Law (prelim)

• Determinate thing: a thing is determinate when it is particularly designated or physically segregated from all others of the same class
• Generic thing: a thing is indeterminate or generic when it is not particularly designated or physically segregated from all others of the same class
• Loss of a determinate thing through a fortuitous event extinguishes the obligation, while the loss of a generic thing does not extinguish the obligation
• Fortuitous event: an event which cannot be foreseen or which, though foreseen, is inevitable
• Examples of fortuitous events: natural calamities like earthquakes, acts of man like war
• Elements of fortuitous events:

  1. The cause must be independent of the debtor’s will.

  2. There must be impossibility of foreseeing the event or of avoiding it even if it can be foreseen.

  3. The occurrence of the event must be of such character as to render it impossible for the debtor to perform his obligation in a normal manner
• Specific or Determinate Real Obligation includes taking good care of the thing, delivering the thing, delivering the fruits of the thing, and delivering its accessories even if they have not been mentioned
• To take good care of the thing with the diligence of a good father of a family unless the law or agreement of the parties requires another standard of care
• Kinds of Delivery:

  1. Actual Delivery: giving real and immediate possession to the creditor.

  2. Constructive Delivery: a transfer of title by operation of law when actual transfer is impractical or impossible
• Rights of the creditor:

  • Personal right: the right to demand the delivery of the thing and its fruits from the debtor.
  • Real right: the right or power over a specific thing, such as possession or ownership, enforceable against the whole world
• Accessions include everything produced by a thing or incorporated/attached to it, while accessories are joined to or included with the principal thing for its better use, perfection, or enjoyment
• Remedies of the creditor:

  1. To compel the debtor to make the delivery.

  2. To demand damages from the debtor
• Remedies of the creditor in business law:

  • If the debtor fails to perform his obligation to deliver a specific car, the creditor can compel the delivery or demand damages
  • If the debtor fails to deliver a generic thing, the creditor can ask for compliance at the debtor's expense and demand damages
  • In obligations to do, if the debtor fails to perform or contravenes the obligation, the creditor may have the obligation executed at the debtor's expense and demand damages
• In obligations to do, if the debtor performs poorly, the creditor may have the work undone at the debtor's expense and demand damages

  • If the debtor does what has been forbidden, the creditor may demand the action be undone and demand damages
• Different kinds of damages under the Civil Code:

  1. Actual or compensatory damages: pecuniary loss that may be recovered, including loss suffered and profits not realized

  2. Moral damages: include physical suffering, mental anguish, and similar injuries

  3. Nominal damages: damages to vindicate a right

  4. Temperate or moderate damages: more than nominal but less than compensatory damages

  5. Liquidated damages: agreed upon by parties in case of breach

  6. Exemplary or corrective damages: imposed for public good, in addition to other damages
• Grounds for liability to pay damages:

  • Fraud: deliberate evasion by the debtor of the normal compliance of his obligation
  • Kinds of fraud: causal fraud, incidental fraud, fraud in obtaining consent, fraud in the performance of the obligation
• Fraud can be categorized into kinds based on the time of commission:

  • Future fraud: a waiver of an action for future fraud cannot be made, and any agreement for its waiver is void, making the debtor liable for damages even if the creditor waives it.
  • Past fraud: a waiver of an action for past fraud can be made, as the commission of fraud can no longer be encouraged
• Negligence is the omission of diligence required by the nature of the obligation and corresponds with the circumstances of the person, time, and place, leading to injury to another person
• In negligence, if the law or contract doesn't specify the diligence to be observed, the debtor must follow the diligence of a good father of a family, considering the nature of the obligation and the circumstances
• Kinds of Negligence:

  1. Culpa contractual (contractual negligence)

  2. Culpa aquiliana (civil negligence or tort or quasi-delicts or culpa extra-contractual)

  3. Culpa criminal (criminal negligence)
• Delay is the non-fulfillment of an obligation with respect to time, and it can be categorized into kinds like mora solvendi, mora accipiendi, and compensatio morae
• When a debtor incurs delay in obligations to give or to do, they incur delay from the time the creditor demands fulfillment of the obligation, and the requisites of delay include demandability of the obligation, non-performance by the debtor, demand by the creditor, and failure to comply with the demand
• Exceptions to the rule of delay without demand include cases where the law or obligation expressly provides for it, when time is essential to the contract, or when demand would be useless
• Contravention of the tenor of the obligation refers to the violation of a contract or breach of contract, such as a seller not being the owner at the time of delivery in a sale contract or a common carrier failing to take passengers to their destination in a contract of carriage
• Determinate thing is particularly designated or physically segregated from all others of the same class
• Examples of determinate things:

  • 2020 Toyota Fortuner with specific engine, body, and plate numbers
  • Specific personal items like a wristwatch or a house at a particular address
  • Named items like a horse named "Black Stallion"
• Generic thing is indeterminate or not physically segregated from others of the same class
• Loss of a determinate thing through a fortuitous event extinguishes the obligation, while loss of a generic thing does not
• Fortuitous events are unforeseeable events that can be acts of God (like earthquakes) or acts of man (like war)
• Elements of fortuitous events:

  • Cause independent of the debtor's will
  • Impossibility of foreseeing or avoiding the event
  • Event renders it impossible for the debtor to perform the obligation normally
• Obligations of one obliged to give a determinate thing include taking good care of it, delivering it, delivering its fruits, and delivering accessories
• Delivery of a determinate thing can be actual (giving possession) or constructive (transfer of title by law)
• Fruits of a determinate thing can be natural, industrial, or civil, and the creditor has the right to them when the obligation to deliver arises
• Rights of the creditor include personal rights to demand delivery and real rights enforceable against the whole world after delivery
• Accessories must be delivered with the principal thing, following the principle that accessory follows the principal
• Remedies of the creditor if the debtor fails to deliver a determinate thing include compelling delivery and demanding damages
• Remedies of the creditor in business law:

  • If the debtor fails to perform his obligation to deliver a specific car, the creditor can compel the delivery and demand damages
  • If the debtor fails to deliver a generic thing, the creditor can ask for compliance at the debtor's expense and demand damages
  • If the debtor fails in obligations to do, the creditor can have the obligation executed at the debtor's expense and demand damages
• In case the debtor performs the obligation poorly, the creditor can have it undone at the debtor's expense and demand damages
• If the debtor does what has been forbidden, the creditor may demand it be undone and also demand damages
• Different kinds of damages under the Civil Code:

  • Actual or compensatory damages
  • Moral damages
  • Nominal damages
  • Temperate or moderate damages
  • Liquidated damages
  • Exemplary or corrective damages