General Nature and Sources of Law

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering the general nature, types, sources, and classifications of law based on Philippine legal standards and the Civil Code.

Law (General sense)

Any rule of action or any system of uniformity that determines the activities of men as rational beings and the movements of all objects of creations, whether animate or inanimate.

State Law

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

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 based on the internal dictate of reason alone, rather than formal promulgation.

Moral Law

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

Physical Law

The uniformities of actions and orders of sequence in the course of nature, acting as physical phenomena that men sense and feel.

Constitution

The written instrument establishing the fundamental powers of government, distributing them among departments, and acting as the supreme and highest law of the land.

Legislation

The declaration of legal rules by a competent authority, resulting in enacted or statute law, which is the preponderant source of law in the Philippines.

Administrative or Executive Orders

Regulations and rulings issued by administrative officials under legislative authority to clarify or explain the law and carry its general provisions into effect.

Doctrine of Precedent (Stare Decisis)

The principle that decisions of a superior court on a point of law are binding on all subordinate courts.

Custom

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

Article 9, Civil Code

Provides that no judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity, or insufficiency of the laws.

Article 10, Civil Code

States that in case of doubt in the interpretation of laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail.

Regular Courts

The court hierarchy consisting of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Regional Trial Courts, and Municipal Trial Courts.

Quasi-judicial agencies

Administrative bodies like the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that perform adjudicatory functions.

Substantive Law

The portion of the law which creates, defines, and regulates rights and duties.

Adjective Law

The portion of the law which provides the method of aiding and protecting certain rights, also known as remedial or procedural law.

Public Law

The body of rules regulating the rights and duties arising from the relationship of the state to the people, such as Criminal Law and Constitutional Law.

Private Law

The body of rules regulating the relations of individuals with one another for purely private ends, including the Law on Obligations and Contracts.

Republic Act No. $386$

The Civil Code of the Philippines, approved on $\text{June } 18, 1949$ and taking effect on $\text{August } 30, 1950$.

Book IV of the Civil Code

The specific division of the Civil Code that deals with obligations and contracts.

Ignorantia legis non excusat

The conclusive presumption that ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith.