Legal System in the Philippines
accepted principles of international law. Basis of the doctrine
Hybrid System – combination of two system of law
 Civil Law – refers to written codes/laws (RPC, Family
Code) Code refers to collection of laws.
 Common Law - used judge made laws, they decide
things or matters on a case to case basis.
(Jurisprudence)
Branches of the Government
 Executive – execute (President Art.7)
 Legislative – create (Congress Art. 6)
 Judiciary – interpret (Court Art. 8) settle actual
controversies.
Municipal Trial Court, Metropolitan Trial Court,
Municipal Circuit Trial Court
Regional Trial Court
Court of Appeal
Supreme Court
Principles of Separation of Powers – Separation of powers in
to three branches of the government. The system is found on
the belief of that, by establishing equilibrium among the three
power holders, harmony will result, power will not be
concentrated, and thus tyranny will be avoided.
Checks and Balances – No one department is able to act
without the cooperation of at least one of the other
departments.
Stare Decicis – deciding the cases at the supreme court.
Doctrine, principle, or concept may be established in a case
decided by the SC. Another case should be a subsequent case
emerge and the facts of the case one totally the same with the
facts of the previous case the same principles must be applied
with the new case. YOU MUST ADHERE ON WHAT HAS BEEN
ESTABLISHED.
*Decision laid down by SC may overturn by the enbanc and
cannot overturn by sitting in division.
International Law (Article 38 of the statute of International Court of
Justice)
 International Agreements
 Customary Laws
 Judiciary Decisions
 General Accepted Principles of International Law
 Writings and teachings of the most highly publicist
Doctrine of Transformation – Treaties may apply locally
through local mechanism, through legislation. Treaties may be
applied here in the PH through local legislation. Congress
should pass the same treaty for it to become a local law.
Doctrine of Incorporation – PH adheres/embraces generally
is in the Constitution Art II Sec 2.
Pacta Sunt Servanda – compliance in good faith. Demands
observance in good faith of the consigning parties with their
international obligations.
Jus Cogens – set of rules of international legal system that is
compulsory, bind all states.
*exemption: Principle of Persistent Objection – objecting the laws in
the first place.
Constitution vis-à-vis Statutes
Requisites of a valid ordinance – Congress enacted Local
Government Code, gave LGU’s power to legislate local
ordinances.
Jurisprudence provides that it:
 Must not contravenes with the constitution or any
statute
 Must not be unfair or oppressive
 Must not be partial or discriminatory
 Must not prohibit by may regulate trade
 Must be general and consistent with public policy
 Must be reasonable.
RIGHT – Invocation against others (right to remain silent, right
to live, etc.)
Law – a rule of conduct, recognized buy custom or by formal
enactment, which a community considers as binding upon its
members. (The new International Webster’s comprehensive Dictionary of
the English Language)
Philosophy – Love of wisdom or the search for truth. Search
for the reality and truth of thing. It seeks to discover the
essence, nature and foundation of things.
Legal Philosophy – Systematic study that seeks to understand:
 Nature and essence of the law
 Its definition and elements
 The sources of its authority
 Various applications and development
 Its role in society, its relationship to other institutions
and societal practices such as norms, morality, and
custom.
Also known as jurisprudence, which seeks to achieve a
deeper understanding of the nature of law.
Five School of Jurisprudence
Naturalism - law and morality are not separate.
Cicero: Natural Law
 Unchanging over the time and does not differ in
different societies.
 Derived from the human nature, because they were
accessible by our natural faculties. (reason &
conscience)
 Only just laws deserve to be called as law.
Aquinas: 4 different kinds of law.
 Eternal, natural, divine, and human (positive)
 Positive law is derived from the natural law, natural
law dictates what the positive law should be.
 Positive law – have the power binding in conscience.
o An unjust law is not a law, it is just an act of
violence.
1. Traditional Natural Law Theory - Set outs a moral
theory in which one can better analyze how to think
about and act on legal matters.
2. Modern Natural Law Theory – One cannot properly
understand or describe the law without moral
evaluation.
Lon Fuller – Legal Positivism: System of Rules
1. Law should be general
2. They should be promulgated, that citizens might
