INTODUCTION TO LAW
and short
Law any rule or action or any system of uniformity
General divisions of law:
1. Law (in the strict legal sense) promulgated and enforced
by the state
a. Divine law law of religion and faith;
promulgated by God and revealed or divulged to
mankind by means of direct revelation
b. Natural law 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
i. impressed in man as the core of his
higher self at the very moment of
being
c. Moral law totality of the norms of good and
right conduct;
i. norms of society;
ii. determining what is right and wrong;
not absolute because it varies with the
changing times, conditions or
convictions of people
d. Physical law the uniformities of actions and
orders of sequence which are the physical
phenomena that we sense and feel
i. Law of gravitation, law of chemical
combination
e. State law law that is promulgated and enforced
by the state
i. Also called civil law, imperative law,
municipal law, or positive law
ii. It is the law that we refer to when we
speak of law in connection with
obligations and contracts, marriage,
the administration of justice, the
conduct of elections, and the entire
governmental process itself
2. Law (in the non-legal sense) not promulgated and
enforced by the state
Concepts of state law:
1. The general sense
a. Refers to all the laws taken together
b. Defined as the mass of obligatory rules
established for the purpose of governing the
relations of persons in society
2. The specific sense
a. Defined as a rule of conduct, just, obligatory,
promulgated by legitimate authority and of
common observance and benefit
b. Law on Obligations and Contracts
Characteristics of law:
It is:
1. A rule of conduct what shall be done and what shall not
be done; dos and donts
2. Obligatory positive command imposing a duty to obey
3. Promulgated by legitimate authority
a. In the Philippines, the legitimate or competent
authority is the legislature;
b. Laws called statutes are enacted by Congress
which is the name of the legislative branch of our
government
4. Of common observance and benefit
a. Law is intended by man to serve man; to
maintain harmony in society and to make order
and co-existence possible;
b. Law must be observed by all for the benefit of all
Necessity and functions of law:
Society comes into existence because its members could
not live without it. The need for internal order is as
constant as the need for external defense
Law secures justice, resolves social conflict, orders society,
protects interests, controls social relations
Life without basic laws would be solitary, nasty, brutish,
Life without other laws would be less orderly, less
healthful, less wholesome
Since we find law necessary, every citizen should have
some understanding of law and observe it for the common
good
Sources of Law:
1. Constitution
a. Highest law made by people
b. 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
c. Often referred as the fundamental law or
supreme law or highest law of the land
because it is promulgated by the people
themselves
d. It is the law to which all other laws enacted by
the legislature must conform
2. Legislation
a. Consists in the declaration of legal rules by a
competent authority
b. It is the preponderant source of law in the
Philippines
c. Acts passed by the legislature are called
enacted law or statute law
d. It includes ordinances enacted by local
government units
3. Administrative or executive orders, regulations, and rulings
a. Issued by administrative officials under
legislative authority
b. Administrative rules and regulations are
intended to clarify or explain the law and carry
into effect its general provisions
c. Administrative acts are valid only when they are
not contrary to the laws and Constitution
4. Judicial decisions or jurisprudence
a. The decisions of the courts (particularly the
Supreme Court)
b. Applying or interpreting the laws or the
Constitution form part of the legal system of the
Philippines
c. The decisions of a superior court on a point of
law are binding on all subordinate courts. This is
called the doctrine of precedent or stare
decisis
d. The Supreme Court may reverse or modify any of
its previous rulings. Until then, the decisions of
the Supreme Court applying or interpreting the
laws or Constitution are laws by their own
right because they declare what the laws says or
mean
5. Custom
a. Consists of hose habits and practices which
through long and uninterrupted usage have
become acknowledge and approved by society
as binding rules of conduct
b. Has the force of law when recognized and
enforced by the state
c. A custom must be proved as a fact according to
the rules of evidence
d. Customs which are contrary to law, public order
or public policy, are not countenanced
6. Other sources
a. To the above may be added principles of justice
and equity, decisions of foreign tribunals,
opinions of textwriters, and religion.
b. They are only supplementary
c. They are resorted to by the courts in the absence
of all the other sources
d. They are not binding on the courts
Rule in case of doubt in interpretation or application of laws:
 No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by The judiciary, composed of courts, is one of the three (3)
reason of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the main divisions of power in our system of government.
