CIVIL LAWS FR

Republic Act No. 386, also known as the Civil Code of the Philippines, took effect on August 30, 1950.

What law took effect on August 30, 1950, and is known as the Civil Code of the Philippines?

The Civil Code is a collection of laws that regulate private relations among members of civil society, defining their rights and obligations with reference to persons, property, contracts, and civil acts.

What does the Civil Code of the Philippines regulate?

It governs private parties’ relations regarding their status, rights and duties on property ownership, contractual relations, and liability for torts.

What aspects of private relations does the Civil Code govern?

Because not all human conduct can be specifically covered, the Civil Code includes catch-all provisions as guideposts for human relations.

Why does the Civil Code include catch-all provisions?

"Art. 19. Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith."

What does Article 19 of the Civil Code require from every person?

"Art. 20. Every person who, contrary to law, willfully or negligently causes damage to another shall indemnify the latter for the same."

What does Article 20 of the Civil Code state about damages caused contrary to law?

Art. 21. Any person who willfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.

What does Article 21 of the Civil Code say about acts done contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy?

Art. 22. Every person who, through an act of performance by another or any other means, acquires or comes into possession of something at the expense of another without just or legal ground, shall return the same.

What obligation does Article 22 impose on someone who unjustly benefits at another’s expense?

Art. 23. Even if an act or event causing damage to another’s property wasn’t due to the defendant’s fault, the latter must still indemnify the former if he benefited from it.

What does Article 23 say about liability for property damage when the defendant benefited but wasn't at fault?

Art. 24. In contractual, property, or other relations where one party is disadvantaged due to moral dependence, ignorance, mental weakness, age, or handicap, the courts must protect that party.

According to Article 24, when must courts be vigilant in protecting a disadvantaged party?

Art. 25. Thoughtless extravagance in expenses for pleasure or display during a period of acute public want or emergency may be stopped by the courts upon request of a government or private institution.

What does Article 25 state about extravagant spending during times of public crisis?

Art. 26. Every person shall respect the dignity, personality, privacy, and peace of mind of neighbors and others. Certain acts, even if not criminal, may still lead to legal action.

What is the general principle of Article 26 regarding dignity and peace of mind?

exing or humiliating another on account of religious beliefs, lowly station in life, place of birth, physical defect, or other personal condition

What act is included under Article 26 as a violation of dignity and peace of mind?

The doctrine of volenti non fit injuria refers to self-inflicted injuries or the consent to injury, which precludes the recovery of damages by one who knowingly and voluntarily exposed himself to danger, even if the defendant is not negligent.

What does the doctrine of volenti non fit injuria state, acts contra bonus mores, and accion in rem verso (voluntary assumption risk) state?

1) The plaintiff perceived the existence of the danger or risk;

2) He or she fully appreciated it; and

3) He or she voluntarily agreed to accept the risk.

What are the three elements of the defense of voluntary assumption of risk?

Natural persons (human beings) and juridical persons (created by fiction of law)

What are the two kinds of persons under the Civil Code?

For natural persons, personality is determined by birth (ART 40, CC) and extinguished by death (ART 42, CC).

How is the legal personality of natural persons determined?

A conceived child is considered born for all favorable purposes, provided that it is born later.

When is a conceived child considered a person under the Civil Code?

The State and its political subdivisions;

According to Article 44 of the Civil Code, what is the first type of juridical person?

Other corporations, institutions and entities for public interest or purpose, created by law; their personality begins upon creation unless the law provides otherwise.

What is the second type of juridical person under Article 44?

Corporations, partnerships and associations for private interest or purpose to which the law grants juridical personality, separate and distinct from that of each shareholder, partner, or member.

What is the third type of juridical person under Article 44?

Juridical persons acquire and possess property of all kinds and incur obligations and rights in conformity with laws and regulations of their organization.

How do juridical persons function similarly to natural persons?

Art. 37. Juridical capacity is the fitness to be the subject of legal relations, inherent in every natural person and lost only through death; capacity to act is the power to do acts with legal effect and may be lost.

What does Article 37 say about juridical capacity and capacity to act?

Art. 38. Minority, insanity or imbecility, the state of being a deaf-mute, prodigality, and civil interdiction are mere restrictions on capacity to act, not exemptions from obligations.

According to Article 38, what conditions restrict but do not exempt a person from legal obligations?

