Introduction to Law and the Law on Obligations and Contracts

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers introductory legal concepts, the four essential requisites of an obligation, the classification of laws, and the primary sources of obligations under the Civil Code of the Philippines.

Law (General sense)

Any rule of action or any system of uniformity that determines the activities of men and the motions of all objects of creation.

Divine Law

The law of religion and faith formally promulgated by God and revealed to mankind through direct revelation, concerning concepts of sin and salvation.

Natural Law

The divine inspiration in man of the sense of justice, fairness, and righteousness, discerned through the internal dictates of reason rather than formal promulgation.

Moral Law

The collective sense of right and wrong within a community arising from social norms and shared values, sanctioned by social reactions such as disapproval or exclusion.

Physical Law

Uniformities of action and orders of sequence in nature, such as gravitation or chemical combination, which are addressed to objects with no power to disobey.

State Law

The body of rules promulgated and enforced by the state, also known as positive law, municipal law, civil law, or imperative law.

Constitution

The fundamental or supreme law of the land, promulgated by the people, which establishes, limits, and defines the powers of the government.

Legislation

The declaration of legal rules by a competent authority; acts passed by the legislature are known as enacted law or statute law.

Stare Decisis

The doctrine of precedent which dictates that the decisions of a superior court on a point of law are binding on all subordinate courts.

Custom

Habits and practices which through long and uninterrupted usage have become acknowledged and approved by society as binding rules of conduct.

Substantive Law

That portion of the body of law which creates, defines, and regulates rights and duties, such as the law on obligations and contracts.

Adjective Law

The portion of law prescribing the manner or procedure by which rights may be enforced or violations redressed; also known as remedial or procedural law.

Public Law

Legal rules regulating the rights and duties arising from the relationship of the state to the people, including criminal law and international law.

Private Law

The body of rules regulating the relations of individuals with one another for purely private ends, such as civil law and commercial law.

Republic Act No. 386

The formal name of the Civil Code of the Philippines, which was approved on June 18, 1949 and took effect on August 30, 1950.

Obligation (Article 1156)

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

Juridical Necessity

The characteristic of an obligation being enforceable by law through the courts if there is non-compliance.

Civil Obligations

Obligations which give the creditor or obligee a right under the law to enforce their performance in courts of justice.

Natural Obligations

Obligations based on equity and natural law that do not grant a right of action to enforce performance, but allow retention of voluntary fulfillment.

Passive Subject

The debtor or obligor; the person who is bound to the fulfillment of the obligation and has a duty.

Active Subject

The creditor or obligee; the person who is entitled to demand the fulfillment of the obligation and has a right.

Prestation

The object or subject matter of the obligation, representing the conduct required (giving, doing, or not doing).

Juridical Tie

Also called the efficient cause; the element that binds or connects the parties to the obligation, often determined by the source of the obligation.

Real Obligation

An obligation to give; a situation where the subject matter is a thing which the obligor must deliver.

Personal Obligation

An obligation in which the subject matter is an act to be done (positive) or not to be done (negative).

Contract (Article 1305)

A meeting of minds between two or more persons whereby one binds himself, with respect to the other, to give something or to render some service.

Quasi-contract

A juridical relation resulting from lawful, voluntary, and unilateral acts to prevent unjust enrichment or benefit at another's expense.

Negotiorum Gestio

A kind of quasi-contract involving the voluntary management of the property or business of another without authority.

Solutio Indebiti

A kind of quasi-contract created when something is received when there is no right to demand it and it was unduly delivered through mistake.

Quasi-delict

An obligation arising from damage caused to another through an act or omission where there is fault or negligence but no pre-existing contractual relation.