Introduction to Law Midterm Notes PDF

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Summary

Classification of Law
❖ Natural Law - Considered as non-jural law; Originated from the Almighty God, it is
binding and naturally authoritative over all humans.
➢ Determined by moral practices.
❖ Positive Law - Human-made laws; Created by governments which shall be responsive<...

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Chapter 1 - Preliminary Considerations

WRITTEN REPORT

DEFINITION OF TERMS ●

The definition and connotation, as it applies to humanity and differentiates its meaning from the law of the jungle or law of the mighty.

LAW ●

Body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority andhaving binding legal force.

NON JURAL LAW ●

Divine law

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Natural law

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Moral law

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Physical law

JURAL LAW ●

Constitutional enactments and statutes enacted by legislature, executive orders and decrees, judicial precedents, opinion of jurists, city and municipal ordinances and rules and regulations are issued by administrative agencies of the government.

Classification of Law ❖ Natural Law - Considered as non-jural law; Originated from the Almighty God, it is binding and naturally authoritative over all humans. ➢ Determined by moral practices.

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❖ Positive Law - Human-made laws; Created by governments which shall be responsive to the needs of the state. ❖ Private Law - Laws which have no direct concern to the state.; Deals with aspects of relationships between individuals. ➢ law of property and of trusts, family law, the law of contract, mercantile law, and the law of tort. Classification of Natural Law ❖ Physical Law - the spontaneous rule of the universe without human intervention which governs conduct and movement of material and non-free agents of the Creator. ➢ orders of sequence which are the physical phenomena that we sense and feel. ■

Law of gravitation; other science-related laws.

❖ Moral Law - rules that govern the conduct of mankind. It also influences or shapes state law. It is not absolute and may vary with the changing times, conditions, or convictions of the people. ❖ Divine Law - refers to the Ten Commandments; guided by the ecclesiastics to faith in conjunction and harmony with civil law of the state. ❖ Public Law - deals with the constitution and functions of the core of both central and local government, the relationship between individuals and the state, and relationships between individuals that are of direct concern to the state. ➢ Constitutional Law - it articulates the principles determining the institutions to which the task of governing is entrusted, along with their respective powers. ■

In our Republican government, we have three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Through the Constitutional Law, the powers and functions of the three branches are being outlined and defined.

➢ Administrative Law - it is the body of law created by the administrative agencies of the government. It consists of rules, regulations, orders, and decisions in carrying out regulatory powers and duties of the said agencies.

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➢ International Law - body of rules that regulate the community of nations treaties and agreements. It oversees relations between nations. ■

Statute of Rome, Treaty of Paris and such.

❖ Private Law ➢ It defines, regulates, enforces, and administers relationships among individuals, associations, and corporations. ➢ The body of law concerned with legal issues and disputes that are a matter of private concern (such as those involving wills, trusts, or contracts) as opposed to those involving matters of public import. ➢ It encompasses most areas of law considered civil law (i.e., non-criminal law), such as those governed by a civil code (in a civil-law or continental-traditional legal system). ➢ The New Civil Code of the Philippines was patterned after the Civil Law and Common Law writings by Spanish authors: Sanchez Roman and Manresa.

Philippine Laws ➔ Philippine laws have profound history, and it has sprung from deep roots and developments in the past. As it is generally known, before the Philippines was plagued with eras of colonization, the Filipinos had their own laws with a body and system of administering justice. Oral, written, and unwritten laws existed. The unwritten laws are the customs and traditions which were handed down by tradition from generation to generation and were promulgated by datus, who at the time, exercised all functions of the government. ➔ Spanish colonization brought forth the establishment of despotic legal institutions and have been imprinted in the early legal system of the Philippines. ➔ The Americans also introduced their own form of enacting laws along commercial, constitutional, and procedural niceties. Sources of Law

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❖ Legislation - comprises the declaration of legal rules and statutes enacted by a competent authority. ❖ Precedent - Decisions implemented by a competent jurisdiction and follows a hierarchy of courts. i.e.Supreme Court decisions becoming part of the fundamental law of the land. ❖ Custom/s - Acknowledged and recognized habits and practices from millenniums of civilization, becoming binding rules of conduct. Sources of Law: Custom ●

UNIVERSAL;

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OBSERVED AS A RIGHT;

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PRACTICED SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL

Sources of Law: An opinion ●

Human laws derive binding force from natural law, ultimately from Almighty God.

In the absence of law, the following must be present... ●

Justice, Honesty, Good Faith, Rights should not be abused, and no person shall be enriched at the expense of another, Respect of human personality,Freedom of religion, Privacy, Peace of mind, and Obligation to indemnify for damage caused and the like.

CHAPTER 2 - KINDS OF LAWS Judge Recaredo P. Barte

Eternal Law ➔ “It is the wisdom of God’s reason as it directs and commands every action and movement.” According to St. Thomas Aquinas the eternal law “is nothing other than the plan of divine wisdom as directing all acts and movements”. ➔ Also, eternal law is primordial (existing from the beginning of time).

