication.
•
Effectivity of Laws – provisions on the NCC on the
date when the laws become effective apply only when the
particular statute does not provide its own date of
effectivity. As such, when the statute indicates that it
shall be effective upon approval, no publication is
necessary for it to be effective.
Art. III – Ignorance of the law excuses no one from
compliance therewith.
•
Presumption of Knowledge of Law – Once a law has
been promulgated and has taken effect, it is the duty of
everyone to know it.
•
Otherwise, a person can plead ignorance to escape
from the legal consequences of an action.
•
Reasons: If the laws will not be binding until they
are known, social life would be impossible because most
laws cannot be enforced due to their being unknown to
many. It is absurd to absolve those who are ignorant of
the law and increase the obligations of those who know it.
It is almost impossible to argue the contrary when a
person claims to be ignorant of the law. Lawyers can be
consulted before a certain action could be done.
•
Laws referred here are only applied in the
Philippines; ignorance of foreign law does not apply in this
case.
Art. IV – Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the
contrary is provided.
• A retroactive law is intended to affect transactions which
occurred, or rights which accrued, before it became
operative and which ascribes to them effects not inherent
in their nature, in view of the law in force at the time of
their occurrence
• Since the obligatory force of law presupposes that it has
been published and promulgated, a law that has not yet
become effective cannot be as conclusively known by the
people
• It would be confusing for people as to which law to follow
if the subsequent law repeals or is inconsistent with a
prior law
• Application:
All statutes are understood to have
prospective effect unless otherwise expressly stated
• EXCEPTIONS:
1.
When the law itself stipulates such provision –this
is within the powers of legislature; in case of doubt, it
must be resolved against retroactivity
2.
In case of remedial statutes – remedial statutes
refer to the method of enforcing rights or of obtaining
the redress of their invasion. The rules of the court may
be changed at any time by the law to take effect at
once, as long as it does not affect or change any vested
rights
3.
In case of curative statutes – curative statutes are
those which undertake to cure errors and irregularities.
Limitations:
Cannot violate constitutional provisions; or destroy the
vested rights of third persons; cannot affect a judgment
that has been made final
4.
In case of laws interpreting others – intended to
clarify doubts or interpret existing laws. Interpretive
laws are considered incorporated in the latter but shall
not affect judicial decisions which have already become
final
5.
In case of laws creating new rights – if a right is
declared for the first time by a new aw, it shall take
effect from the time of declaration provided that
prejudice another acquired right of the same origin
Art. V – Acts executed against the provisions of
mandatory or prohibitory laws shall be void, except when
the law itself authorizes their validity
• Acts contrary to directory, permissive or suppletory laws
are not nullified by Art V.
• The violation of a mandatory or prohibitory law renders
the act null and void.
• It is possible to prohibit an act without destroying its
validity in case it is done in spite of the prohibition. The
nullity of an act may bring about harmful consequences
which the law does not sanction
• Exceptions:
1.
Where the law does not refer to an essential
matter, nullity may be more disadvantageous than
validity
2.
The law may make the validity of the act depend
upon the consent of the party directly interested in the
nullity of an such an act. E.g. annulment
3.
The law may declare the nullity of an act but at the
same time recognize its effects as legally existing
Art. VI – Rights may be waived, unless the waiver is
contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals, or
good customs, or prejudicial to a third person with a right
recognized by law.
• Elements of a right: subject – persons; object – things and
objects ; efficient cause –fact that gave rise to the legal
relation
• Kinds of Rights:
1.
Human rights – protect human existence, integrity,
and development
2.
Family rights – rights of a person as a member of a
family
3.
Patrimonial rights – tend to the economic
satisfaction of men
**ONLY PATRIMONIAL RIGHTS ARE SUBJECT TO A
WAIVER
• Waiver of a right means relinquishing it with both
knowledge of its existence and the intention to relinquish
it
•
Express waiver –
Implied waiver – when the waiver is reasonably inferred
based on the acts and conduct of the party. It may also
be implied from a failure or neglect to assert the right at
its proper time
• Reason:
A person may renounce what has been
established to be in his favor or benefit because he
prejudices nobody; he alone is to blame
• Requirements:
1. He must actually have the right which he renounces
2. He must have the capacity to make such renunciation
3. The renunciation must be made in a clear and
equivocal manner. If no formality is required, it is tacit
provided that the intent to renounce can be clearly
established
• Scope – Doctrine of waiver is applicable to all rights and
privileges that a person is legally entitled to the person
and for his sole benefit
• Obligations – in general, cannot be renounced. A person
may exempt himself from an obligation inherent in a right
upon renunciation of such right
Art. VII – Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and
their violation or non-observance shall not be excused by
disuse, or custom or practice to the contrary.