laws 1. Regular Courts
In case of doubt in the interpretation or application of Under Supreme Court are:
laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended Court of Appeals
right and justice to prevail Regional Trial Courts
Metropolitan Trial Courts in
Organs of social control
Metropolitan areas
Law is not an end in itself established by law
It may be viewed as a means of social controlcontrol of Municipal Trial Courts in
social behavior that affects others cities not forming part of a
There are organizations, through rules, regulations and metropolitan area and
orders, that control some of the behavior of their municipalities
members (i.e. churches, political parties, corporations, Municipal Circuit Trial Courts
social clubs, families, etc.) in areas defined as municipal
circuits
Law compared with other means of social control: o Circuit courts
exercise
Social control through law Control through other jurisdiction over 2
methods or more cities
Laws are made and Churches, for example, act only
and/or
administered by the only for their members
municipalities
institutions in society
authorized to act in behalf of (Bold considered courts of general or superior jurisdiction)
the entire citizenry
Only the legal institutions The rules of social economic 2. Special Courts
within the society can make organizations, for example, Special anti-graft court
rules, regulations, and orders govern only limited numbers The Sandiganbayan it forms part of
with which the entire citizenry the judicial hierarchy together with the
must comply Court of Tax Appeals on the same level
Citizens of state cannot People associated with an
as the Court of Appeals
terminate their relationship organization can ordinarily
3. Quasi-judicial agencies
with the state unless they terminate their relationship
Administrative bodies under the
choose to leave the and thereby free themselves
geographical area in which the from the impact of its rules executive branch performing quasi-
state is sovereign and regulations judicial functions
The sanctions or techniques of The sanctions are not as varied National Labor Relations
control through law are more and complex as law of the Commission
varied and complex. state. Securities and Exchange
Imprisonment, Expulsion is usually Commission
deportation, denial the most powerful Insurance Commission
or revocation of technique available Commission on Audit
license, confiscation to such organizations Their functions are described as
of property, to secure compliance
quasi-judicial because they involved
impositions of civil with their rules
also the settlement or adjudication of
liability for certain
kind of conduct, controversies or disputes
dissolution of
Classifications of Law:
organizations, and
denial of privileges 1. As to its purpose
A sanction is a. Substantive law portion of the body of law
remedial if the creating, defining, and regulating rights and
object is the
duties (i.e. Law on Obligations and Contracts)
indemnification of
b. Adjective law
the person who has
suffered damages or i. Sometimes called remedial law or
injury from a procedural law
violation of law ii. portion of the body of law prescribing
Penal if the object is the manner or procedure by which
the punishment of rights may be enforced or their
the violator violations redressed
Before the law operates Organs of social control other iii. Legal remedies by which substantive
against an individual, various than those provided by law are law may be administered
procedural steps are required. generally not required to 2. As to its subject matter
The individual must comply with such procedures a. Public law
ordinarily be given a in acting against individuals i. The body of legal rules which regulates
hearing and a fair except when their rules the rights and duties arising from the
opportunity to show provide therefor.
relationship of the state to the people
why he should not,
ii. Example is:
for example, be
1. Criminal law law which
ordered to pay
money to a claimant defines crimes and provides
to as due process for their punishment
of law 2. International law law which
governs the relations among
nations or states
Organization of courts: 3. Constitutional law
a. Governs the
The judicial power or the power to decide actual cases and
relations between
controversies involving the interpretation and application
the state and its
of laws is vested in one Supreme Court and in such lower
citizens
courts as may be established by laws
 b. Establishes the a. Creditor/oblige
fundamental b. Person who is entitled to demand the fulfillment
powers of the of the obligation
government 3. Object/prestation
4. Administrative law governs a. Subject matter of the obligation
the methods by which the b. Conduct required to be observed by the debtor
functions of administrative
c. May consist in giving, doing, or not doing
authorities are to be
4. Juridical/legal tie
performed
a. Efficient cause
5. Criminal procedure branch
b. Binds or connects the parties of the obligation
of private law which governs
the methods of trial and Form of obligations manner in which an obligation is manifested or
punishment in criminal cases
incurred
b. Private law
i. Body of rules which regulates the Obligations Right Wrong
relations of individuals with one Act or performance Power which a Act or omission of
