MODULE 1: Introduction to Law and Obligations

• Law


  Any rule of action or any system of uniformity
• Divisions of Law


  • The law in the strict legal sense
  • The law in the non-legal sense
• Positive Law


  A body of manmade laws consisting of codes, regulations, and statutes enacted or imposed within a political entity such as a state or nation
• Municipal Law


  The internal law of a sovereign state. It includes state, provincial, territorial, regional, or local law of a state
• Civil Law


  A body of rules governing private rights and remedies between individuals in contracts, property, and family law
• Imperative Law


  A rule of action imposed by some authority that enforces obedience
• Divine Law


  The law of religion and faith concerns the concept of sin. It is said to be formally promulgated by God and revealed to humanity through direct revelation
• Natural Law


  The divine inspiration in man of the sense of justice, fairness, and righteousness, not by divine revelation or formal promulgation, but by internal dictates of reason alone
• Moral Law


  The totality of norms of good and right conduct growing out of every community's collective sense of right and wrong
• Constitution


  The written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited, and defined, and by which these powers are distributed among the several departments for their safe and useful exercise for the benefit of the people
• Legislation


  The declaration of legal rules by a competent authority. It includes Acts passed by the legislature and ordinances enacted by local government units through their respective sanggunians
• Administrative or executive orders, regulations, and rulings


  Issued by administrative officials with legislative authority to clarify or explain the law and carry into effect its general provisions
• Judicial decisions and jurisprudence


  Decisions of the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution as part of the legal system
• Custom


  Habits and practices which, through long and uninterrupted usage, have become acknowledged and approved by society as binding rules of conduct
• The law may also come from other sources, such as principles of justice and equity, foreign tribunals' decisions, text writers' opinions, and religion. However, these sources are merely supplementary, meaning they are only applied when the previously enumerated sources of law are absent
• Regular courts


  The Philippine judicial system consists of a hierarchy of courts resembling a pyramid, with the Supreme Court at the apex
• Regular courts


  • Court of Appeals
  • Regional Trial Courts
  • Metropolitan Trial Courts
  • Municipal Trial Courts
  • Municipal Circuit Trial Courts
• Special courts

  Sandiganbayan (anti-graft court) and Court of Tax Appeals
• Quasi-judicial agencies


  Administrative bodies under the executive branch performing quasi-judicial functions, like the National Labor Relations Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Insurance Commission, etc., and the independent Constitutional Commissions
• Obligation


  A juridical necessity to give, to do, or not to do. In non-compliance, the aggrieved party may call the courts to enforce its fulfillment or, in default, the economic value it represents
• Essential requisites of an obligation

  • A passive subject (debtor/obligor)
  • An active subject (creditor/oblige)
  • Object or prestation
  • A juridical tie
• Two kinds of obligation according to the subject matter

  • Real obligation or obligation to give
  • Personal obligation or obligation to do or not to do
• Positive personal obligation


  Involves the obligation to do or render service
• Negative personal obligation


  Involves an obligation not to do (including the obligation not to give)
• Civil Obligations


  Gives the party a right of action to compel their performance. It is based on positive law
• Natural Obligations


  Not based on positive law; does NOT grant a right of action to enforce their performance, but after voluntary fulfillment by the obligor, the obligor cannot recover what was given. It is based on natural law, equity, and moral justice and is not enforceable in court
• Sources of obligations

  • Law
  • Contracts
  • Quasi-contracts
  • Acts or omissions punished by law/crimes
  • Quasi-delicts or torts
• Obligations emanating from law

  • Obligation of parents to support the education of their children even beyond the age of majority
  • Obligation of the children to obey and honor their parents or guardians
  • Obligation of every person to respect the dignity, personality, privacy, and peace of mind of his neighbors and other persons
  • Obligation of parents to exercise parental authority over the person and property of their children
  • Obligation of spouses to live together, observe mutual love, respect, and fidelity, and render mutual help and support
• Contract


  A meeting of minds between two (2) persons whereby one binds himself to the other to give something or render some service
• Requisites of a contract


  • Consent of the parties
  • Object certain, which is the subject matter of the contract
  • Cause of the obligation is established
• Quasi-contract


  A juridical relation resulting from lawful, voluntary, and unilateral acts by which the parties become bound to each other so that no one will be unjustly enriched or benefited at the expense of another
• Two kinds of quasi-contract

  • Negostiorum gestio
  • Solutio indebiti
• Negostiorum gestio


  The voluntary management of the property or affairs of another without the knowledge or consent of that other person
• Solutio indebiti


  The juridical relation created when something is received even when there is no right to receive it, which was unduly delivered by mistake
• Requisites for a quasi-contract of solutio indebiti


  • There is no right to receive the thing delivered
  • The thing was delivered by mistake
• Forms of Civil Liability

  • Restitution
  • Reparation
  • Indemnification for consequential damages
• Differences between Crime and Quasi-delict

  • Crime requires criminal or malicious intent or criminal negligence, while quasi-delict requires only negligence
  • In crimes, the purpose is punishment, while in quasi-delict, the purpose is indemnification
  • Crimes affect the public interest, while quasi-delicts affect private interest
  • In crimes, liability includes criminal and civil liabilities, while in quasi-delicts, liability includes civil liability only
  • In crimes, criminal liability cannot be compromised or settled by the parties, while liability in quasi-delict can be compromised
  • The burden of proof is higher in crimes (beyond reasonable doubt) than in quasi-delicts (preponderance of evidence)
• A legal system refers to the set of laws, institutions, procedures, and practices that regulate social behavior within a particular society.
• Reparation – Where the obligor will have to pay for the damage caused. Example: Abet raped Bing. Since the object of the crime may not be returned, the guilty party shall be obliged to pay reparation for the damage caused pegged at P100,000 by the court
• Restitution – Wherein the obligor shall return the object of the crime. Example: Rex committed theft against Barry. In this case, Rex must return to Barry what he stole.