Law - any rule of action or any system of uniformity.

2 General Divisions of Law

Law (in the strict legal sense)-promulgated and enforced by the state

Law (in the non-legal sense)- not promulgated and enforced by the state.

4 Subjects of Law

State Law - law that is promulgated and enforced by the state.

Divine Law - law of religion and faith

Natural Law - divine inspiration in man of the sense of justice, fairness, and righteousness,

Moral Law - totality of the norms of good and right conduct growing out of the collective of sense of
right and wrong every community.

Characteristics of Law (ROPC)

It is a rule of conduct- Law tells us what shall be done and what shall not be done

It is obligatory- -Law is considered a positive command imposing a duty to obey and involving a sanction
which forces obedience;

It is promulgated by legitimate authority - Under the Constitution, laws called "statutes" are enacted by
Congress which is the name government of the legislative branch of our government; local government
units are also empowered to enact ordinances which have the binding force of laws

It is of common observance and benefit - Law is intended by man to serve man

Sources of law.

(1) Constitution - It is often referred to as the fundamental law or supreme law or highest law of the
land

(2) Legislation. - It consists in the declaration of legal rules by a competent authority.

(3) Administrative or executive orders, regulations, and rulings. - They are those issued by
administrative officials under legislative authority

(4) Judicial decisions or jurisprudence. - The decisions of the courts, particularly the Supreme Court,
applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution form part of the legal system of the Philippines.

(5) Custom. - "It consists of those habits and practices which through long and uninterrupted usage have
become acknowledged and approved by society as binding rules of conduct."

(6) Other sources. - To the above may be added principles of justice and equity, decisions of foreign
tribunals, opinions of text writers, and religion.
Organization of courts.

(1) Regular courts - The Philippine judicial system consists of a hierarchy of courts resembling a pyramid
with the Supreme Court at the apex

(2) Special courts - Aside from these courts, there is, under the Constitution, a special anti-graft court,
the Sandiganbayan.

(3) Quasi-judicial agencies - Administrative bodies under the executive branch performing quasi-judicial
functions

Classifications of law.

As to its purpose:

(a) Substantive law - portion of the body of law creating, defining, and regulating rights and duties
which may either be public or private in character (ex. OBLICON)

(b) Adjective law - that portion of the body of law be enforced or their violations redressed. Sometimes
this is called remedial law or procedural law.

As to its subject matter:

(a) Public law or the body of legal rules which regulates the rights and duties arising from the
relationship of the state to the people.

(b) Private law or the body of rules which regulates the relations of individuals with one another for
purely private ends.

ARTICLE 1156. An obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do or not to do. (n)

obligation is derived from the Latin word obligatio which means tying or binding.

Essential requisites of an obligation. (JOPA)

(1) A passive subject (called debtor or obligor) - the person who is bound to the fulfillment of the
obligation, the person who has duty

(2) An active subject (called creditor or oblige). - The person who is entitled to demand the fulfillment
of the obligation, the person who has a right.

(3) Object or prestation (subject matter of the obligation) - the conduct required to be observed by the
debtor.

(4) A juridical or legal tie (also called efficient cause). - that which binds or connects the parties to the
obligation.
Kinds of obligation according to the subject matter.

(1) Real obligation (obligation to give) is that in which the subject matter is a thing which the obligor
must deliver to the obligee.

(2) Personal obligation (obligation to do or not to do) is that in which the subject matter is an act to be
done or not to be done

(a) Positive personal obligation or obligation to do or to render service.

(b) Negative personal obligation is obligation not to do (which naturally includes obligations "not to
give").

ART. 1157. Obligations arise from:

(1) Law;

(2) Contracts;

(3) Quasi-contracts;

(4) Acts or omissions punished by law; and

(5) Quasi-delicts. (1089a)

(1) Law. - when they are imposed by law itself.

(2) Contracts. - when they arise from the stipulation of the parties.

(3) Quasi-contracts. - when they arise from lawful, voluntary and unilateral acts which are enforceable
to the end that no one shall be unjustly enriched or benefited at the expense of another.

(4) Crimes or acts or omissions punished by law. - when they arise from civil liability which is the
consequence of a criminal offense

(5) Quasi-delicts or torts. - when they arise from damage caused to another through an act or omission,
there being fault or negligence, but no contractual relation exists between the parties.

Sources classified.

(1) Those emanating from law;

(2) Those emanating from private acts which may be further subdivided into:

(a) Those arising from licit acts, in the case of contracts and quasi-contracts

(b) Those arising from illicit acts, which may be either punishable in the case of delicts or crimes, or not
punishable in the case of quasi-delicts or torts.
 ART. 1158. Obligations derived from law are not presumed. Only those
expressly determined in this Code or in special laws are demandable, and shall
be regulated by the precepts of the law which establishes them; and as to what
has not been foreseen, by the provisions of this Book. (1090)
- legal obligations or obligations arising from law. They are not presumed because they are
considered a burden upon the obligor. They are the exception, not the rule. To be
demandable, they must be clearly set forth in the law, i.e., the Civil Code or special laws

ART. 1159. Obligations arising from contracts have the force of law
between the contracting parties and should be complied with in good faith.
(1091a)
- contractual obligations or obligations arising from contracts or voluntary agreements.

