Complete Midterm Reviewer — Civil Code Articles 1–18

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Civil Code of the Philippines Articles 1 to 18, key Latin maxims, doctrinal definitions, and landmark jurisprudence from the midterm reviewer.

Civil Code of the Philippines

The official title of the statute under Article 1 that governs numerous private-law relationships, including obligations, contracts, property, and succession.

Effectivity of Laws

Under Article 2 (as amended by Executive Order No. 200), the point when a law becomes legally effective and binding; unless a different date is provided, it takes effect after $15$ days following the completion of publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Publication

The legally required dissemination of a law to the public; it is indispensable to effectiveness under Article 2 and Tañada v. Tuvera because the public must be given notice before a law can become enforceable.

Immediate Effectivity Clause

A statutory clause stating that a law takes effect immediately upon approval; under the view in La Bugal-B'laan v. Ramos, it takes effect immediately upon publication rather than requiring the standard $15$-day waiting period.

Presumption of Knowledge of Laws

The conclusive presumption under Article 3 that everyone knows the law, preventing individuals from escaping legal responsibility by claiming ignorance, provided the law has been duly published.

Ignorantia legis non excusat

A Latin maxim meaning 'ignorance of the law excuses no one,' expressing the legal rule under Article 3 that lack of awareness of a law is generally not a valid defense to noncompliance.

Foreign Laws

Laws of foreign jurisdictions that Philippine courts are not conclusively presumed to know; they must generally be specifically pleaded and proved as facts by the party asserting them.

Processual Presumption

Also called the presumed-identity approach (Adong v. Cheong Seng Gee); a doctrine providing that when a foreign law is not properly proved, the Philippine court may presume it is identical to Philippine law.

Mistake on a doubtful or difficult question of law

Under Article 526 (third paragraph), a qualification to the rule on ignorance of law where a mistake regarding an uncertain legal rule may be considered to establish good faith.

Mutual error as to the legal effect of an agreement

Under Article 1334, a shared misunderstanding regarding the legal consequences of a contract that may vitiate consent when the real purpose of the parties is frustrated.

Payment by mistake

Under Article 2155, payment made due to an error in construing or applying a doubtful or difficult question of law, which may give rise to recovery under the rules of solutio indebiti.

Prospective Application of Laws

The general principle under Article 4 that statutes operate forward and apply only to future acts and situations after their effectivity, without altering the legal consequences of past events.

Lex prospicit, non respicit

A Latin maxim under Article 4 meaning 'the law looks forward, not backward,' embodying the general rule of statutory prospectivity.

Retroactive Application of Laws

The application of a statute to acts, events, or legal conditions that occurred prior to its date of effectivity; it is disfavored unless authorized by an established exception.

Vested Right

A right that has become fixed, established, and complete, beyond a mere expectation of a future benefit; retroactive laws cannot unlawfully impair or extinguish vested rights.

Ex Post Facto Law

A prohibited retroactive penal law under Article III, Section 22 of the 1987 Constitution that criminalizes an act that was innocent when committed or aggravates the punishment for a crime after its commission.

Remedial or Procedural Law

An exception to prospectivity under Article 4 comprising statutes governing court methods, procedures, and remedies; these laws may retroactively apply to pending actions because they do not create vested rights.

Curative Law

A retroactive enactment designed to cure administrative or formal defects in prior laws, acts, or proceedings, thereby validating what was previously defective within constitutional limits.

Penal Law Favorable to the Accused

Under Article 4 in relation to Article 22 of the Revised Penal Code, a penal statute that reduces penalties or decriminalizes an offense may apply retroactively to an accused, provided they are not a habitual delinquent.

Law Creating New Substantive Rights

A statute granting new substantive rights that may be applied retroactively when expressly provided and when it does not prejudice any acquired right of the same origin.

Mandatory Law

A statute under Article 5 that commands a specific act or insists upon strict compliance with legal formalities; acts executed in violation of mandatory provisions are generally void.

Prohibitory Laws

A legal rule under Article 5 that forbids specific conduct or transactions; acts committed contrary to prohibitory laws are void unless an explicit statutory exception applies.

Void Act

Under Article 5, an act that is totally invalid, null, and devoid of legal effect from its inception due to being contrary to mandatory or prohibitory laws, except when the law provides a different consequence.

Voidable Act

An act or contract that remains valid, binding, and effective until it is annulled or set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction due to a recognized defect.

