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A2013 Law 116 Legal Method MSFeliciano
A2013 Law 116 Legal Method MSFeliciano
Feliciano AY 2009-2010
I. Introduction A. The Case Method The Common Law Doctrinal Framework (MD Rombauer) o 2 doctrines that work at within the common law framework Stare decisis a court will generally follow its prior decisions and a court is expected to follow decisions of the courts of which it is subordinate Doctrine of precedents if a court within a similar legal system has previously considered and resolved a particular problem, its decision is worthy of consideration in resolution of future similar cases o 2 types of authority value for judicial precedents Mandatory all those which a court should generally consider itself bound to follow - Will depend upon a determination of what law governs - In a given case the mandatory precedents may be those of a court or courts outside the jurisdiction within which a particular case is pending - Directly in point Question resolved in the precedent case is the same as the question to be resolved in the pending case That resolution of that question was necessary to disposition of the precedent case o Courts should decide only the cases presented to them o Courts create law for future cases is only incidental to their resolution of particular disputes o Dictum language not necessary to the courts resolution of the problem; future courts in the same jurisdiction would not be bound to decide a future case in accordance with it. While a court is not bound to follow dicta from prior mandatory opinions, it may do so. If Dicta may be considered and well reasoned, it may be persuasive If the membership of a court has not substantially changed, the court may be inclined to follow its prior dicta Dicta from a mandatory precedent may ve more persuasive to a trial court than other forms of authority That the significant facts of the precedent case are also present in the pending case No additional facts appear in the pending case which might be treated as significant Persuasive those which a court should consider and may be inclined to follow o A court may overrule its prior decisions o It may also overrule the decisions of courts subordinate to it o Ideally, an overruling is express the court discusses the precedent and gives reasons for the decision to overrule it o Implied overrule: a court may reach a result in a pending case which is inconsistent with a directly-in-point, mandatory precedent without mentioning the precedent o Effect of overruling: to deprive a precedent of its mandatory character and reduce its persuasiveness in other jurisdictions. o Factors which make opinion Analysis Difficult Lack of acquaintance with legal terms, particularly procedural terms The variant thinking habits and writing styles of judges produce variant degrees of ambiguity of the kinds that can be found in most written communications Words with multiple meanings: semantic ambiguity particular meaning intended may not be clear in a particular context Syntactic ambiguity uncertainties of modification or reference, unresolved by context Contextual ambiguity inconsistencies, either internal (e.g., inconsistent statements within an opinion) or external (e.g., statements which are inconsistent with statements in a n opinion of the same court in an analogous case Also a consequence of appellate court systems of operation Most appellate courts have more than one judge, and an opinion, like some committee documents, may have several contributors with only a single acknowledged author Pressure for majority agreement contributes to lack of clarity + press of time may prevent a judge from writing and organizing well There may not be a single opinion for a particular case Dissenting opinion an opinion explaining the reasons for disagreeing and perhaps explaining in detail what decision the dissenter would have reached, and why. Concurring opinion an opinion where a judge may agree with the decision of the majority but reach that decision by different reasoning There is not an opinion of the court although the court may have reached a decision (e.g. 4Js=one opinion; 2Js=concurring ; 3Js=dissenting) No decision by the court 4Js=X; 4Js=Y; 1J=Z Dicta may not be easy to recognize What part of a prior opinion is the decision which a court may feel compelled to follow? How does one determine the rules or principles which appear to have been established by prior decisions? Is overly broad language to be treated as dicta? o Opinion Analysis Facts Significant facts those which affected the decision You must read an entire opinion before finally deciding which facts are significant Procedure You must identify and understand the procedural details mentioned in every opinion which you analyze Identification of the procedural point appealed may help you identify the issue on appeal The nature of the action and the remedy sought will be significant as factors limiting the scope of a particular decision Lower courts reasoning may be regarded as part of the procedural details The Question or issue Before the Court Analysis requires precise identification of the issue or issues decided The substantive decision can be stated by restating the issue in affirmative form if the answer is yes or in negative form if the answer is no
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Value Added Tax (VAT) is levied on the sale, barter or exchange of goods and properties as well as on the sale or exchange of services. It is equivalent to 10% of the gross selling price or gross value in money of goods or properties sold, bartered or exchanged or of the gross receipts from the sale or exchange of services.
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Art VI Sec 24: All appropriation, revenue or tariff bills, bills authorizing increase of the public debt, bills of local application, and private bills, shall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments.
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Art VI Sec 26 (2): No Bill passed by either House shall become a law unless it has passed three readings on separate days, and printed copies thereof in its final form have been distributed to its members three days before its passage, except when the president certifies to the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency. Upon the last reading of a bill, no amendment thereto shall be allowed, and the vote theeon shall be taken immediately thereafter, and the yeas and nays entered in the journal.
