Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCH
It is the process of finding the laws, rules and regulations that govern activities in human society. It
involves locating both the laws and rules which are enforced by the State and the commentaries which
explain or analyze these rules.
Legal Research is also defined as the investigation for information necessary to support legal decision
making. Legal Research includes each step of a process that begins with analyzing the facts of a problem
and concludes with applying and communicating the results of the investigation.
In order to provide a competent representation which requires the legal knowledge, skill,
thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.
To uphold the standards of the legal profession
In order to become a competent practitioner
Legal research involves the use of a variety of printed and electronic sources.
Printed sources:
· Constitution
· Statutes
· Court decisions
· Administrative rules
· Scholarly commentaries
Computer databases containing these and other materials have dramatically changed the nature of
legal research and improved its effectiveness.
1. Primary Sources - those recorded laws and rules which will be enforced by the State (pure laws)
- First major primary sources
- legislative actions
- codes
- statutes
- Second major category - judicial decisions
- Supreme Court
- Court of Appeals
- Trial Courts (RTC, MTC, MCTC)
- Third primary source
- administrative law, or the regulations and decisions of government agencies
- state agencies promulgate regulations governing behavior within their areas of expertise
- agencies also act in “quasi-judicial” capacity by conducting hearings and issuing decisions to
resolve particular disputes
Rowena B. Gallego Reviewer
Source: Legal Research by Rufus Rodriguez Page 1 of 25
2. Secondary Materials (commentaries and annotations) – vary widely in purpose and quality, ranging
from authoritative treaties by great academic scholars to superficial tracts by hack writers. It can help
analyze a problem and provide research references to both primary sources and other secondary
materials
- Publications which are not primary authority but which discuss or analyze legal doctrine are
considered secondary materials:
- Treatises
- Commentaries
- Encyclopedias
- Most influential legal writings
- academic journals (law reviewers of law schools)
- IBP journals and Lawyers Review
- secondary materials through the use of:
- law library catalog
- legal periodical indexes
- other bibliographic aids
- commentaries from the primary sources
3. Finding Tools – search materials to locate legal sources; means of locating primary sources
Chapter 2
THE LEGAL RESEARCH PROCESS
1. Identify and Analyze the Significant Facts – begins with compiling a descriptive statement of
legally significant facts. The TARP Rule is a useful technique to analyze your facts according to
the following factors:
2. Formulate the Legal Issues to be Researched - this is the initial intellectual activity that
presumes some knowledge of the substantive law. The goal is to classify or categorize the
problem into general, and increasingly specific, subject areas and to begin to hypothesize legal
issues.
- Consult general secondary sources for an overview of all relevant subject areas, this can
be used to provide background information to help formulate issues; they are tools NOT the
objects of research
- Statement of the issues should be arranged in a logical pattern to form an outline
c. Identify, Read and Update All Relevant Case Law – note its full citation, the ponente,
date of decision, relevant facts, the holding, summary of the court’s reasoning, and the
sources cited by the Court
4. Update – consult the PHILJURIS or LEX LIBRIS to determine whether the authorities have been
interpreted or altered in any way, or whether new cases, statutes or regulations have been
published; law changes constantly; our Congress passes new statutes and modify old ones; our
Supreme Court either refines the law or reaffirms the law or even changes the interpretation of
the law.
Chapter 3
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH SKILL: CASE BRIEFING
AND SYTHESIS OF CASES
A. Case Briefing – process of digesting or the condensation of a reported case. There is no one
“correct” form for a case brief since it is a document that is created to meet the student’s needs. The
typical components of a case brief are:
1. Facts –describe the events between the parties leading to the litigation and tell how the case
before the court that is now deciding it. Include those facts that are relevant to the issue the
court must decide and to the reasons for it decision. You will not know which facts are
relevant until you know what the issue or issues are.
State the plaintiff ad defendant
Basis for plaintiff’s suit
Plaintiff’s relief
Include the ruling of the Lower Court and Court of Appeals
2. Issue(s) – question that the court must decide to resolve the dispute between the parties in
the case before it.
