Persons and Family Relation

Civil code of the Philippines

Preliminary title

Chapter 1

Effect and application of laws

Art. 3 ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith

- The maxim refers only to mandatory or prohibitive law, not to permissive or suppletory laws.
- Scope
o We refer not only to the literal words of the law itself but also to the meaning or
interpretation given to said law by our courts of justice.
- Ignorance of law vs ignorance of fact/mistake of fact
o No excuse for not complying with the law, ignorance of fact eliminates criminal intent as
long as there is no negligence. Thus, a man who marries a second wife upon th
reasonable belief after due search that his wife, missing for 10 years is dead, does not
incur criminal responsibility even if it turns out that the first wife is still alive
- The civil code specifically provides that a mistake on a doubtful or difficult question of law may
be the basis of good faith (art.526). This does not mean, however, that one is excused because
of such ignorance. He is still liable, but his liability shall be mitigated, while he will still be
considered as a debtor, he will be a debtor of good faith.
- On the part of the judge
o Gross negligence
- On the part of the sheriff
o Gross negligence

Art. 4. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is provided.

- The legislator must look forward otherwise grave injustice would occur, for these laws would
punish individuals for violations of laws not yet enacted.
- Exceptions to the prospective effects of laws
o Laws themselves provide for retroactivity
o The laws are remedial I nature – there are no vested rights in rules of procedure.
Therefore, new rules of court on procedure can apply to pending actions.
o Statute is penal in nature
 It is favorable to the accused
 And provided he is not a habitual delinquent
o The laws are of an emergency nature and are authorized by the police power of the
government.
o The law is curative
o Substantive right be declared for the first time, unless vested rights are impaired.
Art. 5. Acts executed against the provisions of mandatory or prohibitory laws shall be void, except when
the law itself authorizes their validity.

- Exceptions
o When the law makes the act not void but merely voidable at the instance of the victim.
o When the law makes the act valid, but subjects the wrong-doer to criminal responsibility
o When the law makes the act itself void, but recognizes legal effects flowing therefrom.
o When the law itself makes certain acts valid although generally they would have been
void

art. 6. Rights may be waived, unless the waiver is contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals, or
good customs, or prejudice to a third person with a right recognized by law.

- General rule – rights may be waived

- Exceptions
o When the waiver is contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals, or good customs.
o When the waiver is prejudicial to a third person with a right recognized by law.
- Requisite for valid waiver
o Must be capacitated to make the waiver.
o The waiver must be made clearly not necessarily express.
o Have Actual right which he is renouncing
o Comply with formalities
o Not be contrary to law
o Must not prejudice others with a right recognized by law

Art. 7. Laws are repealed only subsequent ones, and their violation or non-observance shall not be
excused by disuse, or custom or practice to the contrary.

When the courts declare a law to be inconsistent with the Constitution, the former shall be void
and the latter shall govern.

Administrative or executive acts, orders and regulations shall be valid only when they are not
contrary to the laws or the constitution.

- How are laws repealed

o Expressly
o Impliedly – insofar as there inconsistencies between a prior and a subsequent law
- In case of conflict between a general and special law, which would prevail?
o If the general law was enacted PRIOR to the special law, the latter is considered the
exception to the general law. Therefore, the general law, in general, remains good law,
and there is no repeal, except insofar as the exception or special law is concerned.
o If the general law was enacted AFTER the special law, the special law remains unless:
 There is an express declaration to the contrary;
 Or there is a clear, necessary and unreconcilable conflict
 Or unless the subsequent general law covers the whole subject and is clearly
intended to replace the special law on the matter
 - A committed an offense, but before the time of trial, the offense was no longer considered an
offense by the law. Should A still be punished?
o ANS: it depends
 If there has been a complete repeal, he should not be punished anymore
 It is otherwise if the law merely lapsed, like for example, the Import Control law.
Here, the penalty can still be imposed.
- Effect if the repealing law is itself repealed
o When a law which EXPRESSLY repeals a prior law is itself repealed, the law first repealed
shall not be thereby revived, unless expressly so provided.
o When a law which repeals a prior law, not expressly but by IMPLICATION, is itself
repealed, the repeal of the repealing law revives the prior law, unless the language of
the repealing statute provides otherwise.
- Operative fact doctrine
o This is when a legislative or executive act, prior to its being declared as unconstitutional
by the courts, is valid and must be complied with.

Art. 8. Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitutions shall form part of the legal
system of the Philippines.

- While it is true that decisions which apply or interpret the Constitution or the laws are part of
the legal system of the Philippines still THEY ARE NOT LAWS, if this were so, the courts would be
allowed to legislate contrary to the principle of separation of powers.
- The judicial decision are evidence of what the laws mean.
- The interpretation place upon the written law by a competent court has the force of law
- Decisions of the Supreme Court and not lower court
o Lower court decision only serves as persuasive in nature and can have no mandatory
effect
- Doctrine of Stare decisis – that once a case has been decided one way, then another case,
involving exactly the same point at issue, should be decided in the same manner.

Art. 9. No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity, or
insufficiency of the laws.

- A judge must give a decision, whether he knows what law to apply or not.

Art. 10. In case of doubt in the interpretation or application of laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking
body intended right and justice to prevail.

- Dura lex sed lex – the law may be harsh, but it is still the law.
o Hence the first duty of the judge is to apply the law.

Art. 11. Customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall not be countenanced.

- A custom is a rule of human action established by repeated acts, and uniformly observed or
practiced as a rule of society, through the implicit approval of the lawmakers, and which is,
therefore, generally obligatory and legally binding.
- Requisite of customs
o Proved as a fact otherwise not a source of right
 o The custom must not be contrary to law
o There must be a number of repeated acts
o Repeated acts must have been a uniformly performed.
o There must be juridical intention to make a rule of social conduct, there must be a
conviction in the community that it is the proper way of acting, and that, therefore, a
person who disregards the custom in fact also disregards the law.
o There must be a sufficient lapse of time

Art. 12. A custom must be proved as a fact, according to the rules of evidence.

- When a custom is presumed non-existent

o A custom is presumed not to exist when those who should know, do not know of its
existence.

Art. 13. When the law speak of years, months, days, or nights, it shall be understood that years are of
365 days each; months, of 30days; days, of 24hrs; and nights from sunset to sunrise.

If months are designated by their name, they shall be computed by the number of days which
they respectively have.

In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last day included.

Art. 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be obligatory upon all who live or
sojourn in Philippine territory, subject to the principles of public international law and to treaty
stipulation.

- Exceptions
o Principle of public international law
o Presence of treaty stipulations.

Art. 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons
are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad.

Art. 16. Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the country where it is
situated.

However, intestate and testamentary successions, both with respect to the order of succession
and to the amount of successional rights and to the intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions, shall be
regulated by the national law of the person whose succession is under consideration, whatever may be
the nature of the property and regardless of the country wherein said property may be found.

- Property, whether real or personal, is as a rule governed by the lex rei sitae.
- Exception to the Lex Situs Rule
o Successional rights – thus, the following matter are governed, not by lex situs, but by
the national law of the deceased.