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Smith v. Thompson Held: Astorga v. Villegas Upon being informed that the enrolled bill did not contain the amendment proposed by Senator Tolentino (regarding the powers of the Vice-Mayor of Manila) when the House bill was raised to the Senate, the Senate President withdrew his signature and notified the President of the mistake, who then likewise withdrew his signature. Fact is, there was no opportunity to apply enrolled bill theory. Doctrine: Journals of Congress may be resorted to when there is alleged discrepancy between draft and final texts of a statute. Here, journal showed that substantial and lengthy amendments were accepted but not included in final version signed by president. Validity of Statute Requisites for exercise of judicial power/review - Actual case or controversy - Standing - Mootness - Political Question IV. Effect and Application of Statutes A. When Statute Becomes Effective General Rule: Where the law is silent as to its effectivity, CC, 2 applies. CC, 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. CC, 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory, subject to the principles of public international law and to treaty stipulations. EO 200, as amended by EO292 Section 18. When Laws Take Effect. - Laws shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following the completion of their publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation, unless it is otherwise provided. Taada v. Tuvera Held: All laws or statutes, including those of local application and private laws, shall be published as a condition of their effectivity. For a law which is made effective by legislature upon its approval or on any other date without previous publication will violate the due process clause of the Constitution which requires its publication before it becomes binding. Phil. Veterans Bank Employees v. Vega Facts: Dispute as to time, when a rehabilitation order by law became effective. In ongoing liquidation proceedings, judge proceeded saying effectivity of RA 7169 is conditional on the approval of a rehab plan by the Monetary Board. Had the law divested from the judge the authority to proceed with liquidation? Yes.
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Buyco v. PNB Facts: Held: Cebu Portland Cement Co. v. Collector of Internal Revenue Facts: Cebu Portland Cement claims that the percentage taxes collected by the CIR are refundable since under RA 1299, producers of cement are exempt from the payment of the said tax. The statute defined the words minerals and mineral products. Petition er claims that the purpose of the amendment was merely to clarify the meaning of the said terms, and cement should be considered as a mineral product even before the enactment, and therefore exempt from sales or percentage tax, pursuant to the National Inte rnal Revenue Code. Court of Tax Appeals claim APO Portland cement is a manufactured product. Does RA 1299 operate prospectively and exempts cement from payment of sales tax as under the term mineral products? No. Doctrine: A statute operates prospectively only and never retroactively, unless the legislative intent to the contrary is made manifest either by the express terms of the statute or by necessary implication. Tax laws operate prospectively, whether they enact, amend or repeal, unless the purpose of the legislature is expressly declared or may clearly be implied from the language used. In case of doubt must be resolved against the retrospective effect. DBP v. CA Facts: DBP allocated over a million pesos as budget for a housing project for their employees of 159 lots in the proposed Diliman Estate Subdivision of the Peoples Homesite and Housing Corp. (PHHC), and has paid P400,000 in downpayment. RA 3147 passed in 1961 amending certain provisions of the DBP Charter, recognizing the housing benefit. The legality of the project was assailed and during pendency, PHHC sold two blocks to Nicandro couple, although registration incomplete. Court held RA 3146 was passed to cure any doubts on the legality of the acquisition by DBP of realty lots for its employees, and is rendered valid. Doctrine: Curative statutes are forms of retrospective legislation, which reach back on past events to correct errors or irregularities and to render valid and effective attempted acts which would otherwise be ineffective for the purpose of the parties intended, but which has failed due to some statutory disability. However, a curative statue may not be given retroactive effect where it will impair vested rights. A vested right is one which is absolute, complete, and unconditional, to the exercise of which no obstacle exists, and which is immediate and pefect in itself and not dependent upon a contingency. Tacan v. CA Facts: Felipe Tac-an executes contract for three-hectares of land in return for lawyering services. But Administrative Code of Mindanao and Sulu required all contracts to be executed before a judge, justice or notary public and approved by provincial governor. Does repeal of the old AC by RA 4252 be accorded retroactive effect? No. Doctrine: Even if eventually repealed, the statute had full force while in effect. Statute was also substantive in nature so repeal cannot be applied retroactively. Eugenio v. Drilon Subdivision and Condo Buyers Protection PD 957 did not expressly provide for its retroactivity but such can be plainly inferred from the unmistakable intent of the law, culled from its preamble and from the situation, circumstances, and conditions it sought to remedy must be enforced. Alunan III v. Mirasol Facts: DILG postponed SK elections in Manila by four years to coincide with next elections. Elections had been held only two years before, in 1990. A closer look on the deliberations of the Bicameral Conference Committee clarifies the validity of the KB elections held between 1988 and 1992. The inclusion of the exemption clause of Sec. 532 of the Local Government Code in said Code is a result of the deliberation of the legislators taking into account those elections that have already been held prior to the passage of the law. Such law was deemed to be a curative law. Doctrine: In general, curative laws, which in essence are retrospective in effect, are enacted to validate acts done which otherwise would be invalid under existing laws, by considering them as having complied with the existing laws. Co v. CA
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Lagman v. City of Manila Facts: Held: First, RA 409 is a special law and of later enactment than CA 548 and the Public Service Law (CA 146). So, if there is conflict between the provisions of the former act and the latter act, a general rule in statutory construction is that the latter act prevails over the former and that a special law controls over the general law, irrespective of dates of passage. Moreover, CA 548 does not confer exclusive authority to the Director of Public Works to promulgate rules and regulations relating to national roads. As such, t he Manila Charter is deemed enacted as an exception to CA 548. NPC v. Arca Facts: Whether Sec.2 of CA120 creating the NPC, a GOCC, and empowering it to sell electric power and to fix the rates and provide f or the collection of the charges for any service render: Provided, that the rates of charges shall not be subject to revision by the Public Service Commission is repealed by RA2677 amending the Public Service Act and granting the Public Service Commission the jurisdiction to fix the rate of charges of public utilities owned or operated by the government or GOCCs. Held: No. A special law like CA120, providing for a particular case or class of cases, is not repealed by a subsequent statute, general in its terms, like RA2677, although the terms of the general statute are broad enough to include the cases in the special law, in the
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