Law on Obligations and Contracts – Chapter 1

Vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental terms and concepts from Chapter 1 of Law on Obligations and Contracts, including definitions of law, characteristics, classifications, elements of obligations and contracts, and special concepts such as quasi-contracts and quasi-delicts.

Law (broad sense)

Any rule of action governing systems of uniformity, whether physical, moral, or legal.

Law in the Strict Legal Sense (State Law)

Rules promulgated and enforced by the State through legitimate authority.

Law in the Non-Legal Sense

Rules not enforced by the State, such as Divine, Natural, Moral, and Physical laws.

Divine Law

Law revealed by religion or faith, believed to emanate from a supreme being.

Natural Law

Innate sense of right and wrong residing in human conscience.

Moral Law

Norms of good and right conduct accepted by society.

State Law

Municipal or civil law enacted by the legislature; imperative and enforceable by courts.

Physical Law

Uniformities of nature governing physical phenomena (e.g., gravity).

Rule of Conduct

Characteristic of law telling people what must or must not be done.

Obligatory (Characteristic of Law)

Law imposes a positive command backed by a sanction to ensure obedience.

Promulgated by Legitimate Authority

Should be created by the legislature.

Common Observance and Benefit

Law is intended to be observed by all for the good of all. It is intended by man to serve man

Sources of Law

Constitution, Legislation, Administrative regulations, Judicial decisions (jurisprudence), and Customs.

Constitution

it may be defined as the written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited, and defined, and by which these powers are distributed among the several departments for their safe and useful exercise for the benefit of the people. It is often referred to as the fundamental law or supreme law or highest law of the land because it is promulgated by the people themselves.

Legislation

it consists in the declaration of legal rules by a competent authority. It is the prepondent source of law in the Philippines. Acts passed by the legislature are so-called enacted law or statute law.

Judicial Orders or Jurisprudence

the decisions of the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution from part of the legal system of the Philippines.

Customs

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.

Substantive Law

Portion of law creating, defining, and regulating rights and duties.

Adjective Law (Procedural or Remedial Law)

Portion of law prescribing methods for enforcing rights or redressing violations.

Public Law

Legal rules governing relations between the State and individuals.

Private Law

Rules regulating relations of individuals with each other for private ends.

Law on Obligations and Contracts

Body of rules on sources, nature, and effects of obligations and contracts.

Obligation (Art. 1156)

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

Juridical Necessity

Non-compliance allows the creditor to compel performance or recover damages through courts.

Damages

Sum of money awarded to compensate injury or harm suffered by the creditor.

Passive Subject (Debtor/Obligor)

Person bound to fulfill the obligation.

Active Subject (Creditor/Obligee)

Person entitled to demand fulfillment of the obligation.

Prestation (Object)

The conduct—giving, doing, or not doing—required of the debtor.

Juridical or Legal Tie

Cause or bond that legally connects debtor and creditor.

Forms of Obligations

May be oral, written, or partly oral and partly written; generally no form required for validity.

Real Obligation

Obligation to give a thing.

Personal Obligation

Obligation to do (positive) or not to do (negative) an act.

Sources of Obligations (Art. 1157)

Law, Contracts, Quasi-contracts, Acts or omissions punished by law, and Quasi-delicts.

Quasi-Contract

Lawful, voluntary, unilateral act creating juridical relations to prevent unjust enrichment.

Negotiorum Gestio

Quasi-contract where one voluntarily manages another’s property or affairs without authority.

Solutio Indebiti

Quasi-contract arising when something not due is unduly delivered or paid by mistake.

Quasi-Delict

Fault or negligence causing damage to another without pre-existing contractual relation.

Requisites of Quasi-Delict

Act or omission, fault or negligence, damage, causal connection, and absence of prior contract.

Civil Liability from Crimes

Includes restitution, reparation for damage, and indemnification for consequential damages.

Breach of Contract

Failure or refusal, without legal justification, to comply with contractual obligations.

Compliance in Good Faith

Performance according to the contract’s stipulations honestly and fairly.

Consent (Contract Element)

Meeting of wills—offer and acceptance—between contracting parties.

Object of Contracts

All lawful, possible things, rights, or services within commerce of men.

Cause of Contracts

Essential reason or purpose inducing a party to enter the agreement.

What does Art. 1156 imply?

An Obligation is a Juridical Necessity to give, to do, or not to do.

What does Art. 1356 imply?

As a General Rule, the law does not require any form in obligations arising from  contracts for their validity or binding force.

What does Art. 1157 imply?

Obligations arising from other sources do not have any form at all.

What does Art. 1158 imply?

Obligations derived from law are not presumed. Only those expressly determined in this Code or in special laws are demandable.

What does Art. 1159 imply?

Obligations arising from contracts have the force of law between the contracting parties and should be complied with in good faith.

What does Art. 1160 imply?

Obligations derived from quasi-contracts shall be subject to the provisions of Chapter 1, Title XVII of this Book.

What does Art. 1161 imply?

Civil obligations arising from criminal offenses shall be governed by the penal laws

What does Art. 1162 imply?

Obligations derived from quasi-delicts shall be governed by the provisions of Chapter 2, Title XVII of this Book, and by special laws.

Administrative Officers

they are those issued by the administative officials under legislative authority.

