Introduction to Law

LAW any rule of action or any system of uniformity GENERAL DIVISIONS: a. Promulgated and enforced by state (strict legal sense); state law b. Not promulgated and enforced by state (non-legal sense); divine law, natural law, moral law, physical law State law, divine law, natural law and moral law rule of action; apply to men as rational beings only Physical law operates on all things; a law, figuratively speaking DIVINE LAW law of religion and faith which concerns with the concept of sin and salvation - promulgated by God and revealed through direct revelation - sanction lies in the assurance of certain rewards and punishments in the present or future life - philosophical theology NATURAL LAW divine inspiration of in man in the sense of justice, fairness, and righteousness by internal dictates of reason - impressed in man as the core of his higher self - reasonable basis of state law - metaphysics MORAL LAW totality of the norms of good and right conduct - Mores or ways of life evolved, and obedience to them was demanded by the group - Spontaneous reaction: public displeasure, contempt, indignation - Is not absolute. It varies w/ the changing times, conditions or convictions of people - It influences or shapes state law - ethics PHYSICAL LAW uniformities of actions and orders of sequence which are the physical phenomena that we sense and feel - Nothing more than an order or regularity in nature - A law only by analogy - physics STATE LAW promulgated and enforced by state, with the aid of its physical force - Positive law, municipal law, civil law, imperative law CONCEPTS OF STATE LAW a. General/abstract sense all laws taken together - Mass of obligatory rules established to govern the relations of persons in society b. Specific/material sense a rule of conduct, jus, obligatory, promulgated by legitimate authority, and of common observance and benefit CHARACTERISTICS OF LAW (in specific sense) a. Rule of conduct law takes cognizance of external acts only 1 Oblicon| Brillante, April Eunice L.

Introduction to Law
b. Obligatory positive command imposing a duty to obey c. Promulgated by legitimate authority statutes are laws enacted by congress; local government units are empowered to enact ordinances d. Common observance and benefit law is intended by man to serve man; regulates the relations of men to maintain harmony and make order and co-existence possible. NECESSITY AND FUNCTIONS a. What would life be without law? The need for internal order is as constant as the need for external defense. b. What does law do? Law secures justice, resolves social conflict, orders society, protects interests, controls social relations. Without basic law against theft, violence and destruction, it would be solitary, nasty, brutal and short. Without laws such as those regulating traffic, sanitation and employment, etc., it would be less orderly, less healthful, and less wholesome. c. What is our duty as members of society? No society can last without social control. Every citizen should have some understanding of law and observe it for the common good. SOURCES OF LAW a. Constitution the written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited and defined - Referred to as fundamental law, supreme law, or highest law since it is promulgated by people themselves - The law to which all other laws enacted by the legislature must conform - Laws declared by courts to be inconsistent w/ the Constitution shall be void b. Legislation consists in the declaration of legal rules by a competent authority - Preponderant source of law - Enacted or statute law: acts passed by the legislature c. Administrative or executive orders, regulations and rulings intended to clarify or explain the law and carry into effect its general provisions d. Judicial decisions or jurisprudence decisions of the courts applying the laws - Stare decisis or doctrine of precedent: decisions of a superior court on a point of law are binding on all subordinate courts - Laws by their own right because they declare what the law say or mean. Supreme court may modify any of its previous rulings. Its judgments are applied to all e. Custom consists of those habits and practices which through long and uninterrupted usage have become acknowledged and approved by society as binding rules of conduct. - it has the force of law when recognized and enforced by the state - it must be proved as a fact according to the rules of evidence. - It may be applied by the courts in the absence of law or statute

Oblicon| Brillante, April Eunice L.

