oblicon

• When analysing markets, a range of assumptions are made about the rationality of economic agents involved in the transactions
• State Law is promulgated and enforced by the state, governing the relations of parties in society
• Sources of Law

  • Constitution
  • Legislation
  • Administrative or executive orders, regulations, and rulings
  • Juridical Decisions or Jurisprudence
  • Customs
• General Divisions of Law

  • Law in strict legal sense – promulgated and enforced by the State; aka State Law
  • Law in non-legal sense - not promulgated and enforced by the State (Divine law, Natural law, Moral law, Physical law)
• Organization of Courts


  • The judicial power is vested in one Supreme Court and in such lower courts as may be established by law
• Natural Law means sense of justice, fairness, and righteousness, inspired by the law of nature
• The Law on Obligations and Contracts deals with the nature and sources of obligations and the rights and duties arising from agreements and contracts
• Classification of Law

  • As to purpose
  • As to Subject Matter
• Rule of action or any system of uniformity

  Determines not only the activities of men as rational beings but also the movements of motions of all objects of creation, whether animate or inanimate
• Divine Law concerns itself with the concept of sin and salvation, promulgated by God and revealed to men by means of revelations
• Functions of Law

  • Secures justice
  • Resolves conflict
  • Orders society
  • Protects interests
  • Control social relations
• Physical Law is the law of physical science, in the operation or the course of nature
• Natural Law is inspired by the law of nature, based on sense of justice, fairness, and righteousness
• Classification of Laws

  • State Law
  • Divine Law
  • Natural Law
  • Moral Law
  • Physical Law
• Divine Law is a law of religion and faith, embodied in the 10 Commandments
• The Wealth of Nations was written

  1776
• Hierarchy of Courts

  • Supreme Court
  • Court of Appeals
  • Regional Trial Courts
  • Metropolitan Trial Courts
  • Municipal Trial Courts in Cities
  • Municipal Circuit Trial Courts
• Moral Law is the totality of norms of good & right conduct growing out of the collective sense of right & wrong of every community
• Characteristics of Law

  • Rule of conduct – tells what to be done & not to be done
  • Obligatory – a positive command imposing a positive duty to obey and involve sanctions which forces obedience
  • Promulgated by legitimate authority – enacted by Congress of the Legislative branch of government
  • Of common observance and benefit – intended to serve men; regulates the relations of men to maintain harmony in society, maintain order, and co-existence possible; must be observed for the benefit of all
• Legal obligations are considered as burdens upon the obligor and must be clearly set forth in the Civil Code or in special laws
• Binding force of contracts

  • Valid contracts have the force of law between the parties who are bound to comply therewith in good faith and neither one may, without the consent of the other, renege therefrom
• Kinds of Quasi-Contracts

  • Negotiorum gestio - voluntary management of property or affairs of another without the knowledge or consent of the latter
• A person who wins money in gambling has the duty to return his winnings to the loser (Art. 2014)
• Crimes breach social order and cause personal sufferings or injury, each of which is addressed by the imposition of heavier punishment on the accused and by an award of additional damages to the victim
• Obligations arising from contracts


  Have the force of law between the contracting parties and should be complied with in good faith
• Solutio indebiti - juridical relation created when something is received when there is no right to demand it or it was unduly delivered through mistake
• Requirements of a valid contract

  • If it is not contrary to law, morals, good customs, public policy; if the contract is void, no obligation will arise
• Quasi-delicts


  An act or omission by a person (tort-feasor) which causes damage to another giving rise to an obligation to pay for the damage done, there being fault or negligence, but there is no pre-existing contractual relation between the parties
• Requisites for Quasi-delicts

  • There must be an act or omission by the defendant; There must be fault or negligence on the part of the defendant; There must be damage caused to the plaintiff; There must be direct relation of cause and effect between the act or omission and the damage caused; There is no pre-existing contractual relation between the parties
• Specific/Determinate vs. Indeterminate

  Specific/Determinate: Particularly designated or physically segregated from all others of the same class; Indeterminate: Refers only to class or genus to which it pertains and cannot be pointed out with particularity
• Every person liable for crimes is also civilly liable
• Personal Right vs. Real Right

  Personal Right: Right or power of the person (creditor) to demand from another (debtor), as a definite passive subject, the fulfillment of the latter’s obligation; Real Right: Right or interest of a person over a specific thing (like ownership, possession, mortgage, lease record) without a definite passive subject against whom the right may be personally enforced
• Examples of Personal/Real Rights
• Duties of Debtor in Obligation to Deliver a Determinate Thing: Preserve and take care of the thing due, deliver the fruits of the thing, deliver its accessories and accessions, deliver the thing itself, answer for damages in case of non-fulfillment or breach
• Remedies of a Creditor in Real Obligations: In specific real obligation, the creditor may demand specific performance, demand recission or cancellation of the obligation, or demand the payment of damages only; In a generic real obligation, the creditor may ask the performance of the obligation and in case of breach, he has a right to recover damages
• Different Kinds of Fruits

  • Natural fruits, Industrial fruits, Civil fruits
• The creditor has a right to the fruits of the thing from the time the obligation to deliver it arises, but he shall acquire no real right over it until the same has been delivered to him
• Situations Contemplated in Article 1167

  Debtor fails to perform an obligation to do; Debtor performs an obligation to do but contrary to the terms thereof; Debtor performs an obligation to do but in a poor manner
• Remedies of Creditor in Negative Personal Obligations: The undoing of the forbidden thing, plus damages; If it is not possible to undo what was done, his remedy is an action for damages caused by the debtor’s violation of his obligation
• When what is to be delivered is a determinate thing, the creditor may compel the debtor to make the delivery; If the thing is indeterminate or generic, he may ask that the obligation be complied with at the expense of the debtor; If the obligor delays, or has promised to deliver the same thing to two or more persons who do not have the same interest, he shall be responsible for any fortuitous event until he has effected the delivery