DEFINITIONS AND DOCTRINES

Chapter 1

1. Tort – a legal wrong that causes harm for which the violator is subject to civil liability
- A violation of a private legal right other than a mere breach of contract, express or implied for which a
civil action may be maintained
2. Tortious act – a wrongful act; the commission or omission of an act by one, without right, whereby another
receives some injury, directly or indirectly, in person, property, or reputation
3. Tortfeasor – a person legally responsible and is liable for a tort committed by him, if it is the proximate
cause of an injury to another

Chapter 2

4. Injury – damage resulting from a wrongful or unlawful act

5. “damnum absque injuria” – damage without wrong
6. Motive – the impelling force or underlying or subjective reason for doing an act, or the mental state or force
which induces an act of violation
7. Malicious acts – intentional commission of a wrongful act as involving wickedness, depravity and evil intent
8. Willful act – done intentionally, or on purpose, and not accidentally, and willfulness implies intentional
wrongdoing
9. Wanton act – a wrongful act done on purpose or in malicious disregard of the rights of others
10. Willful or wanton negligence – imports premeditation, or knowledge and consciousness that injury is
likely to result from the act done or from the omission to act.
11. Prima facie tort – the infliction of intentional harms, resulting in damage without excuse or justification, by
an act or a series of act which would otherwise be lawful
12. Doctrine of strict or absolute liability in tort – a person whose actions caused harm to another may be
held responsible for that harm simply because he had acted; he is liable although without fault.
13. Doctrine of enterprise liability – applies to the manufacturer of an article placed on the market, where
the manufacturer knows that the product is to be used without inspection for defect.

Chapter 5

14. Nuisance – any act, omission, establishment, business, condition of property or anything else which:
a. Injures or endangers the health or safety of others; or
b. Annoys or offends the senses; or
c. Shocks, defies or disregards decency or morality; or
d. Obstructs or interferes with the free passage of any public highway or street, or any body of water;
or
e. Hinders or impairs the use of property
15. Public nuisance – the doing of or the failure to do something that injuriously affects safety, health, or
morals of the public or works some substantial annoyance, inconvenience, or injury to the public
16. Private nuisance – one which violates only private rights and produces damage to but one or a few
persons, and cannot be said to be public
17. Mixed nuisance – may be a public nuisance because it violates public rights to the injury of many persons,
and it may also be private in character in that it produces special injury to private rights to any extent beyond
the injury to the public
18. Nuisance per se – an act, occupation, or structure which is unquestionably a nuisance at all times and
under any circumstances regardless of location or surrounding
19. Nuisance per accidens – an act, occupation or structure, not a nuisance per se, but which may become a
nuisance by reason of circumstances, location or surroundings
20. Doctrine of attractive nuisance – one who maintains on his premises dangerous instrumentalities or
appliances of a character likely to attract children in play, and who fails to exercise ordinary care to prevent
children from playing therewith or resorting thereto, is liable to a child of tender years who is injured thereby,
even if the child is technically a trespasser in the premises

