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Tolentino Civil Code

Tolentino

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  Persons and Family Relations Law Civil Code of the Philippines by Arturo M. Tolentino (Chapter Summary) CHAPTER I: EFECT AND APPLICATIONS OF LAWS  Article 1. This act shall be known as the “Civil Code of the Philippines.”    I.   Civil Code defined    Civil Code    –  a collection of laws which regulate the private relations of the members of civil society, determining their respective rights and obligations, with reference to persons, things, and civil acts.  II.   Philippine Civil Code    For a long time, the civil code in force in the Philippines was the Civil Code of Spain 1889  by Royal Decree of July 31, 1889 published in the Gaceta de Manila  on November 17, 1889 , and took effect on December 7, 1889 .    Purpose of Codifying a Philippine Civil Code :    To make the laws conform “with the customs, traditions, and idiosyncracies of the Filipino people and with the modern trends in legislation and the progressive principles of law.”   III.   Sources of Civil Code    The following are the sources of the Present Civil Code :      Civil Code of 1889  –  embodied Ley de Bases, Common Law of Castilla, French Civil Code      Codes, laws, and juridical decisions, as well as the works of jurists of other countries      Doctrines laid down by the Supreme Court of the Philippines      Filipino Customs and Traditions      Philippine Statutes      Code Commission itself   IV.   Incorporation of Customs    The customs which the Code Commission introduced into the New Civil Code are mostly in family relations and succession.   V.   Arrangement of Code      The general arrangement of the New Civil Code is the same as that of the Civil Code of 1889. There are 4 Books :    Book I - Persons    Book II  –  Property, Ownership and Its modifications    Book III  –  Different Modes of Acquiring Ownership    Book IV  –  Obligations and Contracts    Some changes have been Introduced  :    Property relations of husband and wife from Book IV to Book I     Prescription from Book IV to Book III    New Subjects  have been placed in the Book to which they correspond:    Human Relations in Preliminary Title    Care and Education of Children in Book I    Nuisance in Book II    Intellectual Creation in Book III    Natural Obligations, Trust, and Damages in Book IV VI.   New Rights Created    The New Code creates numerous new rights and causes of action. E.g.    Acts Contrary to Morals (Article 21)    Civil Action after Acquittal on Reasonable Doubt (Article 29)    Civil Action for Obstruction of Civil Liberty (Article 32)    Rights of Natural Children by Legal Fiction (Article 89)    Wife’s rights in case of maladministration of conjugal property b y the husband (Article 167) VII.   Subjects Omitted    The New Code has omitted some subjects which were regulated in the Old Code these are:      Dowry      Censos      Use      Habitation   VIII.   Arrangement Criticized    The general adherence of the new Civil Code to the arrangement of the old Code has been criticized as unscientific.    The report of the special committee of the Philippine Bar Association assigned to study the new Code, under the chairmanship of Justice Jose B.L. Reyes, had this to say:    The new Code’s faulty distribution resu lted, inter alia, in placing the notion of the various vices of consent (error, fraud, duress, undue influence) in Book IV on Contracts, as if they were exclusively found in contracts, when they pervade the entire field of the Civil Law and should therefore be dealt with in the general provisions. IX.   New Solutions Presented    The new Code contains many reforms in which the solutions given are different from or contrary to those found in the Old Code.  X.   Language of the Code    In its interpretation, English text shall prevail over any translation      The form is English; the substance is Spanish and Filipino.      Translated words should be understood, not in the light of the Anglo-American law but in that of the Spanish-Philippine law as embodied in the New Civil Code.     Article 2. Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion of their publication in the Official Gazette, unless it is otherwise provided. This Code shall take effect one year after such  publication . I.   Effectivity of the Code    The New Civil Code became effective on August 30, 1950   II.   Effectivity of Laws    Where the statute provides that is shall be effective upon approval, no publications is necessary before it becomes effective.    Article 3. Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith I.   Presumption of Knowledge of Law    Once the law has been promulgated and has taken effect, it is duty of everyone to know it. Compliance therewith becomes unavoidable, and nobody can escape its effects by alleging, in good faith or in bad faith, that he does not know its provisions. II.   Reasons for Article    Logical Consequences of the Conclusive Presumption of Knowledge of the Law:    If laws will not be binding until they are actually known, then social life will be impossible, because most laws cannot be enforced due to their being unknown to many.    It is absurd to absolve those who do not know the law and increase the obligations of those who know it.    It is almost impossible to prove the contrary, when a person claims ignorance of the law.    In our conscience, we carry norms of right and wrong, and a sense of duty, so that our reason indicates many times what we have to do; and in more complicated  juridical relations, there are lawyers who should be consulted. III.   What Laws Covered    The laws referred to by this article are those of the Philippines. There is no conclusive presumption of knowledge of foreign laws. IV.   No Exceptions Admitted    No Exceptions are admitted, the rule is based on public interest and is designed precisely to avoid abuse through allegation that the law has not come to the knowledge of a party. V.   Irrevocability of Acts    If by mistake or ignorance of law, a person does an act which prejudices himself, and the injury cannot be remedied without impairing another’s rights, the mistake cannot be corrected to the prejudice of the latter.   E.g. A School Teacher who resigned his position in the public school system upon marriage, pursuant to a school regulation that marriage was equivalent to resignation, cannot rescind such resignation upon learning that a law had already been passed prior to his marriage nullifying the school regulation.  VI.   Mistake of Fact    Ignorance of fact ( ignorantia facti  ) may excuse a party from the legal consequences of his conduct; but not ignorance of law, for ignorantia juris neminem excusat  . VII.   Difficult Questions of Law    Mistake as to difficult legal questions has been given the same effect as a mistake of fact. VIII.   Mistakes of Lawyer    It has thus been held that a lawyer cannot be disbarred for an honest mistake or error of law.  Article 4. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is provided. I.   Concept of Retroactive Law    A Retroactive Law   is one intended to affect transactions which occurred, or rights which accrued, before it became operative, and which ascribes to them effects not inherent in their nature, in view of the law in force at the time of their occurrence. II.   Reasons for Article    This article is necessarily related to the rule in Article 3. Hence, a law that has not yet become effective cannot be considered as conclusively known by people. III.   Application of Article    All statutes are to be construed as having only a prospective operation, unless the purpose and intention of the legislature to give them a retrospective effect is expressly declared or is necessarily implied from the language used. In every case of doubt, the doubt must be resolved against the retrospective effect. IV.   Exceptions to Rule    Statutes can be given retroactive effect in the following cases:    Law itself so expressly provides    The presumption of law is that a statute is intended to have only prospective application; the intention to give a statute retroactive effect must be unequivocally expressed or necessarily implied. In case of doubt, doubt must be resolved against retroactivity.    Remedial Statutes    Remedial Statutes are those which refer to the method of enforcing rights or obtaining redress of their invasion. It may have a retroactive effect, so long as it does not affect or change vested rights.    Curative Statutes    Curative Statutes are those which undertake to cure errors and irregularities by reason of some statutory disability or the failure to comply with some technical requirement.    They operate on conditions already existing, and are necessarily retroactive in application.