General Nature and Sources of Law

The General Nature and Meaning of Law

Law in its broadest sense refers to any rule of action or any system of uniformity. It determines not only the activities of human beings as rational beings but also the movements or motions of all objects in creation, whether they are animate or inanimate.

General Divisions of Law

Law is categorized into two primary groups based on its promulgation and enforcement by the state:

• Law in the Strict Legal Sense: This is law that is promulgated and enforced by the state. It is also referred to as state law, positive law, municipal law, civil law, or imperative law.
• Law in the Non-Legal Sense: This includes laws that are not promulgated or enforced by the state. This category consists of:
  • Divine Law
  • Natural Law
  • Moral Law
  • Physical Law

The first four kinds of law (State, Divine, Natural, and Moral) are comprised in the definition of law as a rule of action and apply specifically to human beings as rational beings.

Divine Law

Divine law represents the law of religion and faith, concerning itself with the concepts of sin and salvation rather than crime.

• Source and Promulgation: It is formally promulgated by God and revealed to mankind through direct revelation.
• Embodiments: Under the Old Testament, it is embodied in the Ten Commandments, believed to have been given by God through Moses, the Hebrew prophet. For Mohammedans, divine law is found in the Muslim Quoran.
• Differences: Divine law varies based on the specific belief system regarding what was established and communicated via revelation.
• Sanctions: The sanction for divine law lies in the assurance of specific rewards and punishments, either in the present life or the life to come.

Natural Law

Natural law is defined as the divine inspiration in man regarding the sense of justice, fairness, and righteousness. Unlike divine law, it does not rely on formal promulgation or direct revelation but on the internal dictate of reason alone.

• Nature: It is considered to be impressed upon man as the core of his higher self at the moment of being, or potentially even before that.
• Scope: It is ever-present and binding on all men everywhere at all times.
• Role: It serves as the reasonable basis for state law.

Moral Law

Moral law is the totality of norms for good and right conduct arising from the collective sense of right and wrong within a community.

• Sanctions: There is no definite legal sanction (such as imprisonment or fines). Instead, non-conformity results in social reactions such as public displeasure, contempt, or indignation. Conversely, conformity can result in public approval, pleasure, or joy.
• Relativity: Moral law is not absolute and varies with the changing conditions or convictions of a people.
  • Example 1: Polygamy: Generally considered immoral and a crime in the Philippines, yet allowed in other parts of the world and for Muslim Filipino citizens.
  • Example 2: Fashion: Contemporary women's clothing styles are socially allowed today but might have been morally condemned at different times.
• Influence: Moral law significantly influences and shapes the development of state law.

Physical Law

Physical law refers to the uniformities of actions and orders of sequence in nature, which constitute physical phenomena that can be sensed or felt.

• Mechanism: It operates on all things, including men, without regard for the use of willpower or intelligence.
• Terminology: It is referred to as "law" only in a figurative sense.

State Law and its Characteristics

State law is the law promulgated and enforced by the state. For a rule to be considered part of this legal framework, it must possess four specific characteristics:

1. Rule of Conduct: It tells us what shall be done and what shall not be done.
2. Obligatory: It is a positive command imposing a duty to obey and involving a sanction which forces obedience.
3. Promulgated by Legitimate Authority: In a democratic state like the Philippines, the legitimate authority is the legislature.
4. Common Observance and Benefit: It is intended to be observed by all for the benefit of the community.

Necessity and Functions of Law

Society exists because its members cannot live without it, and no society can remain stable without internal order and external defense.

• What Law Does: Law secures justice, resolves conflicts, orders society, protects interests, and controls social relations.
• Social Control: Law is a means of social control, consisting of rules of social order binding on all members. Every citizen should understand the law because it is necessary for social existence.

Sources of Law

1. Constitution: The written instrument establishing, limiting, and defining the fundamental powers of the government and distributing them among departments for the benefit of the people. It is the fundamental, supreme, and highest law of the land.
2. Legislation: The declaration of legal rules by a competent authority. This is the preponderant source of law in the Philippines. It includes acts passed by legislatures (statute law) and local ordinances.
3. Administrative or Executive Orders, Regulations, and Rulings: Issued by administrative officials under legislative authority to clarify or explain the law. These are valid only when they do not contradict laws or the Constitution.
4. Judicial Decisions or Jurisprudence: The decisions of courts, particularly the Supreme Court, interpreting the laws or the Constitution.
   • Doctrine of Precedents (Stare Decisis): Decisions of a superior court on a point of law are binding on all subordinate courts. The Supreme Court may, however, reverse or modify its own previous rulings.
5. Custom: Habits and practices that have become acknowledged and approved by society as binding through long and uninterrupted usage.
   • A custom must be proved as a fact according to the rules of evidence per Article $12$ of the Civil Code.
   • It may be applied by courts in the absence of an applicable statute, but customs contrary to law, public order, or public policy are not allowed.

Supplementary Sources of Law

These are resorted to only in the absence of all other primary sources and are not binding on courts:

• Principles of justice and equity.
• Decisions of foreign tribunals.
• Opinions of text writers and religion.

Judicial Principles

• Article $9$: No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity, or insufficiency of the laws.
• Article $10$: In case of doubt in the interpretation of laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail.
• Social Control: Law is viewed as a means of social control—controlling behaviors that affect others.

Organization of Courts

1. Regular Courts:
   • Supreme Court
   • Court of Appeals
   • Regional Trial Courts
   • Municipal Trial Courts
2. Special Courts:
   • Sandiganbayan
   • Court of Tax Appeals
   • Family Court
   • Drugs Court
3. Quasi-Judicial Agencies:
   • National Labor Relations Commission
   • Employees’ Compensation Commission
   • Securities and Exchange Commission
   • Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board

Classifications of Law

As to Purpose

• Substantive Law: Establishes rights and duties.
• Adjective Law: Also known as remedial law, it prescribes the manner of enforcing rights or seeking redress.

As to Subject Matter

• Public Law: Regulates the relationship between the state and the people. Examples include:
  • Criminal Law
  • Public International Law
  • Constitutional Law
  • Administrative Law
  • Criminal Procedure
• Private Law: Regulates relations between individuals for private ends. The state acts as an arbiter rather than a party. Examples include:
  • Civil Law
  • Commercial Law
  • Civil Procedure
  • Law on Obligations and Contracts

The Civil Code of the Philippines

• Republic Act Number: $386$
• Origin: Based on the Spanish Civil Code which took effect in the Philippines on December $7$, $1889$.
• Approval and Effectivity: Approved as Republic Act $386$ on June $18$, $1949$; it took effect on August $30$, $1950$.
• Structure: Divided into four books.
  • Book IV: Deals with Obligations and Contracts.
  • Articles $1156$ to $1304$: General provisions on Obligations (Title I).
  • Articles $1305$ to $1422$: General provisions on Contracts (Title II).
• Applicability: General rules on contracts apply to specific contracts (sale, agency, partnership, barter) in addition to special provisions.

Conclusive Presumption

Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith (Ignorantia legis non excusat).