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➔ So what is being highlighted in eternal law is everything that is true to the world. By saying true, this involves the nature of all beings in this world. Because of this, this makes eternal law absolute and inviolable. For example, things that human beings can do are subject to human governance, but things that belong to the nature of human beings are not subject to human governance like soul, hands, feet. Natural Law ➔ Defined as an ordinance of Divine Wisdom, which is made known to us by reason and which requires the observance of moral order. ➔ It may also be defined to be, "The eternal law as far as it is made known by human reason." By the eternal law we mean all that God necessarily decrees from eternity. That part of the eternal law which reason reveals as a directive of human acts, we call the natural law. ➔ It is the command that human reason gives regarding what actions should be done. ➔ We limit the definition of eternal law to rational beings (i.e. human). Hence, in natural law we examine how human beings participate in eternal law as rational beings - as being capable of reasoning. Physical Law ➔ Refers to the set of rules governing rules the actions and movements of things.\ ➔ Also known as the laws of nature Natural law vs. Physical law ➔ Laws of nature or the Physical law are descriptions of the behavior of the material universe, not laws in the proper sense of the term. It can be thought of as mechanical, whereas natural laws are willed. ➔ Natural law, however, is the command that human reason gives regarding what actions should be done. It is not imposed on us like physical laws are, we choose to obey the natural law. Written Law

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➔ Refers to the statute law of legislative enactments duly passed by the legislative department of government. ◆ Ex. Civil code, labor law, agrarian reform law, family code, administrative law, corporation law and infinitum.

Why is there a need for a law to be written? ➔ The law is important for a society for it serves as a norm of conduct for citizens. It was also made to provide for proper guidelines and a “fixed” order upon the behaviour for all citizens and to sustain the equity on the three branches of the government. It keeps the society running. Substantive and Adjective Law ➔ Refers to all laws that define what our rights and duties are and what are to be considered violations of such rights and duties. Adjective law informs us about the procedure of how we may enforce our rights and duties, as well as to provide redress for our grievances. ◆ Ex. Earl and Thea come to an agreement containing terms and conditions by which Earl is obligated to deliver Red velvet cakes not less than 500 PHP in value. Under the provisions of Statute of Frauds, the question of whether the agreement is enforceable is one of substansive law. If we assume that Thea could enforce such an agreement and how Thea can file a suit to bring Earl to court and then through trial and judgement becomes a matter of adjective law.

Public Law ➔ Refers to the compendium of laws, by virtue of which the State, that encompasses the entire public as a whole is especially involved. The classifications of which follows: Constitutional Law ➔ Refers to the fundamental or organic law that governs a nation or state in relation to its citizens and body electorate.

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◆ Ex. Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. (Section 9, Article III, Bill of Rights, 1987 Constitution) This provision is referred to as the state's right to eminent domain which is one of three powers of the State.

International law The Rule of Law is applied internationally. This is through public international law and private international law. ➔ Private international law refers to laws administered between private citizens of different countries. Terms such as high crimes like genocide, crimes against humanity are scoped; and the ICC is a main judicial organ thereof. ➔ From that, public international law is distinguishable as it functions to promote international peace and security, foster friendly relations, provide for orderly regulation of conduct of states in their dealings and ensure international cooperation. Among some of where public international law forms are in: 1. Treaties 2. International custom 3. Statehood and responsibility 4. Territory and the sea 5. International organizations In the Philippine jurisdiction international laws are also a part of the country’s business, the doctrine of incorporation that is that the PH renounces war; adopts generally the principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation and amity with all nations. The Philippines, under the doctrine of constitutional supremacy, can second-degree international laws. Criminal law The life of criminal law begins with criminalization that is when an action of turning an activity a criminal offense by making it illegal. In this domain of law, crimes are distinctly defined

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depending on how a territory applies criminal law e.g. a certain country considers it a crime when one practices Roman Catholicism, but in the PH, it is not. In the Philippines, crimes are defined in the criminal code. It says there in section 1, its applicability where: “There is no crime unless the act is defined and penalized by this Code or other laws at the time of commission. Criminal laws are prospective in application unless favorable to the accused.” This so precisely admits that the code is not quite there yet in covering all crimes because there could be crimes out there that aren’t written in the code. It anticipates acts that could be crimes in the future. ➔ It defines criminal offenses, regulates the apprehension, charging, and trial of suspected persons, and fixes penalties and modes of treatment applicable to convicted offenders. Administrative law The complexity of modern-day society and the business environment has led generally to a perceived need for greater governmental assistance, oversight, and intervention in business and professional affairs. ➔ Given so, the government will have to require special laws and policies that regulate or control the movements and operations through one of their organizations like administrative agencies. That’s how this domain of law comes in. Administrative agencies are not equivalent to the 3 branches of government. But it is inside them such as public offices like the office of the president, commission on audit, Congress, supreme court, etc. ➔ Administrative law, hence, deals with the details of a government office itself; of how it functions, and the powers and duties of administrative authorities. As it refers to laws governing activities of government. Private law ➔ Private law sets the rules between individuals.