Compliance in good faith - means compliance or performance in accordance with the stipulations or
terms of the contract or agreement

ART. 1160. Obligations derived from quasi- contracts shall be subject to

the provisions of Chapter 1, Title XVII of this Book. (n)
A quasi-contract is that juridical relation resulting from lawful, voluntary and unilateral acts by
virtue of which the parties become bound to each other to the end that no one will be unjustly enriched
or benefited at the expense of another. (a contract that exists by order of a court, not by agreement of
the parties)

Kinds of quasi-contracts.

(1) Negotiorum gestio is the voluntary management of the property or affairs of another without the
knowledge or consent of the latter

(2) Solutio indebiti is the juridical relation which is created when something is received when there is no
right to demand it and it was unduly delivered through mistake.

The requisites are:

(a) There is no right to receive the thing delivered; and

(b) The thing was delivered through mistake.

 ART. 1161. Civil obligations arising from criminal offenses shall be
governed by the penal laws, subject to the provisions of Article 2177, and of the
pertinent provisions of Chapter 2, Preliminary Title, on Human Relations, and of
Title XVIII of this Book, regulating damages. (1092a)
civil obligations arising from crimes. Under the law “every person criminally liable for a felony is
also civilly liable”. The civil liability arising out of the commission of crime includes: (1) restitution (2)
reparation of damage caused and (3) indemnification of consequential damages

Civil liability arising from crimes or delicts

(1) Civil liability in addition to criminal liability. - Oftentimes, the commission of a crime causes not
only moral evil but also material damage

(2) Criminal liability without civil liability. - In crimes, however, which cause no material damage (like
contempt, insults to persons in authority, gambling, violations of traffic regulations, etc.), there is no civil
liability to be enforced.

(3) Civil liability without criminal liability - A person not criminally responsible may still be liable civilly

ART. 1162. Obligations derived from quasi- delicts shall be governed by the
provisions of Chapter 2, Title XVII of this Book, and by special laws. (1093a)
Whoever by act or omission causes damage to another, there being fault or negligence, is
obliged to pay for the damages done. Such fault or negligence, if there is no pre-existing contractual
relation between the parties, is called a quasi-delict.

ART. 1163. Every person obliged to give something is also obliged to take care of
it with the proper diligence of a good father of a family, unless the law or the stipulation
of the parties requires another standard of care. (1094a)
Meaning of specific or determinate thing.
-particularly designated or physically segregated from others of the same class.
Meaning of generic or indeterminate thing.

- refers only to a class or genus to which it pertains and cannot be pointed out with
particularity
Duties of debtor in obligation to give a determinate thing.
(1) Preserve or take care of the thing. - In obligations to give (real obligations),
(a) Diligence of a good father of a family. - The phrase has been equated with
ordinary care or that diligence which an average (a reasonably prudent) person exercise over
his own property.
(b) Another standard of care. - However, if the law or the stipulation of the parties
provides for another-standard of care (slight or extraordinary diligence), said law or
stipulation must prevail.
 (c) Factors to be considered. - The diligence required necessarily depends upon the
nature of the obligation and corresponds with the circumstances of the person, of the
time, and of the place

(d) Reason for debtor's obligation. - The debtor must exercise diligence to insure that
the thing to be delivered would subsist in the same condition as it was when the
obligation was contracted
(2) Deliver the fruits of the thing. - This is discussed under Article 1164;
(3) Deliver the accessions and accessories. - This is discussed under Article 1166;
(4) Deliver the thing itself. - (Arts. 1163, 1233, 1244; as to kinds of delivery, see Arts.
1497 to 1501.); and
(5) Answer for damages in case of non-fulfillment or breach. - This is discussed
under Article 1179.

. ART. 1164. The creditor has a right to the fruits of the thing from the time the
obligation to deliver it arises. However, he shall acquire no real right over it until the
same has been delivered to him. (1095)

- The creditor has a right to the fruits of the thing from the time the obligation to
deliver it arises. However, he shall acquire no real right over it until the same has
been delivered to him.
Different kinds of fruits.

- The fruits mentioned by the law refer to natural, industrial, and civil fruits.

1) Natural fruits are the spontaneous products of the soil, and the young and other products of
animals.
(2) Industrial fruits are those produced by lands of any kind through cultivation or labor.
(3) Civil fruits are those derived by virtue of a juridical relation.
Meaning of personal right and real right.
(1) Personal right is the right or power of a person (creditor) to demand from another
(debtor), as a definite passive subject, the fulfillment of the latter's obligation to give, to do, or
not to do.
(2) Real right is the right or interest of a person over a specific thing (like ownership,
possession, mortgage), without a definite passive subject against whom the right may be
personally enforced.
 ART. 1165. When what is to be delivered is a determinate thing, the creditor, in
addition to the right granted him by Article 1170, may compel the debtor to make the
delivery.
If the thing is indeterminate or generic, he may ask that the obligation be complied
with at the expense of the debtor.
If the obligor delays, or has promised to deliver the same thing to two or more
persons who do not have the same interest, he shall be responsible for fortuitous event
until he has affected the delivery. (1096)

-When what is to be delivered is a determinate thing, the creditor, in addition to

the right granted him by article 1170, may compel the debtor to make a delivery. If the
thing is indeterminate or generic, he may ask the obligation to be complied with the expense of
the debtor