Art. 39. The following circumstances modify or limit capacity to act: age, insanity, imbecility, the state of being a deaf-mute, penalty, prodigality, family relations, alienage, absence, insolvency, and trusteeship.

What circumstances under Article 39 can modify or limit a person’s legal capacity to act?

A married woman, twenty-one (21) years of age or over, is qualified for all acts of civil life, except in cases specified by law.

What is the legal capacity of a married woman aged 21 or over?

An incapacitated person is NOT exempt from particular obligations if it arose from his/her acts; or said obligation arose from property relations such as easements or right of way.

Is an incapacitated person exempt from obligations arising from their acts or property relations?

Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life.

How is marriage defined under the Family Code of the Philippines?

Marriage is the foundation of a family and an inviolable social institution governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except when fixing property relations through marriage settlements.

What is the nature and legal treatment of marriage in the Family Code?

(1) The contracting parties must be male and female, and both must be at least 18 years old and must not be under any legal impediment under Articles 37 (incestuous marriages) and 38 (void marriages under public policy)

(2) consent must be freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer

What are the essential requisites of marriage under the Family Code?

Authority of the solemnizing officer, a valid marriage license, and a marriage ceremony before the officer with at least two witnesses (Art 3, Family Code).

What are the formal requisites of marriage under the Family Code?

Article 4 of the Family Code provides that the absence of any essential or formal requisite renders the marriage void ab initio or that it never legally existed.

What is the effect if a marriage lacks any essential or formal requisite?

Article 4 of the Family Code provides that even if the marriage is valid, a defect in the essential requisites makes the party responsible civilly, criminally, and administratively liable.

What happens if there is a defect in an essential requisite of marriage?

1) Any incumbent member of the judiciary within the court’s jurisdiction;

2) Any priest, rabbi, imam, or minister of any church or religious sect duly authorized by his church and registered with the civil registrar general, acting within the limits of written authority and provided at least one party belongs to the solemnizing officer’s church;

3) Any ship captain or airplane chief in the case under Article 31;

4) Any military commander in the absence of a chaplain under Article 32;

5) Any consul-general, consul, or vice-consul in the case under Article 10.

Who are authorized to solemnize marriage under Article 7 of the Family Code?

If a judge or mayor solemnizes a marriage outside their territorial jurisdiction, it is void unless both parties believed in good faith that the solemnizing officer had such authority.

What is the effect of a marriage solemnized by a judge or mayor outside their jurisdiction?

1) Marriage in articulo mortis (at the point of death);

2) Marriage in remote places;

3) Marriage at a house or place designated by the parties in a sworn statement.

What are the exceptions to the rule on authorized venues of marriages?

According to jurisprudence, a man and woman who deport themselves as husband and wife and are known in the community as such are presumed married, even without a record, if all other requirements are met.

What is the presumption of marriage when two persons live as husband and wife without a formal record?

No specific religious ceremony is required to validate marriage, but both parties must appear personally before the solemnizing officer and declare their consent in front of at least two legal-age witnesses.

Is there a prescribed form of religious ceremony to validate a marriage?

A proxy marriage is one where one or both of the parties are represented by another person during the marriage ceremony, instead of appearing personally.

What is a proxy marriage?

Proxy marriage is void in the Philippines due to the lack of the essential requisite that consent must be given personally before the solemnizing officer.

What is the status of proxy marriages under Philippine law?

1) Marriages by any party below 18 years old, even with parental consent;

2) Marriages solemnized by unauthorized persons, unless in good faith;

3) Marriages without license, except under extraordinary circumstances;

4) Bigamous or polygamous marriages not covered by Article 41;

5) Marriages due to mistaken identity of a party;

6) Marriages subsequent to a prior marriage declared void under Article 53.

What marriages are void from the beginning under Article 35 of the Family Code?

A marriage is void if at the time of celebration, one party was psychologically incapacitated to comply with essential marital obligations, even if incapacity appears only after solemnization.

When is a marriage void due to psychological incapacity under Article 36?

1) Gravity

2) Juridical antecedence

3) Incurability

What are the three requisites of psychological incapacity according to jurisprudence??

incapacity must be grave enough to prevent the party from carrying out ordinary marital duties;

What does it mean to have Gravity?

must exist before the marriage, even if it manifests only after

What does it mean to have Juridical antecedence

the incapacity must be incurable or beyond the means of the person to cure

What does it mean to have Incurability

Incestuous marriages are those contracted between ascendants and descendants of any degree, and between brothers and sisters, whether of full or half-blood.