What does Art. 1163 imply?

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

Determinate

is one which is particularly designated or physically segregated from all others of the same class

Generic or Indeterminate

one that refers to a class or genus without being distinguished from others of the same class

What are the duties of the debtor in obligation to give a determinate thing/specific?

• To take care of the thing with the diligence of a good father

• To deliver the thing

• To deliver the fruits of the thing.

• To deliver its accessions and accessories

Delivery

placing the object in the control and possession of the creditor

What are 2 types of delivery?

Actual Delivery

Constructive Delivery

Actual Delivery

the act of giving real and immediate possession to the creditor.

Constructive Delivery

an act that amounts to a transfer of title by operation of law when actual transfer is impractical or impossible

What are kinds of fruits?

Natural fruits

Industrial Fruits

Civil Fruits

Natural fruits

are the spontaneous products of the soil and the young and other products of animals. Fruits that grow without human intervention

Industrial Fruits

are those produced by land of any kind through cultivation or labor.

Civil Fruits

are those which are the result of a juridical relation such as rights and properties

What does Art. 1164 imply?

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.

What are the nature of creditor’s right?

Personal Right (jus in personam or jus ad rem)

Real Right (jus in re)

Personal Right (jus in personam or jus ad rem)

right that may be enforced by one person on another such as the right of the creditors to demand the delivery of the thing and its fruits from the debtor.

Real Right (jus in re)

right or power over a specific thing, such as possession or ownership

What does Art. 1165 imply?

• When what is to be delivered is a determinate things, the creditor in addition to the right granted to him by articles 1170, may compel the debtor to make the delivery.

• If the things is indeterminate or generic, he may ask that the obligation be complied with at the expense of the debtor.

What are the remedies of the creditor if the debtor fails to deliver a determinate things?

• to compel the debtor to make the delivery.

• To demand the payment of damages from the debtor.

What are the remedies of the creditor if the debtor fails to deliver a generic thing?

To ask that the obligation be complied with at the expense of the debtor.

To demand the payment of damages from the debtor.

Article 1246

The manner of compliance with an obligation to deliver a generic thing is governed by___?

What does Art. 1166 imply?

The obligation to give a determinate thing includes that of delivering all its accessories, even though they may not have been mentioned.

Accessions

are the fruits of a thing or additions to or improvements upon a thing. Accession is also used in the sense of right.

Accessories

are the things joined to or included with the principal thing for the latter’s embellishment, better use, or completion.

What does Art. 1167 imply?

If a person obliged to do something fails to do it, the same shall be executed at his cost. The same rule shall be observed if he does it in contravention of the tenor of the obligation.

What does Art. 1168 imply?

When the obligation consists in not doing, and the obligor does what has been forbidden him, it shall also be undone at his expense.

Delay or default or mora

Is the non-fulfillment of an obligation with respect to time.

types of delay

Ordinary delay

Legal delay

Ordinary delay

is merely the failure to perform an obligation on time.

Legal delay

is the failure to perform an obligation on time which failure consitutes a breach of the obligation.

kinds of delay or default

Mora solvendi

Mora accipiendi

Compensatio morae

Mora solvendi

the delay on the part of the debtor to fulfill his obligation.

debtor’s default in real obligations (obligations to give).

mora solvendi ex re

mora solvendi ex persona

debtor’s default in personal obligations (obligations to do).

Mora accipiendi

the delay of the part of the creditor to accept the performance of the obligation

Compensatio morae

the delay of the obligors in reciprocal obligations.

What does Art. 1170 imply?

Those who in the performance of their obligations are guilty of fraud, negligence or delay, and those who in any manner contravene the tenor thereof, are liable for damages.

What does Art. 1171 imply?

Responsibility arising from fraud is demandable in all obligations. Any waiver of an action for future fraud is void.

fraud

Is the deliberate and or intentional evasion by the debtor of the normal compliance of his obligation.

what are kinds of fraud?

According to meaning

a. casual fraud or dolo causante

b. incidental fraud or dolo incidente

fraud at the time of performance

according to time of commission

a. future fraud

b. past fraud

casual fraud or dolo causante

this is fraud without which consent would not have been given. It renders the contract voidable.

incidental fraud or dolo incidente

this is fraud without which consent would have still been given but the person giving it would have agreed on different terms. the contract is valid but the party employing the fraud shall be liable for damages.

fraud at the time of performance

This is the deliberate act of evading the fulfillment of the obligation in a normal manner. This will not affect the validity of the contract but it would entitle the injured party to recover damages.

What does Art. 1172 imply?

Responsibility arising from negligence in the performance of every kind of obligations is also demandable, but such liability may be regulated by the courts, according to the circumstances.

What does Art. 1173 imply?

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.

Negligence

the defendant in doing the alleged negligent act used that reasonable care and caution which an ordinary person would have used in the same situation.

kinds of negligence

Contractual negligence (or culpa contractual)

Civil negligence (or culpa aquiliana, tort, quasi-delict,or culpa extra-contractual)

Criminal negligence (or culpa criminal)

What does Art. 1174 imply?

Except in cases expressly specified by the law, or when it is otherwise declared by stipulation, or when the nature of the obligation requires the assumption of risk, no person shall be responsible for those events which could not be foreseen, or which though foreseen, were inevitable