Case law

• Case Law


  The body of law developed from judicial decisions over time
• Case Law Materials


  • Decisions Proper: Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, Regional Trial Courts, MTC, MeTC & MCTC
  • Subordinate Decisions: Electoral Tribunal (Senate and HoR), Administrative Agencies Exercising Quasi-Judicial Powers (Commission on Elections, Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit, National Labor Relations Commission, Insurance Commission, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board)
• Case Law Research


  1. Determining the case law that is binding or persuasive regarding a particular issue

  2. Gathering and analyzing the relevant case law

  3. Searching for a specific case that applies the law to a set of facts in a particular way
• Binding Authority


  When it comes from the decisions of Supreme Court and it is the ratio decidendi of the case
• Persuasive Authority


  • A court is not bound to follow dicta from prior decision, it may do so if it is carefully reasoned
  • This is more so if the dicta comes from a respected justice such as the late Justice J.B.L. Reyes
  • Aside from dicta, persuasive authority can come from decisions of appellate courts in other jurisdictions
• Doctrine of Precedent


  Lower courts are required to take account of and follow the decisions made by the higher courts where the material facts are the same
• Stare Decisis


  • "Stand by things decided"
  • It requires other courts to follow the rule established in a decision of the Supreme Court thereof
  • That decision becomes a judicial precedent to be followed in subsequent cases by all courts
  • The doctrine of stare decisis is based on the principle that once a question of law has been examined and decided, it should be deemed settled and closed to further argument
• Res Judicata


  • The principle states that a judgment on the merits in a previous case rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction would bind a subsequent case if, between the first and second actions, there exists an identity of parties, of subject matter, and of causes of action
  • Res judicata prevents a party from bringing a claim once that particular claim has been subjected to a final judgment in some previous lawsuit
• 'An error of fact or law on the face of the award may be corrected under s69(5)'
• RATIO DECIDENDI

  A Latin term which refers to the underlying reason or principle which justifies a court decision. In other words, it is the reasoning why the decision is so. (Philippine Supreme Court, Fundamentals of Decision

  Writing for Judges)
• OBITER DICTUM

  Latin term which refers to an averment, assertion, or observation stated as an aside or a "by the way," or said in passing by a court that is not necessary in deciding the issues before the court.
• THROUGH CONVENTIONAL METHOD

  1. Ratio decidendi must be arising from a legal dispute.
  2. The component must be essential for figuring out lis.
  3. It must be directly address the problem.
  4. A fair argument and decision must have been made.
• Reversal


  has reference to the action of the Supreme Court on a lower court's judgments in the same

  particular controversy. When the Supreme Court reviews the judgment of the lower court in a case and concludes the lower court reached an erroneous result in the case, it will "reverse" or set aside the

  lower court's judgment.
• Overruling


  Occurs when a court overturns or abolishes a rule established in a binding

  precedent. When the Supreme Court "overrules" one of its past decisions, the conclusiveness of that earlier decision as a settlement of its particular controversy is not affected, but the overruled decision is no longer an authoritative precedent for other

  cases that may arise in the future.
• DOCTRINE OF PROSPECTIVE OVERRULING

  When a doctrine of the Court is overruled and a different view is adopted, the new doctrine should be applied prospectively and should not apply to parties who had relied on the old

  doctrine and acted on the faith thereof.