Identify the rule of law that governs the dispute and ask how it should apply to those facts
3. Ruling – court’s decision on the question that is actually before it, but if they do not relate to
the question actually before it, they are dicta or dictum (expression of opinion or a point
other than the precise issue involved in determining a case).
* provides the answer to the question asked in the issues
* supported by court’s reasoning explaining and supporting the court’s decision
B. Synthesizing Cases – process of relating the cases to each other. By this process, we can
understand the applicable area of law and then use the synthesis to analyze the proble
1. THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION – “law” and law of the highest authoritativeness and obligation. As
“supreme law of the land”, it is the ultimate authority to which reference must be made to determine
the validity of national laws, administrative regulations, local ordinances and executive actions.
a. Spanish Period
- Leyes Constitucionales de Espana
- Derecho Parliamentario Espanol (3 volumes)
- Ponce, Efemerides Filipinas
- Prologue, Filipinas en las Cortes
CA 1 - Providing for
1935-1941 National Assembly Commonwealth Acts 733 National Defense of
the Philippines
RA 1 - Appropriating
1946-1972 Congress Republic Acts 6,635 Funds for Gov't of the
Commonwealth
July 1, 1946-1947
a. Administrative acts and commands of the President of the Philippines touching on the
organization or mode of operation of the government of the rearranging or readjustment of the
districts, divisions, part or parts of the Philippines and all acts and commands governing the
general performance of duties by public employees or disposing of issues of general concern are
made effective by the issuance of Executive Orders. Those orders fixing the dates when specific
laws, resolutions or orders are to have or cease to take effect and any information concerning
matters of public moment determined by law, resolution, or executive orders, take the form of
proclamations. Ordinarily, administrative orders are confined to the exercise by the President of
the Philippines of his power deciding administrative cases. Sometimes they may contain
regulations for the conduct of subordinate officers in the executive department in the performance
of their official duties.
During the Commonwealth Period, the administrative acts and orders of the President were
published in the:
b. Executive Orders and Proclamations of the Governor-General during the American period
were published annually in a set entitled “Executive Orders and Proclamations”. Thirty-three
volumes were published until 1935, by the Bureau of Printing.
c. Government agencies may also be grouped together in accordance with their powers and
functions:
1. Agencies with implied quasi-legislative powers – they have administrative rules and
regulations which have not been expressly directed by law to be issued, but they are
necessary in the proper discharge of the functions of the agency.
Bureau of Forestry
Bureau of Prisons
National Bureau of Investigation
Bureau of Tourism Services
Department of Social Welfare and Development
2. Agencies with express quasi-legislative powers – they are specifically authorized by law
to promulgate implementing rules and regulations
4. Materials containing Administrative Rules and Regulations are also found in The National
Administrative Register – containing rules and regulations, circulars, memoranda and other
official issuance issued by different government agencies, published quarterly; Vols. 1 to 12
(1990-2001) by the UP Law Complex
c. Central Bank
a. Financial journal
b. Central bank annual reports and compilations
f. Department Of Justice
a. Department of justice, revised circulars 1963
h. Board Of Investments
a. Omnibus Investments code and implementing Regulations 1989
5. ORDINANCES ENACTED BY THE AUTONOMOUS REGION – the 1987 Constitution created the
Autonomous Regions in Muslim Mindanao and in the Cordillera. The legislative assemblies of these
autonomous regions enact ordinances to govern the region and may create administrative agencies
to operate in the regions.
Rowena B. Gallego Reviewer
Source: Legal Research by Rufus Rodriguez Page 10 of 25
6. ORDINANCES ENACTED BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS – the basic local government units
are the provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays. Each of these units have lawmaking powers
to pass what is commonly called ordinances” (to distinguish them from statutes enacted by Congress)
which are usually of local interest only.
COMPUTERIZED LEGAL RESEARCH SERVICES – the text of the Constitutions and statutes above
mentioned may be sourced from two computerized legal research services.
2. Philjuris – produced by Gigabytes Research Systems, Inc. also has a database on all laws of the
Philippines.
Chapter 5
CASE LAW
While statute law is derived from the lawmaking agencies of the government, case law comes from the
judicial authorities of the State.