another for purely private ends which the law will person has under one party in
ii. Examples are civil law, commercial or
enforce to demand the law to demand violation of the
mercantile law, and civil procedure
from another any from another any legal right or rights
1. Civil procedure branch of
prestation prestation of another
private law which provides
for the means by which Injury is also used
private rights may be Kinds of obligation according to the subject to refer to the
enforced matter: wrongful violation
1. Real obligation of the legal right of
Law on Obligations and Contracts defined: Obligation to give another
The law of obligations and contracts is the body of rules which Obligor must deliver to A wrong only arises
deals with the nature and sources of obligations and the rights and the oblige at the moment a
duties arising from agreements and the particular courts. 2. Personal obligation right has been
Obligation to do or not transgressed or
Civil Code of the Philippines: to do violated
Law on Obligations and Contracts is found in Republic Act An act to be done or
No. 386, otherwise known as the Civil Code of the not to be done
Philippines. a. Positive personal
Book IV of the Civil Code deals with obligation sand obligation render
contracts. service
b. Negative personal
General provisions on obligations Title I, Articles 1156-
obligation not to do;
1304
not to give
Contracts Title II, Articles 1305-1422
Sources of obligations:
Conclusive presumption of knowledge of law:
1. Law imposed by law itself
Ignorance of law excuses no one 2. Contracts arise from the stipulation of the parties
Everyone is conclusively presumed to know the law 3. Quasi-contracts arise form lawful, voluntary and
unilateral acts which are enforceable to the end that no
one shall be unjustly enriched or benefited at the expense
of another
GENERAL PROVISIONS
4. Crimes/acts/omissions punished by law arise from civil
Obligation liability which is the consequence of a criminal offense
5. Quasi-delicts/torts arise from damage caused to another
Latin obligatio meaning tying or binding through an act or omission (there being fault or
A tie or bond recognized by law by virtue of which one is negligence) but no contractual relation exists between the
bound in favor of another to render something parties
It is a juridical necessity because in case of noncompliance,
the courts of justice may be called upon by the aggrieved Sources classified:
party to enforce its fulfillment or the economic value that
1. Emanating from law
it represents
2. Emanating from private acts
The debtor or obligor may also be made liable for damages
a. Arising from licit acts (quasi-contracts and
The debtor must comply with his obligation whether he contracts)
likes it or not b. Arising from illicit acts punishable in case of
Civil obligations obligations which give to the creditor or oblige a delicts or crimes, or punishable in case of quasi-
right under the law to enforce their performance in courts of justice delicts or torts

Natural obligations There are only two sources: law and contracts because obligations
arising from quasi-contracts, delicts, and quasi-delicts are really
Obligations not being based on positive law but on equity imposed by law.
and natural law
Contractual obligations:
Do not grant a right of action to enforce their performance
Contract meeting of minds between 2 persons whereby one bines
Essential requisites of an obligation:
himself, with respect to the other, to give something or to render
1. Passive subject some service
a. Obligor/debtor
b. Person who is bound to the fulfillment of the Obligations have a binding effect imposed by laws
obligation Contracts are not superior to the law
2. Active subject Contract must be valid and it cannot be valid if it is against
the law
 Contract is valid if it is not contrary to law
It is invalid if it is contrary to law
In the eyes of the law, a void contract does not exist
Breach of contracts takes place when a party fails or refuses to
comply
Compliance in good faith compliance or performance in
accordance with the stipulations or terms of the contract or
agreement
Quasi-contract:
Juridical relation resulting from lawful, voluntary and
unilateral acts by virtue of which the parties become
bound to each other to the end that no one will be
unjustly enriched or benefited at the expense of another
It is not properly a contract at all because there is no
consent but the same is supplied by fiction of law. In other,
the law considers the parties as having entered into a
contract although they have not actually done so to
prevent injustice
Kinds of quasi-contracts:
1. Negotiorum gestio voluntary management of the
property or affairs of another without the knowledge or
consent of the latter
2. Solutio indebiti juridical relation which is created when
something is received when there is no right to demand it
and it was unduly delivered through mistakes
Civil liability arising from crimes or delicts:
Every person criminally liable for an act or omission is also
civilly liable for damages
Scope of civil liability:
Restitution (returning something stolen to the owner)
Reparation for the damage caused
Indemnification (compensation) for consequential
damages
NATURE AND EFFECT OF OBLIGATIONS
A thing is said to be specific and determinate particularly designated
or physically segregated others of the same class.