• Reason – laws cease to have effect only through the will of
the State. As long as the law remains in statute books, its
legal force and effect subsists
• Lapse of Laws – laws without any repeal, cease to have
effect because they lapse on their own
• Kinds of Repeal:
1. Express or declared repeal – contained in a special
provision of a subsequent law
2. Implied or tacit repeal – when the provisions of the
subsequent law are incompatible or inconsistent with
those of an earlier law
**IF THERE IS A CONFLICT BETWEEN THE OLD AND
THE NEW LAW, THE RULING IS IN FAVOR OF THE NEW
LAW BUT IF BOTH LAWS BY REASONABLE
CONSTRUCTION CAN STAND TOGETHER, BOTH WILL
BE SUSTAINED
•
•
Requisites for implied repeals:
1. The laws cover the same subject matter
2. The latter is opposed to the other
3. The repeal of a statute cannot affect or impair any
vested right, act done, penalty accrued, or judgment
already final before the repeal
• Repeal of repealing law – when a law expressly repeals a
prior law is itself repealed, the law first repealed shall not
be revived unless expressly so provided
Art. VIII – Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the
laws or the Constitution shall form a part of the legal
system of the Philippines.
• Jurisprudence cannot be an independent source of law
because that would be a invasion of legislative power
• Function of Jurisprudence: 1. To fill the deficiencies of
legislation and provide a rule for the facts of a given case
for which neither is positive provision of the law nor
established custom; 2. To adapt and adjust rigid inflexible
provisions of law, rendered inadequate by time and
circumstances to changing life and society
• DOCTRINE OF STARE DECISIS – requires court in a country
to follow the rule established in a decision of the SC
therefore. It is based on the idea that once a question of
law has been examined and decided, it should be deemed
settled and closed to further argument. The duty of the
court is to abandon any doctrine or rule found to be in
violation of the law in force
Art. IX – No judge or court shall decline to render
judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity or
insufficiency of the laws.
• Does not apply to criminal prosecutions because when
there is no law punishing an act, the case must be
dismissed regardless of the act
• Ignorance of the court does not warrant a dismissal of the
case
• If the law is vague or obscure, the court should clarify
following statutory construction; only when the court has
exhausted all rules in interpretation can it create a rule
based on facts and with the juridical order. If the case is
new in the country but old in foreign jurisprudence, the
court may refer to foreign legislation
• What the grants; the court cannot deny no matter how
seemingly unjust the law is. If the law is clear, it must be
applied
• Rules suppletory to law – Although the NCC does not
clearly indicate it, where there is no statute directly
applicable to the point in controversy, the custom of the
place shall be applied, and in the absence thereof, the
general principles of law.
• Custom is defined as the juridical rule which results from a
constant and continued uniform practice by the members
of a social community, with respect to a particular state of
facts, and observed with a conviction that it is juridically
obligatory
• Requisites:
1. Plurality of acts, or various resolutions of a juridical
question raised repeatedly in life
2. Uniformity or identity of the acts or various
solutions to the juridical question
3. General practice by the great mass of the social
group
4. Continued performance of these acts for a long
period of time
5. General conviction that the practice corresponds to
a juridical necessity or that it is obligatory
6. The practice must not be contrary to law, morals or
public order
• In cases where both parties have different customs, the
general rule is to apply the custom of the place for the
performance or consummation of the juridical act
Art. X – In case of doubt in the interpretation or
application of laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking
body intended right and justice to prevail.
• This ONLY APPLIES in case of doubt and where all other
rules of interpretation fail.
Art. XI – Customs which are contrary to law, public order
or public policy shall not be countenanced.
• No man or group of men can create a custom for their
benefit or convenience and give it a force tantamount to
that of the law
•
The court will not recognize the force of a custom in
opposition to positive law
Art. XII – A custom must be proved as a fact, according to
the rules of evidence.