Chapter 6
DEFINITIONS AND DOCTRINES
21. Quasi delict – an act or omission by a person (tortfeasor) which causes damage to another in his person,
property or rights, giving rise to an obligation to pay for the damage done, there being fault or negligence but
there is no pre-existing contractual relation between the parties.
- Whoever by act or omission causes damage to another, there being fault or negligence, is obliged to pay
for the damage done. Such fault or negligence, if there is no pre-existing contractual relationship between
the parties, is called a quasi delict.
- Requisites:
o There must be an act or omission by the defendant
o There must be fault or negligence of the defendant
o There must be a damage or injury caused to the plaintiff
o There must be direct relation or connection of cause and effect between the act or omission and
the damage (causality); and
o There is no pre-existing contractual relation between the parties.
22. Fault – when a person acts in a manner contrary to what should have done.
23. Negligence – the failure to observe for the protection of the interests of another person, that degree of
care, precaution and vigilance which the circumstances justly demand, whereby such other person suffers
injury
24. “no duty to act rule” – unless the defendant has assumed a duty to act, or stands in a special relationship
to the plaintiff, defendants are not liable in tort for a pure failure to act for the plaintiff’s benefit
25. Nonfeasance – non-action
26. Culpa aquiliana – wrongful or negligent act or omission which of itself is the source of the obligation
separate from, and independent of contract
27. Culpa contractual – act or omission considered as an incident in the performance of an obligation already
existing and which constitutes a breach thereof
28. Fortuitous event – any event which cannot be foreseen, or which, though forseen, in inevitable
- An event independent of the will of the obligor but not of other human wills (e.g. war, fire, robbery,
murder, insurrection, etc.)
29. Force majeure – acts of God; those events which are totally independent of the will of every human being
(e.g. earthquake, flood, rain, shipwreck, lightning, eruption (natural accident))
30. Assumption of risk – a plaintiff who voluntarily assumes a risk of harm from the negligent conduct of the
defendant cannot recover from such harm
- Requisites:
o The plaintiff had actual knowledge of the danger;
o He understood and appreciated the risk from the danger;
o He voluntarily exposed himself to such risk
31. Proximate cause – that cause, which, in natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by any efficient
intervening cause, produces the injury, and without which the result would not have offered.
- Tests
o ‘but for’ test – defendant’s conduct is the cause of the injury which would not have been
sustained if the defendant had not been negligent
o Cause-in-fact test – a “cause-in-fact” relation must exist between defendant’s conduct and
plaintiff’s injury before liability may arise.
o Substantial factor test – the fact that the actor neither forsaw nor should have forseen the extent
of the harm or the manner in which it occurred, does not prevent him from being liable.
o Foreseeability test – if the defendant could not reasonably forsee any injury as a result of his act,
or if his conduct was reasonable in the light of what he could anticipate, there is no negligence,
and no liability
o Natural and probable consequence test – the injury was not only the natural but also the
probable consequence of the conduct as distinguished from consequences that are merely
possible
o Direct consequence test – the defendant is liable for all the damage that flows as the ordinary
and natural, or direct consequence of his conduct to be determined from the circumstances of the
case rather than upon whether he might or must have reasonably expected the resulting injury.
32. Contributory negligence – conduct on the part of the injured party, contributing as a legal cause to the
harm he has suffered, which falls below the standard to which he is required to conform for his own
protection
33. Comparative negligence – a comparison is made in terms of the degree of the negligence of the plaintiff
and that of the defendant and the amount of damages recoverable by the plaintiff is reduced to the extent of
his negligence
DEFINITIONS AND DOCTRINES
34. Doctrine of last clear chance – a person who has the last clear chance or opportunity of avoiding an
accident, notwithstanding the negligent acts of his opponent, or that of a third person imputed to the
opponent, is considered in law solely responsible for the consequences of the accident.
- Elements:
o The plaintiff was in a position of danger and, by his own negligence, became unable to escape
from such position by the use of ordinary care, either because it became physically impossible for
him to do so or because he was totally unaware of the danger;
o The defendant knew that the plaintiff was in a position of danger and further knew, or in the
exercise of ordinary care should have known, that the plaintiff was unable to escape therefrom;
o That thereafter defendant had the last clear chance to avoid the accident by the exercise of
ordinary care but failed to exercise such last clear chance; and
o The accident occurred as a proximate result of such failure.
35. Res ipsa loquitur – “the thing or transaction speaks for itself”;
- The fact of the occurrence of an injury, taken with the surrounding circumstances may permit and
inference to raise a presumption of negligence, or make out a plaintiff’s prima facie case, and present a
question of fact for defendant to meet with an explanation.
- Requisites:
o The accident is of a kind which ordinarily does not occur in the absence of someone’s knowledge;
o It caused by an instrumentality within the exclusive control of the defendant/s; and
o The possibility of contributing conduct (of the plaintiff) which would make the plaintiff responsible
is eliminated (proximate cause)
36. Emergency rule – a person who, without fault or negligence on his part, is suddenly placed in an
emergency or unexpected danger and compelled to act instantly and instinctively with no time for reflection
and exercise of the required precaution, is not guilty of negligence and, therefore, exempt from liability, if he
did not make the wisest choice of the available course of conduct to avoid injury which a reasonably prudent
person would have made under normal circumstances.
37. Doctrine of imputed negligence (vicarious liability, Art. 2180, NCC) – a person is made liable not only for
torts committed by himself, but also for torts committed by others with whom he has certain relationship and
for whom he is responsible, subject to certain conditions.
38. Damage – a loss or harm resulting from injury to a person, property or reputation.
39. Damages – refers to compensation - such as a monetary judgment - provided to a person who has suffered
a loss or harm due to the unlawful act or omission of another.
40. Injury – any harm done to a person by the acts or omissions of another which may include physical hurt as
well as damage to reputation or dignity, loss of a legal right, or breach of contract.