What marriages are considered incestuous under Article 37 of the Family Code?

1) Between collateral blood relatives whether legitimate or illegitimate, up to the fourth civil degree;

2) Between step-parents and step-children;

3) Between parents-in-law and children-in-law;

4) Between the adopting parent and the adopted child;

5) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child;

6) Between the surviving spouse of the adopted child and the adopter;

7) Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter;

8) Between adopted children of the same adopter;

9) Between an adopted child and the adopter’s spouse.

What are the void marriages by reason of public policy under Article 38 of the Family Code?

Prescription is the period within which legal action must be filed, after which the right to sue is barred.

What is prescription in legal terms?

There is no prescriptive period for filing a petition to declare a marriage void. However, the 10-year prescription for action based on Article 36 (psychological incapacity) was deleted by RA 8533.

What does the Family Code say about the prescription period for declaring a marriage void?

The action or defense for the declaration of absolute nullity shall not prescribe. A deleted provision once set a 10-year prescriptive period for Article 36 marriages before the Code’s effectivity, but this was removed by RA 8533. Absolute nullity for purposes of remarriage requires a final judgment declaring the prior marriage void.

What are the rules on prescription for the declaration of absolute nullity of marriage under the Family Code?

Before one can contract a subsequent marriage, there must be a judicial declaration of the absolute nullity of the previous marriage.

What must be secured before contracting a subsequent marriage if the first is allegedly void?

1) When one party is 18–21 years old and the marriage occurred without parental consent; 2

) When either party was of unsound mind, unless they cohabited after regaining reason;

3) When consent was obtained by fraud, unless the party freely cohabited after discovering it;

4) When consent was obtained by force, intimidation, or undue influence, unless cohabitation followed;

5) When either party was physically incapable of consummation and appears to be incurable;

6) When either party had a sexually transmissible disease found to be serious and incurable.

What are the grounds for annulment of marriage (voidable marriages) under Article 45 of the Family Code?

The inability to perform sexual intercourse must be permanent and caused by physical or psychological factors like impotency.

What condition must be met for incapacity to consummate the marriage to be a ground for annulment?

If the wife remains a virgin after cohabiting with the husband for three years, the husband is presumed impotent and must overcome the presumption.

What does the Doctrine of Triennial Cohabitation state?

1) Non-disclosure of a final judgment of a crime involving moral turpitude;

2) Concealment of pregnancy by another man at the time of marriage;

3) Concealment of an STD existing at the time of marriage;

4) Concealment of drug addiction, habitual alcoholism, or homosexuality/lesbianism existing at the time of marriage.

What are the forms of fraud that are grounds for annulment of marriage under Article 46 of the Family Code?

Misrepresentation or deceit about character, health, rank, fortune, or chastity does not constitute fraud and is not a ground for annulment.

What kinds of deception do not constitute fraud for annulment?

Appearance of a public prosecutor to prevent collusion or fabrication is an additional requirement for annulment or declaration of nullity.

What procedural safeguard is required in annulment or nullity cases?

Children conceived or born before the final judgment of annulment or absolute nullity under Article 36 shall be legitimate.

What is the status of children in annulment or nullity of marriage cases?

The separation of husband and wife from bed and board

What is legal separation or relative divorce?

Legal separation allows spouses to live separately but does not dissolve the marriage bond.

What is the effect of legal separation?

1) The spouses may live separately but the marriage bond remains;

2) The absolute community or conjugal partnership is dissolved and the offending spouse forfeits their share of net profits;

3) Custody of minor children goes to the innocent spouse;

4) The offending spouse is disqualified from inheriting from the innocent spouse.

What are the effects of legal separation?

1) Repeated physical violence or gross abuse;

2) Physical violence or moral pressure to change religion/politics;

3) Corruption or inducement into prostitution;

4) Final judgment sentencing respondent to over six years' imprisonment;

5) Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism;

6) Lesbianism or homosexuality;

7) Contracting a bigamous marriage;

8) Sexual infidelity or perversion;

9) Attempt on life of petitioner;

10) Abandonment without just cause for over one year.

What are the grounds for filing a petition for legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code?

1) When the aggrieved party has condoned the offense;

2) When the aggrieved party consented to the act;

3) When there is connivance;

4) When both parties gave grounds;

5) When there is collusion;

6) When barred by prescription.

What are the grounds for denial of a petition for legal separation under Article 56?