1. Decision Proper
2. Subordinate Decisions
A. PRE-SPANISH PERIOD – trials were held publicly and decisions were rendered promptly. The
accuser and the accused faced each other with their respective witnesses. The latter, to show
their honesty and sincerity, took an oath to this effect…. The disputants then began presenting
their arguments, buttressed by the testimonies of their respective witnesses. The chieftain
listened attentively and the elders took mental notes of the arguments. The disputant with more
witnesses to his side was adjudged as winner. In this case, the chieftain, acting as Judge and
executive, enforced his judgment by siding openly with the winner and compelling the defeated
party to respect the judgment of the honorable court. . Under such circumstances, the defeated
party had no other recourse than to bow to the inevitable.
B. SPANISH PERIOD – Magellan’s arrival in the Philippines in 1521 became the basis for Spain to
claim and colonize the islands. Three Spanish expeditions were sent to the islands which all
ended in failure. Finally on November 21, 1564, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi sailed from Navidad,
Mexico to the “islands of the West towards the Moluccas” and subsequently landed in the
Visayan islands and founded the City of Cebu in 1565. Manila was later founded as a capital city
in 1571. The foundation of Spanish sovereignty over the Philippines had been laid.
a. In General
Five components:
a. The law – to govern the conduct of the people and regulate the relations among
individuals and between the individual and the sovereign.
b. The judiciary – which provided the mechanism for the adjudication of disputes among
individuals and between the individual and the government of state.
c. The law enforcement agencies – to uphold the law and enforce the decisions rendered
by judiciary.
- Cuerpo de Cuadrilleros – the municipal police under the local government officials
- Guardia Civil – the national constabulary, the forces of which were assigned to
particular provinces under the provincial commanders who reported directly to the
governor and captain general
d. The prison system – for public punishment of those who violated the law.
- Municipal jails
- Provincial jails
- Major penitentiaries such as the Bilibid Prison and those in Cavite, Zamboanga and
Marianas
- Penal farms or colonies in Palawan, Davao, Cotabato and Zamboanga
e. Legal profession – group of persons with legal training manned the judicial posts and
acted as advocates of individuals in protecting their rights.
Special Courts:
The judicial system included the Department of Public Prosecution which represented the
government and its institutions in the enforcement of the law and in all civil and criminal actions to
which the state was a party.
Jurisprudencia Civil
Jurisprudencia Criminal
Note: The uncivilized part of the Archipelago were wholly unfitted to exercise the right of
trial by jury.
I. TRIAL COURTS OF LIMITED JURISDICTION – limited to civil suits involving relatively smaller
amounts of money and to minor violations of criminal laws. These are the tribunals in which
most of the controversies that occur in the community are heard and at least provisionally
decided. They are the courts closest to the people. In this level, justice be administered fairly
and with dignity.
a. Metropolitan trial courts
b. Municipal trial courts
c. Municipal circuit trial courts
III. THE INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT – is the body that generally has exclusive
appellate jurisdiction over the decisions of the Regional Trial Courts and other quasi-judicial
agencies.
a. Court of Appeals
i. Presiding Justice
ii. 50 Associate Justice
b. Special appellate courts:
The Sandiganbayan – appellate jurisdiction over ceratin criminal cases decided
by the Regional Courts, and also original jurisdiction over certain types of
criminal cases
IV. THE COURT OF LAST RESORT (Supreme Court) – at the top of the hierarchy which
determines with finality what the law is and should be. It has the power to review on appeal or
certiorari final judgments and order of lower courts in certain cases such as when errors or
questions of law are invoked and where the Constitution or validity of statues are involved. It
has original jurisdiction over petitions for certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto
and habeas corpus.
i. Chief Justice
ii. 14 Associate Justice
DOCTRINE OF PRECEDENT
a. STARE DECISIS, ET NO QUITA MOVERE – what has been settled must not be disturbed.
RES JUDICATA – a matter finally decided on its merits by a court having competent jurisdiction
and not subject to litigation again between the same
b. REVERSAL – has reference to the action of the Supreme Court on a lower court judgments in
the same particular controversy. When the Supreme court reviews the judgment of the lower
court in a case and concludes the lower court reached an erroneous result in the case, it will
reverse, set aside the lower court’s judgment.
