I.

Some of the essential tips necessary for a law student

A law student must be able to emulate the right attitude in order to

hurdle law school and eventually pass the Bar exam. He must possess
the needed hard work, discipline, focus and not to allow unnecessary
distractions. It is also important to manage time properly and make
use of available time to study and read, read, and read.
It is also important to for a law student to develop the habit of
reading jurisprudence and other legal references. This will help a lot in
terms of applying legal provisions to actual cases.
During the bar exam, each of the eight subjects are separately
graded and contribute to the general average in the following
proportion; Civil Law (15%), Labor Law and Social Legislation (10%),
Mercantile Law (15%), Criminal Law (10%), Political and International
Law (15%),

Taxation (10%), Remedial Law (20%), Legal Ethics and

Practical Exercises (5%).

The passing average fixed by law is 75%, provided that in no
instance with no grade falling below 50% in any bar subject.
II.

Getting the context through the Table of Contents,

Titles, and subtitles

A law book includes Table of Contents at the beginning purposely,

not only to provide a sequential list of its contents, but it gives the
reader an overview context of its contents. The structural overview of a
codal already provides a quick through guide of the books topics and
general preview of the legal provisions ahead. In the same manner that
titles, subtitles and/or an explanatory paragraph, prior to a legal
provision, also acts a clue to the subsequent provisions ahead.

1) Getting the context through the Titles

Intellectual Property Law

To better understand the general concept of RA 8293 or the Intellectual

Property Law, we take cue from the word intellect relating to mind.
Thus, intellectual property is a result from the fruits of mental labor. An
intellectual property is protected the moment of its conceptualization.
Hence, all of its provisions are hinged on the idea that even the byproducts of our mind are being protected by law. Our Constitution
provides certain rights and protections for the owners of intellectual
properties. Rights and protections cover patents, trademarks and
copyrights, among others. Generally, patents protect inventions of
tangible things; copyrights protect various forms of written and artistic
expression; and trademarks protect a name or symbol that identifies
the source of goods or services.

Obligations and Contracts

Contract is defined by the New Civil Code as a juridical necessity to
give, to do, or not to do. Juridical necessity resembles a juridical tie.
Hence, in case of non-compliance of contracts, there will be legal
sanctions.

An obligation is a duty of a person to satisfy a specific

demandable claim of another person which, if breached, is enforceable

in court. While a contract necessarily gives rise to an obligation but an
obligation does not always need to have a contract. Thus, contracts
may be made orally or in writing.
A valid contract shall consist of the following elements; 1) consent of
the contracting parties, 2) object certain which is the subject matter of
the contract, and 3) cause of the obligation which is established.
As a general rule, contracts are valid and enforceable in whatever form
they may appear provided that the essential elements are present.

Waiver of Rights

Basic is the rule that rights may be waived, unless the waiver is
contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals, good customs or
prejudicial to a third person with a right recognized by law.

2) Code of Professional Responsibility

Professional responsibility is closely linked with the ethical standards
a person in the field of law must conform with. Ethics, as commonly
defined, is the ideal behavior or the wrongness or rightness of ones
actuations. When we speak of "ethical" standards, 'ethics' would
mean compliance to standards of common, basic morality.
This code becomes the guiding principle of what a lawyer ought to
do in order to be morally upright in keeping with the legal
profession. The Code even articulates the governing rules where
lawyers, court workers and to those aspiring for admission to the
Bar, have certain obligations to their clients and to the court, which
illustrate

the

high

standards

on

which

reputations

for

professionalism rest.
III.

Getting context through definition

Understanding legal provisions by can also be derived from defining

key words first.
Most old laws were written in legalese form which is sometimes too
wordy to avoid escape of intent and interpretation. Sadly, this manner
of writing invites ambiguity or difficulty of meaning. Defining some of
the words contained in the said legal provision first, helps in unlocking
its meaning.
Another technique in understanding a statutes text is to read the
statute in its harmonious entirety, with each separate part being
interpreted collectively altogether and its purpose. We must not only

dwell on a single sentence or member of a sentence, but look to the

provisions of the whole law. Thus, the meaning of a specific statute
may be shaped, by the definition of terms, by knowing relationship to
other provisions, by the purposes inferred at the time of enactment.
Today, the Courts also look at the broader context of the body of law
into which the enactment suits.
For example, in considering the intent of the statute, all words and
phrases are distinguished between terms which may have specialized
meanings and to words and/ or phrases that are ordinarily given a bare
definition. Other canons direct that all words of a statute be given
effect if possible, that a term used more than once in a statute should
ordinarily be given the same meaning throughout, and that specific
statutory language ordinarily supersede conflicting general language.
A provision that may seem ambiguous in isolation is often clarified by
the remainder and succeeding provisions. When the words of a statute
are unambiguous and in the absence of contrary direction may be
taken as satisfaction with widely accepted definitions, not as departure
from them.
IV.

The

Supreme

Court

and

the

Supremacy

of

the

Constitution
The Supreme Court is the highest court within the hierarchy of the
Philippine legal jurisdictions. The Supreme Court is also referred to the
Court

of

last

resort, instance

court, judgment

court, apex

court,

and highest court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a

Supreme Court are not subject to further review by any other court,
but the Court itself.

By virtue of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution supersedes any

conflicting state law. Hence, no law shall be enacted in contrary with
the Philippine Constitution.
A legislature has the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law
created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. But then
again, these newly enacted laws must work within the confines of the
Constitution.
In

law,

the legislative

intent of

the legislature in

enacting legislation may be taken into account by the judiciary when

interpreting the law itself. Legislative intent, in this premise, is the
reason for passing the law
The judiciary may attempt to assess legislative intent where legislation
is ambiguous, or does not appear to directly or adequately address a
particular issue, or when there appears to have been a legislative
drafting error.
Courts frequently look to the following sources in attempting to
determine the goals and purposes that the legislative body had in mind
when it passed the law i.e.the text of the bill as proposed to the
legislative

body,

legislative

records

or

journals,

legislative

subcommittee minutes, factual findings, and/or reports, among others.

V.

The terms May or Shall

The use of shall and may in statutes also mirrors common usage;
ordinarily shall is mandatory and may is discretionary. These words
must be read in their broader statutory context, however, the issue
often being whether the statutory directive itself is mandatory or
permissive. Use of both words in the same provision can underscore
their different meanings, and often the context will confirm that the
ordinary meaning of one or the other was intended.