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➔ Private law is also called civil law (such as contract law, law of torts and property law), labor law (when the concern is the relationship is about workers, employing entities), commercial law (when in the running of businesses and commercial transactions are being set or violated), and many more. The settling of disputes doesn’t necessarily involve litigation as in the other domains of law mentioned above. It then comprises procedural law by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil, lawsuit, criminal or administrative proceedings.

Chapter 3 - Law of Persons and Family Relations Law of family and persons is divided into two parts – first is the persons which covers the first part of the civil code and family relations which in turn is covered by the family code. Persons along with obligations of contracts are the first civil law subjects covered in law school because they lay down the foundation of civil law but we are still sticking to its definition of terms. For some that have read this chapter you might have noticed the numerous latin terms listed. This is because Roman law is still included in the law curriculum. The reason is that the majority of our authorities on civil law are in line with most of our laws since they are of Roman origin, as in the case of our New Civil Code. However, our Civil Code is not entirely of Roman origin, it also had a mixture of Spanish origin, and in particular, was patterned from the Civil Code of Spain. According to J.B.L Reyes, who gained the status as the number one civilest in the country, one should refer to the old Civil Code of Spain whenever provisions in our New Civil Code appeared ambiguous. In fact, prior to the enactment of our New Civil Code, law schools and courts of law in the Philippines used the Civil Code of Spain as their authority and its provisions applied to all civil cases and transactions in this archipelago , until supplanted by R.A 386, even after Spain transferred sovereignty to the United States.

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And so it would follow that most of the terms you are about to encounter would not be easy to pronounce – or even be in English for that matter. LATIN WORDS: ★ Damnum Absique Injuria - loss or hurt without injury. Example: There are cases when the act of one man may cause a damage or loss to another, and for which the latter has no remedy; he is then said to have received damnum absque injuria; as, for example, if a man should set up a school in the neighborhood of another school, and, by that means, deprive the former of its patronage; or if a man should build a mill along side of another, and consequently reduce his custom. 9 Pick. 59, 528.

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Another instance may be given of the case where a man using proper care and diligence, while excavating for a foundation, injures the adjoining house, owing to the unsuitable materials used in such house; here the injury is damnum absque injuria.

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When a man slanders another by publishing the truth, the person slandered is said to have sustained loss without injury

★ Ad Hominem - (of an argument or reaction) directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining. Example: A parent who says that the teacher doesn't know how to teach because she graduated from a community college.

★ Res ipsa loquitur - the thing that speaks for itself. -

A doctrine of law that one is presumed to be negligent if he/she/it had exclusive control of whatever caused the injury even though there is no specific evidence of an act of negligence, and without negligence the accident would not have happened. Example: a load of bricks on the roof of a building being constructed by Highrise Construction Co. falls and injures Paul Pedestrian below, and Highrise is liable for Pedestrian's injury even though no one saw the load fall.

★ Res inter alios acta - the expression if fully expressed reads: res inter alios acta alteri nocere non debet which literally means that “things done to strangers ought not to injure those who are not parties to them” The res inter alios acta rule has two branches, namely:

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(a) The rule that the rights of a party cannot be prejudiced by an act, declaration, or omission or another (Sec. 28, Rule 130, Rules of Court) (b) The rule that evidence of previous conduct or similar acts at one time is not admissible to prove that one did or did not do the same act at another time (Sec. 34, Rule 132, Rules of Court). The first branch is a very simple and logical rule which holds that whatever one says or does or omits to do should only affect him but should not affect or prejudice others. In other words, both common reason and fairness demand that a man’s actions and declarations should affect him alone and should not affect others. Thus, if X makes a statement before the media admitting his participation in a previous murder, his statement is admissible against him under Sec. 26 of Rule 130. The rest of his statement pointing to Y and Z as co-participants in the murder are not admissible against Y and Z under the first branch of the res inter alios acta rule in Sec. 28 of Rule 130. Under this rule, the statement of X should not affect or prejudice Y and Z. ★ Res Nullius - thing belonging to no one whether because never appropriated (as a wild animal) or because abandoned by its owner but acquirable by appropriation If the owner of a property abandons his/her property then that property is called res nullius. Such property is as much res nullius as a property that is ownerless. Res nullius is ownerless property and it can be owned by any person. The person who takes first possession of the res nullius is the owner of that property. Res nullius includes wild animals and abandoned property. Res nullius also refers to the principle by which a nation may assert control of an unclaimed territory. By this principle, a nation gains control when one of its citizens enters the territory. ★ Res perit domino - the thing is lost to the owner or The thing perishes with the owner. This phrase is used to express that when a thing is lost or destroyed, it is lost to the person who was the owner of it at the time. For example, an article is sold; if the seller have perfected the title of the buyer so that it is his, and it be destroyed, it is the buyer's loss; but if, on the contrary, something remains to be done before the title becomes vested in the buyer, then the loss falls on the seller. ★ Jus possidendi - means the right of possessing, which is the legal consequence of ownership. A person’s right to acquire or to retain possession; an owner’s right to possess.

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Example: I am the owner of the house. If I sell it to another person I am obl...