Generic/indeterminate refers only to a class or genus to which it
pertains and cannot be pointed out with particularity
Determinate thing
o Identified by its individuality
o The debtor cannot substitute it with another
Generic thing
o Identified only by its specie
o The debtor can give anything of the same class
as long as it is of the same kind
Duties of debtor in obligation to give a determinate thing:
1. Preserve the thing obligor has the duty to take care of
the thing:
a. Diligence of a good father of a family equated
with ordinary care; diligence which an average
person exercises over his own property
b. Another standard of care if the law or the
stipulation of the parties provides for another
standard of care (slight or extraordinary
diligence)
c. The diligences required necessarily depends
upon the nature of the obligation and
corresponds with the circumstances of the
person, of the time, and of the time
d. As a general rule, the debtor is not liable if his
failure to preserve the thing is not due to his
fault or negligence but to fortuitous events or
force majeure
e. The debtor must exercise diligence to ensure
that the thing to be delivered would subsist in
the same condition as it was when the obligation
was contracted. Without the accessory duty to
take care of the thing, the debtor would be able
to afford being negligent and not be liable even
if property lost or destroyed, thus rendering
illusory the obligation to give.
2. Deliver the fruits of the thing
3. Deliver the accessions and accessories
4. Deliver the thing itself
5. Answer for damages in case of non-fulfillment or breach
Duties of debtor in obligation to deliver a generic thing:
1. To deliver a thing which is of the quality intended by the
parties
2. To be liable for damages in case of fraud, negligence, or
delay, in the performance of his obligation, or
contravention of the tenor thereof
Different kinds of fruits:
1. Natural fruits spontaneous products of the soil, and the
young and other products of animals
2. Industrial fruits produced by lands of any kind through
cultivation or labor
3. Civil fruits derived by virtue of a juridical relation (rent of
buildings, prices of leases of lands, etc.)
Right of creditor to the fruits:
The creditor is entitled to the fruits of the thing to be
delivered from the time the obligation to make delivery
arises to protect the interest of the oblige should the
obligor commit delay, purposely or otherwise, inn the
fulfillment of his obligation
When obligation to deliver fruits arises:
1. The obligation to deliver the thing due arises from the time
of the perfection of the contract. (birth of the contract
or the meeting of the minds between the parties)
2. If the obligation is subject to a suspensive condition or
period, it arises upon the fulfillment of the condition or
arrival of the term
3. In a contract of sale, obligation arises from the perfection
of the contract even if the obligation is subject to a
suspensive condition or a suspensive period where the
price has been paid.
4. In obligations to give arising from law, quasi-contracts,
delicts, and quasi-delicts, the time of performance is
determined by the specific provisions of the law applicable
Personal right Real right
Right or power of a creditor to Right or interest of a person
demand from debtor the over a specific thing (i.e.
fulfillment of the latters ownership, etc.) without a
obligation to give, to do, or not definite passive subject
to do
There is a definite active There is only a definite active
subject and a definite passive subject without any definite
subject passive subject
Personal right is binding or Real right is directed against
enforceable only against a the whole world
particular person
Ownership acquired by delivery:
Ownership and other real rights over property are
acquired and transmitted in consequence of certain
contracts by tradition or delivery.
He shall acquire no real right over it until the same has
been delivered to him means that the creditor does not
 become the owner until the specific thing has been
delivered to him
Remedies of creditor in real obligation:
1. In specific real obligation (Obligation to deliver a
determinate thing)
The creditor may exercise the remedies or rights
in case the debtor fails to comply with his
obligation
i. Demand specific performance or
fulfillment (if possible) with a right to
indemnity for damages
ii. Demand rescission or cancellation (in
certain cases) with a right to recover
damages
iii. Demand payment of damages only
where it is the only feasible remedy
In an obligation to deliver a determinate thing,
the very thing itself must be delivered. Only the
debtor can comply with the obligation. This is
the reason why the creditor is granted the right
to compel the debtor to make the delivery
2. A generic real obligation (obligation to deliver a generic
thing)
Can be performed by a third person since the
object is expressed only according to its family or
genus
It is not necessary for the creditor to compel the
debtor to make the delivery, although he may
ask for performance of the obligation
The creditor has the right to recover damages in
case of breach or violation of the obligation
Where debtor delays or has promised delivery to separate creditors:
A fortuitous event does not exempt the debtor from
responsibility. It likewise refers to a determinate thing.