Waiver of Rights

Under Article 6, the voluntary and intentional relinquishment of a known existing legal right, benefit, claim, or privilege by a person possessing the legal right and capacity to do so.

Express Waiver

A waiver effected through explicit, unequivocal verbal statements or written instruments declaring the clear intent to surrender an existing right.

Implied Waiver

A waiver deduced or inferred from unequivocal conduct that clearly demonstrates an intentional surrender of a right; mere silence or inaction is insufficient.

Good Faith

An honest state of mind or intention free from knowledge of legal defects, under which an honest misconstruction of an ambiguous or complex law may negate wrongful intent.

Repeal of Laws

Under Article 7, the legislative termination or abrogation of the legal force of an existing statute by a subsequent law.

Express Repeal

A repeal directly stated in a specific provision of a subsequent enactment that explicitly identifies the prior statute or provision being abrogated.

Implied Repeal

A repeal that occurs when a later statute covers the same subject matter as an earlier law and contains provisions so irreconcilably repugnant that both cannot stand together.

Revival of a Repealed Law

Under Sections 21–22 of the Administrative Code of 1987, a prior law is not revived if the repeal was express unless expressly provided, but is revived if the repeal was implied unless the subsequent law states otherwise.

Judicial Decisions

Rulings of courts applying or interpreting laws which, pursuant to Article 8, form an authoritative part of the Philippine legal system.

Jurisprudence

The body of legal interpretations, doctrines, and principles established by the Supreme Court of the Philippines, which lower courts must follow as binding precedent.

Stare Decisis

The doctrine of precedent under Article 8 providing that once a legal question has been settled by a court of last resort, it should generally be followed in subsequent cases presenting identical issues.

Obiter Dictum

An incidental remark, opinion, or observation expressed by a court upon an issue not necessary to the determination of the controversy, having persuasive value but lacking binding precedential effect.

Ratio Decidendi

The fundamental legal principle, rationale, or essential rule of law upon which the court bases its decision in resolving the core controversy.

Silence, Obscurity, or Insufficiency of Law

Under Article 9, a condition where the statute fails to address, is unclear, or is inadequate regarding an issue; judges are expressly prohibited from refusing to adjudicate a cause on these grounds.

Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege

A criminal law maxim connected to Article 9 meaning 'no crime and no punishment without law,' preventing judges from penalizing acts that are not explicitly defined as crimes by statute.

Presumption That Right and Justice Shall Prevail

An interpretive rule under Article 10 directing that in cases of genuine doubt in the interpretation or application of statutes, it is presumed the legislative body intended right and justice to prevail.

Dura lex sed lex

A Latin maxim meaning 'the law is harsh, but it is the law,' obliging judges to enforce clear, unambiguous statutory mandates regardless of perceived hardship.

Equity

Principles of natural justice and fairness applied by courts in appropriate situations to supplement written law, but which cannot override or circumvent clear statutory rules.

Custom

Under Articles 11 and 12, a rule of social conduct established by repeated, uniform, and continuous practice observed as obligatory by a community, which cannot contravene statutory law.

Juridical Custom

A custom recognized as possessing legally binding force because it meets all legal requisites and is proved by competent evidence in court.

Proof of Custom

The requirement under Article 12 that customs must be alleged and proved as factual matters in court and cannot be assumed by judicial notice.

Legal Period

A duration of time fixed by statutory provision or court rules for the exercise of a right, discharge of a duty, or fulfillment of a legal requirement under Article 13.

Calendar Year

Under Section 31, Chapter 8, Book I of the Administrative Code of 1987 and CIR v. Primetown Property Group, a period consisting of $12$ calendar months, which impliedly repealed the $365$-day definition in Article 13.

Calendar Month

A month designated by the calendar with its actual number of days; when not designated by name, a legal month is computed under Article 13 as consisting of $30$ days.

Day

Under Article 13 of the Civil Code, a legal period understood to consist of $24$ hours.

Night

Under Article 13 of the Civil Code, the legal period extending from sunset to sunrise.

Exclusion of the First Day and Inclusion of the Last Day

The computation method in Article 13 where, when computing a legal period, the first day is excluded and the last day is included.

Generality of Penal Laws

The principle under Article 14 that Philippine criminal and security laws apply equally to all individuals who live or sojourn within Philippine territory, regardless of citizenship.

Territorial Jurisdiction

The sovereign authority of a state to enforce penal laws and adjudicate offenses committed within the boundaries of its land, maritime, and aerial territory.

