Professional Documents
Culture Documents
STUDY GUIDE:
NOTE:
Honesty – careful regard for other’s rights and property.
Good faith – honest intention to avoid taking undue advantage of another.
Bad faith – presupposes a dishonest purpose or some moral obliquity and conscious
performance of a wrong. Mere bad judgment or negligence does not
necessarily mean bad faith.
Therefore, rights must never be abused. The moment they are abused,
they cease to be rights.
Far East Bank and Trust Company vs. Pacilan, G.R. No.
157314, July 29, 2005, 465 SCRA 372.
1. Reason for the Article – Fully aware that there are countless gaps
in statues, which leave so many victims of moral wrongs helpless, even
though they have actually suffered material and moral injury, the Code
Commission has deemed it necessary in the interest of justice, to
incorporate Article 21 into the Civil Code.
2. Acts Contra Bonus Mores; Requisites for Recovery of
Damages. – Article 21 deals with acts contra bonus mores, and has the
following elements:
(d) That the plaintiff has no other action based on contract, quasi-
contract, crime or quasi-delict.
on, when C asked D to pay his obligation again, D could not find the receipt.
Unable to prove that he had earlier already paid his obligation, D paid C the
P100,000.00 again. Subsequently, D found the missing receipt. Can he
now get back what he had intentionally (but unwillingly) paid? YES, in view
of Article 22, which treats of an accion in rem verso.
(B) A contract for the sale of land was declared null and void
after the buyer had already paid the purchase price. May said buyer
recover the price paid from the successors-in-interest of the seller? YES,
because if said successors could recover the land without being required to
reimburse the buyer, they would be enriching themselves unjustly at the
expense of the buyer.
3. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES:
Sps. Tan vs. Mandap, G.R. No. 150925, May 27, 2004.
1. The foregoing violations under Article 26 are not exclusive, but are
merely examples and do not preclude other similar or analogous acts.
STUDY GUIDE (Articles 19-36, Chapter 2, Preliminary Title, NCC) 24
Thus, in Concepcion vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 120706, January 31,
2000, 324 SCRA 85, the Supreme Court held:
3. What are the requisites in order that an action under Article 27 will
prosper?
The five sources of civil liability. (Art. 1157, NCC) – The civil
obligation or liability of a person can arise from any of the following sources:
(a) Law – Example: The obligation of a person to pay his taxes is
directed by the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code. The
source of this civil liability is then our tax laws.
Examples:
If you are convicted of the crime of theft of a carabao, not only will
you go to prison to serve your sentence (THIS IS THE CRIMINAL
LIABILITY), but you will also be directed by the court to pay damages which,
among others, will include the return of the carabao to its owner, or the
payment of its value if it has already been lost (THIS IS THE CIVIL
LIABILITY).
When a criminal action is filed in court, the civil action for the recovery
of civil liability arising from the offense charged (WHAT IS REFERRED
TO IS CIVIL LIABILITY SOURCED FROM CRIME OR DELICT) is
automatically deemed instituted with the criminal action.
Example: In the example above, if a criminal case for theft of a carabao
is filed against the accused, not only will the criminal court rule on his
criminal liability, but the court will also make a judgment as to his (the
accused) civil liability to the offended party (owner of the carabao, and
private complainant in the criminal case).
(A) When the offended party waives the civil action, i.e., the
offended party makes a waiver stating his intention not to recover civil
liability anymore.
(B) When the offended party reserves the right to institute the
civil action in a venue separate from the court where the criminal
action is pending.
Here, the offended party has to inform the judge of the court
hearing the criminal case that he will be filing a separate civil action to
recover civil liability arising from the crime; hence, the criminal court does
not need to make a judgment on the civil aspect of the case. The offended
party must, however, notify the criminal court of such intention BEFORE the
prosecution (lawyer for the government and private complainant) starts
presenting its evidence in the criminal case.
Example: In the same example above, assume that the owner of the
carabao (the private complainant) reserved his right to file a separate civil
action before the criminal court. Under such case, the private complainant
has to wait before there is a final judgment in the criminal case for theft
before he can file a civil case for recovery of civil liability ex delicto from the
accused. This is because if the criminal court finds that the accused did not
commit the act complained of, the offended party will have no basis for
recovering civil liability ex delicto.