An indeterminate thing cannot be the object of
destruction by a fortuitous event because genus nunquam
perit (genus never perishes)
Accessions Accessories
The fruits of a thing or Things joined tot or included
additions to or improvements with the principal thing for the
upon a thing latters embellishment, better
use, or completion
Accessions are not necessary Accessories and the principal
to the principal thing thing must go together
Right of creditor to accessions and accessories:
All accessions and accessories are considered included in
the obligation to deliver a determinate thing although they
may not have been mentioned
In order that they will be excluded, there must be a
stipulation to that effect
ART. 1167 refers to an obligation to do, to perform an act, or
render a service. It contemplates 3 situations:
1. The debtor fails to perform an obligation to do
2. The debtor performs an obligation to do but contrary to
the terms thereof
3. The debtor performs an obligation to do but in poor
manner
Remedies of creditor in positive personal obligation:
1. If debtor fails to comply with his obligation to do, creditor
has the right:
a. To have the obligation performed by himself or
by another at the debtors expense
b. To recover damages
2. In case the obligation is done in contravention of the terms
or is poorly done, it may be ordered (by the court upon
complaint) that it be undone if it is still possible to undo
what was done
A personal obligation to do (real obligation to deliver a generic thing)
can be performed by a third person. A specific performance cannot
be ordered in a personal obligation to do because this may amount
to involuntary servitude which is prohibited under our Constitution.
Remedies of creditor in negative personal obligation:
In an obligation not to do, the duty of the obligor is to
abstain from an act.
There is no specific performance
The obligation is fulfilled in not doing what is forbidden
The debtor cannot be guilty of delay
The remedy of the oblige is 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 debtors violation of
his obligation
Delay:
1. Ordinary delay failure to perform an obligation on time
2. Legal delay/default/mora failure to perform an
obligation on time which failure constitutes a breach of
the obligation
Kinds of delay/default:
1. Mora solvendi delay on the part of the debtor to fulfill
his obligation (to give or to do)
2. Mora accipiendi delay on the part of the creditor to
accept the performance of the obligation
3. Compensatio morae delay of the obligors in reciprocal
obligations (like in sale); i.e. delay of the obligor cancels
the delay of the oblige and vice versa
In an obligation not to do, non-fulfillment may take place but delay
is impossible for the debtor fulfills by not doing what has been
forbidden him.
Requisites of delay or default by the debtor:
There are 3 conditions that must be present before mora solvendi
can exist or its effects may arise:
1. Failure of the debtor to perform his (positive) obligation
2. Demand made by the creditor upon the debtor to comply
with his obligation (i.e. judicial complain filed in court;
extrajudicial outside of court, orally or in writing)
a. In the absence of evidence, as to such extra-
judicial demand, the effects of default arise from
the date of the judicial demand
3. Failure of the debtor to comply with such demand
Effects of delay:
1. Mora solvendi
a. Debtor is guilty of breach or violation
b. He is liable to the creditor for interest
(obligations to pay money)
i. In absence of extrajudicial demand, the
interest shall commence from the filing
of the complaint
c. He is liable even for a fortuitous event when the
obligation is to deliver a determinate thing
d. If the debtor can prove that t he loss would have
resulted just the same even if he had not been in
default, the court may equitably mitigate or
reduce the damages
e. In an obligation to deliver a generic thing, debtor
is not relieved from liability for loss due to a
fortuitous event
f. He can still be compelled to deliver a thing of the
same kind or held liable for damages
2. Mora accipiendi
a. Creditor is guilty of breach of obligation
 b.He is liable for damages suffered by the debtor
c.He bears the risk of loss of the thing due
d.Where the obligation is to pay money, debtor is
not liable for interest from the time of creditors
delay
e. Debtor may release himself from the obligation
by the consignation or deposit in court of the
thing or sum due
3. Compensatio morae
a. Delay of the obligor cancels the delay of the
oblige and vice versa
b. There is no default or delay on the part of both
parties

When demand is not necessary to put debtor in delay:

Delay by the debtor beings only from the moment a

demand is made by the creditor. Without such amount,
the effect of default will not arise. The exceptions are
mentioned below:
1. When the obligation so provides
2. When the law so provides
3. When time is of the essence
4. When demand would be useless
5. When there is performance by a party in reciprocal
obligations
a. In case of reciprocal obligations, the
performance of one is conditioned upon the
simultaneous fulfillment on the part of the other.
So neither party incurs in delay if the other does
not comply or is not ready to comply in a proper
manner with what is incumbent upon him
(compensatio morae)