Introduction to Law
f. Other sources principles of justice and equity, decisions of foreign tribunals, opinions of text writers, and religion - they are supplementary and resorted in the absence of other sources. They are not binding on the courts. RULES IN CASE OF DOUBT a. No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by the reason of silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the laws. In case of doubt in the interpretation/application of laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail. b. Courts of law are also courts of justice ORGANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL a. Law can also be viewed as a means of social control control of social behaviour that affects others b. Churches, corporations, political parties, trade associations, schools, etc. LAW COMPARED WITH OTHER MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL a. Laws are made and administered by the only institutions in society authorized to act in behalf of entire member of society b. Only legal institutions can make rules, regulations and orders c. People associated with an organization can terminate their relationship and free themselves from the impact of its rules and regulations d. Sanctions and techniques of control through law are more varied and complex. Expulsion is usually the most powerful technique to such organizations. Others include imprisonment and deportation, denial or revocation of license, denial of privileges, etc. A sanction is remedial if the object is the indemnification of the person who has suffered damages from violation, and penal if the object is the punishment of the violator e. Various steps are required before such laws operate against an individual. Due process of law. ORGANIZATION OF COURTS (Judicial power to decide actual cases is vested in one supreme court and in such lower courts) a. Regular courts one court of Appeals, Regional Trial Courts (provinces and cities), Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts (cities not forming part of metro area and in municipalities), Municipal Circuit Trial courts (municipal circuits), Circuit Courts (2 or more cities or municipalities) - Courts of general or superior jurisdiction: Supreme court, Court of Appeals, Regional Trial Courts b. Special Courts special anti-graft court: Sandiganbayan; forms part with the Court of Tax Appeals, special tax court created c. Quasi-judicial agencies administrative bodies under the executive branch performing quasi-judicial functions. They involve the settlement of controversies or disputes but do not form part of the integrated judicial system. (National Labor Relations Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, etc)

Oblicon| Brillante, April Eunice L.

Introduction to Law
CLASSIFICATIONS OF LAW AS TO ITS PURPOSE a. Substantive law creating and defining rights and duties which may be either public or private in character; law on obligations and contracts b. Adjective law prescribing the manner or procedure by which rights may be enforced or their violations redressed. - Also called the remedial law or procedural law; governed by the rules of court promulgated by supreme court and special laws Rights and duties are useless unless they can be enforced. State must also provide legal remedies by which substantive law may be administered CLASSIFICATIONS OF LAW AS TO ITS SUBJECT MATTER a. Public law regulates the rights and duties arising from the relationship of the state to the people. Example is criminal law, which defines crimes and provides for their punishment. When a person commits a crime, he violates not only the right of the victim but that of the state as well. Also included are: international law, constitutional law, administrative law, criminal procedure. b. Private law - regulates the relations of individuals for purely private ends. Example is the law on obligations and contracts. The state is not involve in private law; it enforces it but simply as an arbiter and not as a party. Also included are: civil law, commercial or mercantile law, and civil procedure (provides for the means by which private rights may be enforced). LAW ON OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS - Body of rules which deals w/ the nature and sources of obligations and the rights and duties arising from agreements and particular contracts - Republic Act No. 386, Civil Code of the Philippines CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES - Based mainly on that of Spains, which took effect in our country on December 7, 1889 - Approved on June 18, 1949 and took effect August 30, 1950; divided in four books - Book IV deals with obligations and contracts. General Provisions on obligations (Title I, 1156-1304), GP on contracts (Title II, 1305-1422). It also contains new provisions dealing with natural obligations found in Title III, 1423-1430. COMPULSIVE PRESUMPTION OF KNOWLEDGE OF LAW - Ignorance of law excuses no one from compliance therewith - Everyone is conclusively presumed to know the law. (Established due to the obligatory force of law) - If laws will not be binding until they are known, then social life will be impossible, because they cannot be enforced due to being unknown to many - Almost impossible to prove the contrary when person claims ignorance of the law

Oblicon| Brillante, April Eunice L.

Introduction to Law
- Absurd to dissolve those who do not know the law and increase the obligations of those who know it - In our conscience, we carry norms of right and wrong and a sense of duty - Evasion of law would be facilitated and administration of justice will be defeated if persons could plead ignorance of law to escape legal consequences. - The rule is dictated not only by expediency but also by necessity. - Ignorance of the provisions of law does not constitute a valid excuse for their vaiolation.

Oblicon| Brillante, April Eunice L.