OVERRULES – one of the past decisions of the Supreme court, the conclusiveness of that earlier
decision as a settlement of its particular controversy is not affected, but the overruled decision is
no longer an authoritative precedent for other cases that may arise in the future.
c. RATIO DECIDENDI - is the holding of the principle of law on which a case was decided. It sets
the precedent and is binding on courts in the future.
OBITER DICTUM – is the language in a decision that is not necessary to the decision.
d. BINDING – also called mandatory; when it comes from the decisions of Supreme Court and it is
the ratio decidendi of the case.
PERSUASIVE – if the dicta comes from a respected justice, it may be persuasive to the Court.
Persuasive authority can come from decisions of appellate courts in other jurisdictions.
FORMS OF DECISIONS
MAJORITY OPINION / UNANIMOUS
CONCURRING
SEPARATE CONCURRING OPINION
SEPARATE OPINION
DISSENTING
1. Decision proper
Unofficial:
a. Philippine Decisions
b. Philippine Reports Annotated
c. Philippine Reports Annotated (Central)
d. Supreme Courts Reports Annotated (SCRA)
e. Supreme Court Decisions (SCD)
f. Philippine Law and Jurisprudence (PHILJUR)
g. Supreme Court Unpublished Decisions (SCUD)
h. Supreme Court Advance Decisions (SCAD)
i. Supreme Court Excerpts (SCEX)
j. Summary of Supreme court’s Rulings
k. Citations: excerpts of Supreme Court Decisions
l. Title Index to Supreme Court Decisions 1945 – 1978
m. Supreme Court Decisions Title Index 1982-1985
n. The Sandiganbayan Reporter
o. The PCGG Reporter
Agencies with express quasi-judicial powers – agencies given judicial functions over
cases which would otherwise go the regular courts of justice were it not for the grant of
such powers to these agencies.
i.Insurance Commission
ii.National Labor Relations Commission
iii.Commission on Elections
iv. Government Service Insurance System
v. Social Security System
vi. National Seamen Board
vii. Commission on Audit
1. COA Regulations and Jurisprudence by Central book Supply
viii. Employee’s Compensation Commission
ix. Civil Aeronautics Board
1. Department of Finance
a. Bureau of Internal Revenue
b. Bureau of Customs
c. Insurance Commission
d. Central Board of Assessment Appeals
e. Fiscal Incentives Review Board
f. Phil. Export and Foreign Loan Guarantees Corp.
g. Phil. Crop Insurance Corp.
3. Department of Agriculture
a. Sugar Regulatory Authority
b. National Irrigation Administration
c. National Meat Inspection Commission
d. National Food Authority
e. Quedans Guarantee Fund Board
f. Phil. Coconut Authority
g. Bureau of Plant Industry
6. Department of Health
a. Bureau of Food and Drugs
b. Phil. Medical Care Commission
c. Dangerous Drugs Board
d. Bureau of Research and Laboratories
e. Bureau of Licensing and Regulation
10. Others
a. Professional Regulatory Commission
b. Security and Exchange Commission
c. Social Security Commission
d. Central Bank
e. Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
f. National Bureau of Investigation
g. National Land Titles and Deeds Authority
h. Register of Deeds
2. Commission on Elections
- The COMELEC has not published its decisions
3. Civil Service Commission
- Civil Service Board of Appeals have been published by author Rivera
- annually
4. Commission on Audit
- COA Regulations and Jurisprudence – 1998 by JV Go published by Central
Book Supply
- COA Decisions Digest (1994-2000) by Reynaldo Montalbo
5. National Labor Relations Commission
- Has not published its decisions
6. Insurance Commission
- Has not published its decision
7. Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
- Human Settlements Regulatory Commission Legal Digest, 1981, 3 vols.
8. Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board
- Book entitled Jurisprudence on Agrarian Relations by Ibay, 1973
9. Securities and Exchange Commission
- SEC Decisions, 1977-1981, published by Legal Database Systems
- The decision making powers of the SEC were transferred to the regular courts
by virtue of the Securities Regulation Code, RA 8799
Chapter 6
LAW BOOKS OF SECONDARY AUTHORITY
Works which are not primary authority but which digest, discuss or analyze legal provisions, judicial
decisions or define and explain legal doctrines and terms are considered secondary materials.
These secondary sources can help analyze a problem and provide research references to both primary
sources and other secondary materials.
A. CASE DIGESTS – are compilations of paragraphs containing concise summaries of points in cases,
grouped under appropriate headings, the chief of which are alphabetically arranged. Each paragraph
in case digests is complete in itself when it has concisely and accurately stated the point decided with
reference to precise facts.
1. Philippine Digest – this publication of Lawyers Coop. was designed as a companion set to the
Philippine Reports. It has a general scheme of digesting cases and a system of numerous
references of such American counterparts as those of the Lawyer Reports Annotated, the
American Law Reports, and the United States Court Reports with modifications to suit Philippine
law.
2. Republic of the Philippines Digest – this publication also by the Lawyers Coop., dubbed
“Republic Digest” for short, starts from where the Philippine Digest leaves off, cover all decisions
of the Supreme Court from July 4, 1946 through September 1958, published and unpublished.
The set comprises Volumes 1 to 7 of digest paragraphs, classified under pertinent topics, and
Volume 8 devoted to an alphabetically arranged table of cases. Vols. 9-17 cover decisions from
1958 to 1966.
3. Velayo’s Digest – covers not only decisions of Supreme Court but also those of the Court of
Appeals. The main set of 25 vols. Covers the leading cases of the Supreme Court and the Court
of Appeals from 1942 to 1960
4. SCRA Quick-Index Digest – this publication by Central Lawbook Supply, Inc. has three
volumes. The first two volumes condenses Volumes 1 to 36 of SCRA, while the third volume
Rowena B. Gallego Reviewer
Source: Legal Research by Rufus Rodriguez Page 20 of 25
covers Volumes 37 to 61 also of SCRA up to 1974. Every year thereafter, yearly digests have
been coming out
5. Compendium of Philippine Jurisprudence – authored by Celso L. Magsino and published by
Rex Book Store, it has 12 volumes containing digests of decisions of the Supreme Court from
1945 to 1980
6. Other Digests – the other digests are:
a. Armando C. Castillo, Digest of Supreme Court Decisions, 9 vols. (1951-1964)
b. Napoleon Garcia, Complete Monthly Digest of Supreme Court Decisions
c. Navarrete, Digest-Index (of Supreme Court Decisions), for 1957 and 1959
d. Jurado, Leading Cases in Civil Law (Supreme Court), for 1958-1960
e. Daniel T. Martinez, Summary of Supreme Court Rulings, starting from 1986 following the
topic classification in the bar examination
f. Jesus M. Elbinias, Philippine Judicial Weekly
g. Supreme Committee, Supreme Court Digest
B. TREATISES AND TEXTBOOKS – expositions by legal writers on statutory law and case law
pertaining to a particular subject and published in book form.
C. BAR REVIEWERS – bar review materials are very helpful to fourth year law students and those
reviewing for the bar. They are also very important to legal researchers because they present a
concise presentation of the law, legal doctrines and leading Supreme Court decisions in capsulized
form. They are usually very current and include the latest SC decisions.
D. LEGAL PERIODICALS – the most serious and highly reputed legal periodical are the academic law
reviews are published by virtually all accredited law schools as training grounds for student editors.
They contain both articles by established scholars and student-written comments and case notes.
Both lead articles and comments are marked by extensive footnotes, making them useful research
tools.
In addition to general law reviews, there is an ever growing number of specialized academic journals,
focusing on topics from ecology to industrial relations. Most of these are student-edited, but a few
specialized scholarly journals, such as the American Journal of Legal History and the Journal of Legal
History and the Journal of Legal Studies, are edited by faculty.