• When the alleged custom or usage is not known to those
who have the best access to it, this ignorance is in some
sense positive evidence of its non-existence
Art. XIII – When the laws speak of years, months, days or
nights, it shall be understood that years are of three
hundred sixty-five days each; months, of thirty days;
days, of twenty-four hours; and nights from sunset to
sunrise.
• Week – when computed based on a calendar, it is 7 days
starting from Sunday until Saturday. If it is used as a
measure of duration of time and without reference to the
calendar, it means a period of 7 consecutive days
beginning on the day of the week it begins
• Month – period composed of 30 days
• Computation of time – includes the last day of the period
but not the first day
• This does not apply when the statute clearly expresses a
fixed date.
Art. XIV – Penal laws and those of public security and
safety shall be obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in
the Philippine territory, subject to the principles of public
international law and to treaty stipulations.
• Foreigners owe local and temporary allegiance to the
government where they are; they must obey its laws and
may be prosecuted for violating them
• The jurisdiction of the court of the Philippines is not
affected by the military or special character of the person
brought for trial
• Exemptions under international law:
1.
When the offense is committed by a foreign
sovereign while in the Philippine territory
2.
When the offense is committed by
diplomatic representatives
3.
When the offense is committed in public
vessel or armed vessel of a foreign country
•
Merchant vessels – Foreign merchant vessels do not enjoy
the extraterritorial privileges of foreign public or war
vessels. Once a merchant vessel enters the port of a
foreign country, it subjects itself to the laws of the latter
so long as it is within its territorial waters. Such offense
constitutes a breach of public order and violation of the
policy established by the legislature which can be tried in
Philippine court.
• Exemption by Treaty – By express provisions in a treaty
with a foreign country, the Philippines may agree to
exempt from the operation of its penal laws certain
nationals of the country with which the Philippines has a
treaty with.
Art. XV – Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to
the status, condition and legal capacity of persons are
binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though
living abroad.
• Nationality theory – private rights are not determined by
his physical location but by his political allegiance
• Application: purely personal relations and the status and
capacity for juristic acts.
All questions relating to
marriage and divorce or legal separation, to conjugal
partnership, to support between members of a family, and
to marital authority are governed exclusively by the law of
the Philippines, when Filipinos are involved
• If under the law of the State of which a party to a contract
is a citizen, he is already of age at the time he enters a
contract, he cannot set aside such contract on the
grounds of minority, even if under the laws of the
Philippines he is still a minor
• Foreign adoption – It is a principle in Private international
law that the status of adoption created by the law of the
state having jurisdiction over it, will be given the same
effect in another state as is given by the latter to the
status of adoption when created by its own law.
Art. XVI – Real property as well as personal property is
subject to the law of the country where it is stipulated.
However, intestate and testamentary successions, both
with respect to the order of succession and to the amount
of successional rights and to the intrinsic validity of
testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by the
national law of the person whose succession is under
consideration, whatever may be the nature of the
property and regardless of the country wherein said
property may be found.
• Property is subject to laws of the country in which it is
located (applies to real property)
• Personal property – is subjected to the laws of the place
where it is located
• The right of the person to be respected in his possession
of movable property until it is shown that he possesses it
illegally.
Art. XVII – The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills,
and other public instruments shall be governed by the
laws of the country in which they are executed.
When the acts referred to are executed before the
diplomatic or consular officials of the Republic of the
Philippines in a foreign country, the solemnities
established by Philippine laws shall be observed in their
execution.
Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or
property, and those which have for their object public
order, public policy and good customs shall not be
rendered ineffective by laws or judgments promulgated,
or by determination, or conventions agreed upon by a
foreign country.
• Contracts – performance of contracts are regulated by the
law prevailing at the place of performance
• Validity of Obligations: The law designated by both parties
shall be applied; if there is no stipulation on the matter,
and the parties are of the same nationality, their national
law shall be applied; if not, the law of the place of
perfection of the obligation shall govern.
Art. XVIII – In matters which are governed by the Code of
Commerce and special laws, their deficiency shall be
supplied by the provisions of this Code.
• When there is no deficiency in the special law, the
provision in the Civil code cannot be applied (but this is
not always the case)