Law on Obligations and Contracts: Articles 1156 to 1178

Comprehensive Question and Answer flashcards reviewing Articles 1156 through 1178 of the Civil Code from Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 lecture notes.

What is the Civil Code definition of obligation under Article 1156?

A juridical necessity to give, to do or not to do.

From what Latin word does the term obligation come from, and what does it mean?

It comes from the Latin word obligatio, meaning binding or tied.

Why is an obligation described as a "juridical necessity"?

Because, in case of noncompliance, the courts of justice may be called upon by the aggrieved party to enforce its fulfillment or, in default thereof, indemnify him for damages.

What are the four essential requisites of an obligation?

1. Active subject (creditor or obligee), 2. Passive subject (debtor or obligor), 3. Object or prestation (conduct required), 4. Juridical or legal tie (efficient cause).

What mnemonic is given to memorize the four essential requisites of an obligation?

A-P-O-J (Active subject, Passive subject, Object/prestation, Juridical tie).

How do the lecture notes distinguish between an obligation, a right, and a wrong?

Obligation is the act or performance which the law will enforce; Right is the power which a person has under the law to demand another person's performance; Wrong is the wrongful violation of a legal right.

What general rule applies to the required form of obligations arising from contracts?

As a general rule, the law does not require any particular form for obligations arising from contracts for their validity or binding force (they may generally be oral or written).

What are the five sources of obligations listed under Article 1157?

1. Law, 2. Contracts, 3. Quasi-contracts, 4. Acts or omissions punished by law, 5. Quasi-delicts.

What is the mnemonic for the sources of obligations under Article 1157?

L-C-Q-C-Q (Law, Contracts, Quasi-contracts, Crimes, Quasi-delicts).

What key principle is stated in Article 1158 regarding obligations derived from law?

"Obligations derived from law are not presumed." They must be expressly determined by the Civil Code or by special laws.

What force do obligations arising from contracts have according to Article 1159?

They have the force of law between the contracting parties and should be complied with in good faith.

What is a quasi-contract according to Article 1160?

A juridical relation resulting from lawful, voluntary and unilateral acts, by virtue of which the parties become bound to each other, with the general purpose of preventing unjust enrichment.

What are the two principal kinds of quasi-contracts?

1. Negotiorum gestio (voluntary management of the property or affairs of another without their knowledge or consent), 2. Solutio indebiti (juridical relation created when something is received through mistake when there is no right to demand it).

Under Article 1161, what does civil liability arising from criminal offenses include?

1. Restitution, 2. Reparation for the damage caused, 3. Indemnification for consequential damages.

What is a quasi-delict according to Article 1162?

An act or omission by a person, whether intentional or not, which causes damage to another, there being fault or negligence and no pre-existing contractual relation between the parties.

What are the five requisites of a quasi-delict (mnemonic: A-F-D-C-N)?

1. Act or omission, 2. Fault or negligence, 3. Damage caused, 4. Direct relation or connection of cause and effect (causal connection), 5. No pre-existing contractual relation between the parties.

What standard of care is required of a person obliged to give something under Article 1163?

Diligence of a good father of a family (ordinary care of an average reasonably prudent person), unless the law or stipulation requires another standard.

Under Article 1164, when does a creditor acquire a real right over the fruits of a thing?

The creditor does not acquire a real right over the fruits until the same has been delivered to him, although the right to the fruits arises from the time the obligation to deliver arises.

What are the three kinds of fruits described in the notes?

1. Natural fruits (spontaneous products of soil, young and other products of animals), 2. Industrial fruits (products of land through cultivation or labor), 3. Civil fruits (derived by virtue of a juridical relation).

What is the distinction between a personal right and a real right?

A personal right is the right of a person to demand from another person the fulfillment of an obligation, whereas a real right is a right over a definite and specific thing, enforceable against the world.

What is the distinction between a determinate thing and a generic thing under Article 1165?

A determinate thing is particularly designated or physically segregated from others of the same class, whereas a generic or indeterminate thing refers only to a class or genus and cannot be pointed out with particularity.

What remedies are available to a creditor when a debtor fails to deliver a determinate thing?

1. Specific performance (require delivery of the specific thing itself), 2. Rescission or cancellation together with damages, 3. Recovery of damages.

How are accessions and accessories distinguished under Article 1166?

Accessions are the fruits of a thing or additions to or improvements upon a thing; Accessories are things joined to or included with the principal thing for its establishment, better use, or completion.

What remedies are available under Article 1167 when a person obliged to do something fails to do it, does it contrary to terms, or does it in a poor manner?

The obligation shall be executed at his cost, or ordered to be undone or corrected as appropriate, and the creditor may recover damages.

What is the remedy under Article 1168 when an obligor does what he has been forbidden to do in an obligation not to do?

It shall be ordered undone at his expense.

When does a debtor incur legal delay (mora) under Article 1169?

From the time the obligee judicially or extrajudicially demands fulfillment of the obligation.

In what four instances is demand NOT necessary to put the debtor in legal delay under Article 1169?

1. When the obligation or law expressly provides it, 2. When the nature and circumstances show that time of delivery is the controlling motive, 3. When demand would be useless, 4. In reciprocal obligations.

What are the three kinds of delay identified in Article 1169?

1. Mora solvendi (delay on the part of the debtor), 2. Mora accipiendi (delay on the part of the creditor to accept performance), 3. Compensatio morae (delay of both parties in reciprocal obligations).

What are the four grounds for liability under Article 1170?

1. Fraud, 2. Negligence, 3. Delay, 4. Contravention of the tenor of the obligation (Mnemonic: F-N-D-C).

What is the rule under Article 1171 regarding waivers of action for future fraud?

"Waiver of an action for future fraud is void."

How does the waiver of future ordinary negligence differ from future negligence with bad faith under Article 1172?

An action for future ordinary negligence may generally be waived, but future negligence accompanied by bad faith cannot be validly waived.

How is fault or negligence defined under Article 1173?

The fault or negligence of the obligor consists in the omission of that diligence which is required by the nature of the obligation and corresponds with the circumstances of the persons, of the time and of the place.

What is a fortuitous event under Article 1174?

An event which cannot be foreseen, or which, though foreseen, is inevitable.

What are the four requisites of a fortuitous event?

1. Independent of the human/debtor's will, 2. Unforeseeable or inevitable, 3. Makes normal compliance impossible for the debtor, 4. Debtor is free from participation in or aggravation of the injury.

What law governs usurious transactions according to Article 1175?

Usurious transactions shall be governed by special laws.

What two presumptions concerning payment are established under Article 1176?

1. Receipt of the principal without reservation as to interest presumes interest has been paid. 2. Receipt of a later installment without reservation as to prior installments presumes prior installments have been paid.

What main remedies are available to creditors under Article 1177 when the debtor does not comply?

1. Specific performance/exact fulfillment with damages, 2. Pursue leviable property of the debtor, 3. Exercise rights and actions of the debtor (except purely personal ones), 4. Impugn acts done by the debtor to defraud creditors.

What is the general rule on the transmissibility of rights under Article 1178, and what are its three exceptions?

General rule: All rights acquired in virtue of an obligation are transmissible. Exceptions: 1. Prohibited by law, 2. Prohibited by stipulation, 3. Prohibited by the nature of the obligation.