Head-of-State Immunity

An exception to the generality principle under public international law shielding visiting foreign sovereigns or heads of state from local criminal prosecution and judicial process.

Diplomatic Immunity

An exception to the generality principle recognized in international law granting diplomatic envoys and ambassadors immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the host state.

Consular Immunity

A qualified immunity granted to consular officers under international law protecting them strictly in the performance of their official consular duties, without extending to ordinary private offenses.

Nationality Principle

The conflict-of-laws doctrine under Article 15 providing that Philippine laws concerning family rights and duties, status, condition, and legal capacity bind Filipino citizens wherever they reside.

Status

Under Article 15, a person's legal condition or standing in society as recognized by law, such as being single, married, or of legal age.

Condition

A person's legally significant personal situation or circumstance (e.g., legitimacy, minority) governed by personal national law under Article 15.

Legal Capacity

The aptitude recognized by law to acquire rights, assume obligations, and perform legally binding acts, governed for Filipinos by Philippine law under Article 15.

Family Rights and Duties

The reciprocal legal rights and obligations that arise out of family relationships, such as marital obligations, parental authority, and child support, governed by Article 15.

Divorce in Mixed Marriages

Under Article 26(2) of the Family Code and Republic v. Manalo, where a marriage between a Filipino and a foreigner is validly dissolved by a foreign divorce capacitating the foreign spouse to remarry, the Filipino spouse also gains capacity to remarry under Philippine law, even if initiated by the Filipino.

Lex Rei Sitae

The conflict-of-laws rule under Article 16 (first paragraph) stating that real and personal property is governed by the law of the country where the property is situated.

Succession

Under Article 16 (second paragraph), the transmission of the estate, rights, and obligations of a decedent to successors, which is governed exclusively by the national law of the decedent regardless of where the property is situated.

Testate Succession

A form of succession that is governed by the provisions of a validly executed last will and testament of the deceased.

Intestate Succession

A form of succession taking place by operation of law when a person dies without leaving a valid will to dispose of their property.

Capacity to Succeed

Under Article 1039 in connection with Article 16, the legal ability of a designated heir or beneficiary to inherit property, which is determined by the national law of the decedent.

Lex Loci Celebrationis

The choice-of-law rule embodied in Article 17 (first paragraph) providing that the forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and public instruments are governed by the laws of the place where they are executed.

Extrinsic Validity

The formal validity of an instrument, referring to its adherence to legal requirements concerning signature, witnesses, notarial execution, and external solemnities under Article 17.

Intrinsic Validity of Contracts

The substantive legality, meaning, and enforceability of the contractual provisions, rights, and obligations, determined by the proper law of the contract (lex contractus).

Lex Contractus

The proper law governing the substantive obligations and rights of a contract, determined by the parties' valid choice of law or by the law of the jurisdiction most closely connected to the contract.

Lex Loci Voluntatis / Lex Loci Intentionis

Conflict-of-laws concepts denoting the internal law expressly intended (voluntatis) or presumed to be intended (intentionis) by the contracting parties to govern their agreement.

Joint Will

A will executed by two or more persons in the same instrument; prohibited by Articles 818–819 of the Civil Code, such wills made by Filipinos remain invalid even if valid in the country where executed.

Philippine Prohibitive Laws

Under Article 17 (third paragraph), mandatory and prohibitory laws designed to safeguard public order, policy, and morals in the Philippines, which cannot be superseded or negated by foreign laws, foreign judgments, or private conventions.

Suppletory Application of Laws

Under Article 18, the rule that the Code of Commerce and special laws are applied to supply deficiencies, omissions, or unaddressed matters in situations governed primarily by the Civil Code, and vice versa.

Special Law

A statute enacted to govern a specific subject matter, trade, or relationship, which prevails over general laws on that subject and whose gaps may be filled suppletorily by the Civil Code under Article 18.

Tañada v. Tuvera (146 SCRA 446)

The landmark Supreme Court ruling establishing that publication in full in the Official Gazette or an authorized newspaper of general circulation is an indispensable requirement before any law or presidential decree can take effect.

CIR v. Primetown Property Group (531 SCRA 436)

The Supreme Court case ruling that Section 31, Chapter 8, Book I of the Administrative Code of 1987, defining a year as twelve calendar months, impliedly repealed the inconsistent $365$-day definition found in Article 13 of the Civil Code.