(C) When the offended party institutes or files the civil action
ahead of the criminal action.
When the offended party files a civil action against the accused
to recover civil liability ex delicto BEFORE the criminal action is filed in the
STUDY GUIDE (Articles 19-36, Chapter 2, Preliminary Title, NCC) 33
If the accused is acquitted on the ground that his guilt has not been
proven beyond reasonable doubt, the offended party can still recover civil
liability ex delicto. (Article 29, par. 1, NCC.) The basis for acquittal must
be stated by the court in the body or text of its decision. (Article 29, par.
2, NCC.)
while it was established that A took the carabao without B’s knowledge and
consent, the element of intent to gain on the part of A was not adequately
proven by the prosecution. Hence, A was acquitted on the ground that his
guilt has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt. Therefore,
(a) If the civil aspect of the case was impliedly instituted in the criminal
action, the judge, despite A’s acquittal can still render judgment
holding A liable to B for the return of the carabao, or its value, if it
has already been lost.
(b) If B had earlier reserved his right to file a separate civil action,
despite the acquittal, he can still file a civil case to recover A’s civil
liability ex delicto. All that B needs to do is to prove by
preponderance of evidence his right to recover civil lilability.
(1) The family of the victim can file a criminal case for reckless
imprudence resulting in homicide. The criminal action is based on the
negligent act of the driver, which resulted in damage, or the death of the
STUDY GUIDE (Articles 19-36, Chapter 2, Preliminary Title, NCC) 36
child. A criminal action for homicide cannot be filed because there was no
intent to kill the child on the part of the driver. If the driver is found guilty of
criminal negligence, he will be adjudged by the court liable also for civil
liability ex delicto in the form of damages to be paid to the family of the child.
(2) The family of the victim can also, at the same time, file another
action to recover civil liability arising from quasi-delict or tort, which is a
different source of civil liability under Article 1157 of the Civil Code. (Article
31, NCC)
Assume that the court in the criminal case convicts the accused
of the crime charged, and consequently awards damages to the family of
the victim. In addition, the court hearing the victim’s right to recover civil
liability arising from quasi-delict also rules in favor of the victim, and awards
damages to the family of the child. Under the circumstances, even if the
offended party is given by law the right to file two separate actions to
recover civil liability arising from independent sources, the offended party
cannot recover damages twice for the same act or omission of the accused.
He can recover only once and choose from either actions.
They are called independent civil actions because they can proceed
independently of the criminal action, and shall require only a preponderance
of evidence. Hence, even if the acts or omissions enumerated from Articles
32, 33 and 34 constitute a crime, the offended party does not need to
STUDY GUIDE (Articles 19-36, Chapter 2, Preliminary Title, NCC) 37
reserve his right to institute the civil action separately. He can immediately
file a civil action to recover civil liability ex delicto, without waiting for the
proceedings in the criminal action to be terminated, and regardless of the
result of the criminal action – i.e., whether the accused is convicted or
acquitted.
Note, however, that under the last paragraph of Article 32, civil
liability cannot be demanded from a judge, unless his act or omission
constitutes a criminal offense.
ART. 33. – Under Article 33, the term “physical injuries” should be
understood to mean bodily harm, not the crime of physical injuries as
defined under the Revised Penal Code. Hence, a civil action to recover civil
liability under this article may be filed whether the offense committed is that
of physical injuries or frustrated homicide, or attempted homicide, or even
death (homicide or murder).
Beltran vs. People, G.R. No. 137567, June 20, 2000. The
Supreme Court in this case ruled that a petition for declaration of nullity of
marriage is not a prejudicial question to a subsequent case for concubinage
filed by the other spouse. Read the legal basis for the court’s ruling in this
case.
My father used to say that it’s never too late to do anything you wanted to do.
And he said, ‘You never know what you can accomplish until you try.’
Michael Jordan
Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something
stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway;
we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.
Earl Nightingale
STUDY GUIDE (Articles 19-36, Chapter 2, Preliminary Title, NCC) 40
HRL/29Nov2015