Leading Law Journal in the Philippines – Philippine Law Journal of the UP College of Law which
has been in existence since 1910. It is distinguished by its scholarly articles, reviews and
commentaries. It is exchanged with leading universities in the United States and Europe and its
articles by leading Filipino academicians and students of the College of Law are recorded in
bibliographic listings around the world.
Manila Times
Daily Mirror
Bulletin Today
Times Journal
Daily Express
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine Star
Business Day
E. LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIA – while a textbook deals with one subject or phrase of a subject of the law,
encyclopedia treats of all subjects. It is a comprehensive treatise of the entire field of the law. This
whole field of the law is divided into topics arranged in alphabetical order. It presents in concise form,
brief but comprehensive statements of the current law upon said topics.
A legal encyclopedia as distinguished from law dictionaries is a subject-book which presents to the
user the means of making his own definitions. It deals with a whole field of law as distinguished from
treatise which treats of a portion of the subject. It gives a literary statement of the law as distinguished
from digests which presents isolated summaries of points of law.
Cyclopedia of Philippine Law – first attempt to publish a legal encyclopedia in the Philippines,
to be authored by Alvir & Associates. However, only the first volume containing a textual
treatment of the law from A to C was publish.
Encyclopedia of Philippine Law and Jurisprudence (Pedro Venida) – only its first volume had
been published
The Philippine Legal Encyclopedia – Jose Agaton R. Sibal; published by Central Law Book
Publishing Co.
F. LAW DICTIONARIES – are useful for identifying the definitions of words in their legal sense or use.
For each word or phrase, a short definition is given. Some also provide a citation to a court case or
other reference having the source of the word or phrase.
Philippine Law Dictionary – Federico B. Moreno, 1972; it defined legal terms and phrases that,
as part of our law and jurisprudence, was necessary to a law practitioner. Those definitions are
related to Philippine codes or statues and/or the authoritative court decisions where they may be
found by citation to specific provisions of law or to reported cases.
Chapter 7
SEARCH MATERIALS AND FINDING TOOLS
There have been a large volume of statutory law and case law that have been churned out by our
legislative mill and judicial branch of government since 1900 and the legal researcher needs some means
of subject access into this large body of law. The effective operation of the doctrine of precedent requires
that prior decisions be easily available. Without a topical approach to legal sources, researchers could not
find existing decisions or statues on point.
We therefore need search materials and finding tools for legal research. The purpose of these materials
and tools is not to persuade, nor do they themselves have any primary or persuasive authority. They are
only means for locating primary sources. It is then necessary to read those primary sources to determine
their applicability to a particular situation. In legal research, as in other sense of relevance – a keen
appreciation of which sources are legally and factually relevant to the specific inquiry.
A. CITATORS – supply references to decisions in which other cases have been cited, reviewed,
affirmed, reversed, overruled, criticized or commented upon, and to cases in which statutes have
been construed, and to statutes in which prior acts have been amended, renewed or repealed.
Philippine Citations – first citator published in the Philippines; Dizon (1937); 2 volumes which
contain complete citations found in Vols. 2 to 64 of the Philippine Reports and in the Official
Gazette to April 1947 (including occupation issues) of the decisions of the Supreme Court and the
Court of Appeals as well as of Philippine laws, including Royal Decrees and Orders, Ordinances
of the City of Manila, and other matters.
This citatory provides the researcher with knowledge at a glance whether a given reported
Philippine decision has been overruled, criticized, limited in its application, distinguished or
followed in subsequent reported decisions. Likewise, by consulting the citations to codes and
statutes, the researcher will have before him all reported Philippine decisions wherein a particular
Philippine statute has been cited, invoked, applied, construed or discussed.
Philippine Citations – next citatory publish in the Philippines in 1964 by Paras; 2 vols., Volume 1
deals with citations covering Vols. 1 to 82 of the Philippine Reports and issues of the Official
Gazette from 1942 to 1962. Volume 2 contains code citations, statute citations, and citations of
administrative rules as well as Spanish laws applied to the Philippines.
B. INDEXES – usually means a subject-index which is like the index found in textbooks, statutes, etc. A
subject index is an alphabetically arranged topical words in which, by means of references under
each topic, materials relating to these topics expressed in appropriate words is digested.