know the standards to which they are being held.
3. Retroactive rulemaking and application should be
minimized.
4. Should be understandable.
5. Not be contradictory
6. Not require conduct beyond the abilities of those
affected
7. Should remain relatively constant through time
8. Congruence between the laws as announced and
their actual administration.
Dworkin: Constructive Interpretation – art and literature
and the treatment of legal interpretation as analogous to
artistic or literary interpretation are controversial.
Interpretive Approach – legal claims are interpretive
judgements and therefore combine backward and
forward-looking elements, they interpret contemporary
legal practice as un unfolding narrative.
Positivism - law and morality should be separate. Laws
are man-made laws.
Realism – law is determined by real world practice and
experience. Law is what the lawmakers, judges, lawyers,
business people and society do with it.
- by product of the lawmaker or the judge’s political,
religious, economic or psychological beliefs.
- Judge’s mood and state of mind that day are as
important determinants to his conclusions as
jurisprudence of the SC.
- Words, law, psychology, and personal politics are not
separate.
Formalism – law is a strict science governed by formal
axioms and principles used by judges.
- Used rules of logic in deciding and determining the
outcome of the case.
- Rules and procedures used in deciding cases are
within the system of elaborated ruled themselves.
- A formally trained legal professions would be
needed. Because abstract principles of law would be
found within the wordings of the law themselves.
Cayetano v Monsod
Practice Law is to give notice or render any kind of service,
which device or service requires the use in any degree of
legal knowledge or skill.
Requiring knowledge and the application of legal
principles and technique to serve the interest of another
with his consent. -Black
Practice of law means any activity, in or out of court,
which requires the application of law, legal procedure,
knowledge training and experience.
Practice – means exercise to pursue an employment or
profession actively, habitually, repeatedly, or
customarily.
HELD: Atty. Monsod’s past work experience as a lawyer-
economist, a lawyer-manager, a lawyer-entrepreneur of
industry, a lawyer-negotiator of contracts, and a lawyer-
legislator of both rich and the poor – verily more than
satisfy the constitutional requirement for the position of
COMELEC chairman.
Gerona v Sec Educ
DO 8: Manner or Conduct during a Flag Ceremony
Issue: W/n DO 8 is valid or constitutional?
RTC: It is invalid and contrary to the Bill of Rights
SC: Flag is not an image but a symbol of the PH national
sovereignty. Determination of whether a certain ritual is
or is not a religious ceremony must rest with the courts.
Secretary of Education was duly authorized to
promulgate DO 8; that the requirement of observance of
the flag ceremony or salute provided for in said
Department Order No. 8, does not violate the
Constitutional provision about freedom of religion and
exercise of religion; that compliance with the non-
discriminatory and reasonable rules and regulations and
school discipline, including observance of the flag
ceremony is a prerequisite to attendance in public
schools; and that for failure and refusal to participate in
the flag ceremony, petitioners were properly excluded
and dismissed from the public school they were
attending.

Balbuna v Sec Educ

The assailed DO, being addressed only to the Directors of

Public and Private Schools, and educational institutions
under their supervision, cannot be said to be of general
application, requiring previous publication in the Official
Gazette before it could have binding force and effect.

DO 8 does not provide any penalty against those pupils or

students refusing to participate in the flag ceremony or
otherwise violating the provisions of said order. Their
expulsion was merely the consequence of 153 their
failure to observe school discipline which the school
authorities are bound to maintain.

Critical Legal Studies – expression of the policy goals

happens to be, at the particular moment in history, the
dominant social group.

- Law supports the interest of those who create laws.

- Antonio Gramsci – dominant classes (elites, western)
had organized society using the process of
hegemony.
Hegemony- sociological process used by the
dominant power, to organize society using their
cultural power and influence to achieve dominance.
Values of the elites be made apparent through a
cultural power (media) through a subtle negotiation
and influence the lower classes will unconsciously
adopt the habits, laws, norms and culture of the
dominant classes.