Introduction to Law
rewards and punishment in the present life
Meaning of law in general
The term law means any rule of action or any
system of uniformity.
-Law in general determines not only the
activities of men as rational beings but also the
movements of all objects of creation, whether
animate or inanimate.
General Division of Law
- Law (in the strict legal sense)- which is
promulgated and enforced by the state.
-State Law
- Law (in the non-legal sense)- which is not
promulgated and enforced by the state.
-Divine Law, Natural Law, Moral Law,
Physical Law.
Subjects of Law
Definition of law as a rule of action, apply to
men as rational being.
• State law
• divine law
• natural law
• moral law
Operates all things, including men, without
regard to the latter’s use of their will power and
intelligence.
- Physical law
Divine Law
- law of religion and faith.
- Concerns itself with the concept of sin
- Source: promulgated by God and revealed
or divulged mankind by means of direct
revelation.
- Old Testament: embodied in the Ten
Commandments. Laws are formally given by
God.
- Differs to what one believes to have been
established and communicated to mankind
by revelation.
- Sanction: lies in the assurance of certain
or in the life to come.
Natural Law
- defined as the divine inspiration in man of
the sense of justice, fairness, and
righteousness by internal dictates of reason
alone.
- Binding Force- ever present and binding on
all men everywhere and at all times.
- Basic understanding of what is right and
what is wrong.
- Criterion of good and evil.
- Compared to divine law:
Divine law is made known to man by
means of direct revelation.
Natural law is said to be impressed in
man as the core of his higher self at the
very moment of being or, perhaps, even
before that.
- Place in state law- regarded as
reasonable basis in state law.
Moral law
- Totality of norms of good and right
conduct growing out of the collective
sense of right and wrong of every
community.
- Determination of what is right and
wrong- it was good for the welfare of
the group that the privilege to
determine what is right and what is
wrong was not left to each member.
- Mores-ways of life- always considered
right and correct.
- Sanction- no definite legal sanction for
violation of purely moral law. Disregard
of moral norms will produce in the form
of public displeasure, contempt, or
indignation.
- Binding force – not absolute. Varies
with changing times.
- Place in state law - it influences or
shapes state law.
Physical Law
- In the operation or course of nature, there
are uniformities of actions and orders of
sequence which are the physical
phenomena that we sense and feel.
- Known as the laws of physical science or
physical law.
- Order or regularity in nature- a law of
physical science.
- Called law only by analogy
State Law
- The kind of law particularly concerns us in
this work is the state law.
- Law promulgated and enforced by states
- Other terms used: Positive law, municipal
law, civil law, or imperative law.
- Binding force: it is enforced by state with
the aid of its physical force, if necessary.
- Concern of state law- Does not concern
itself with violations of the latter rules of
action unless they also constitute violations
of its command. It properly belongs to the
fields of philosophical theology.
Concept of (state) law.
General Sense
- The term refers to all laws taken together.
- The Mass of Obligatory rules established for
the purpose of governing the relations of
persons in society.
- Sample: Law of the land
Specific sense
- The term has been defined as a rule of
conduct, just, obligatory, promulgated by
legitimate authority, and common
observance and benefit.
Characteristics of law
It is a rule of conduct
- Law tells us what shall be done and what
shall not be done.
It is obligatory
- Law is considered a positive command
imposing a duty to obey and involving a
sanction which forces obedience
It is promulgated by legitimate authority
- The legitimate or competent authority is
the legislature.
- Statutes: under the Constitution, laws are
enacted by Congress which is the name of
the legislative branch of our government.
It is of common observance and benefit
- Law is intended by man to serve man
- It regulates to maintain harmony in society
and to make order and co-existence
possible
- Observed by all and benefit by all
Sources of law
1. Constitution
- Written instrument by which the
fundamental powers of the government are
established, limited, and defined, and by
which these powers are distributed among
the several departments for their safe and
useful exercise for the benefit of the
people.
- Fundamental law or supreme law or
highest law of the land because it is
promulgated by the people themselves
- binding on all individual citizens and all
agencies of the government.
2. Legislation
- consists in the declaration of legal rules by a
competent authority.
- Enacted law or statute law acts passed by
the legislature.
3. Administrative or Executive orders
- Under legislative authority.
- Intended to clarify or explain the law and
carry into effects its general provisions.
- Valid only when they are not contrary to the
laws and constitutions.
4. Judicial decisions or jurisprudence
- The decisions of the courts, particularly the
Supreme Court, applying or interpreting the
laws or the Constitution from part of the
legal system of the Philippines.
- The doctrine of precedent or state decisis
5. Custom
- Consists of those habits and practices which
through long and uninterrupted usage have
become acknowledge and approved by the
society.
- Binding rules of conduct
Special Knowledge to remember:
Legislative-they make laws
Executive - they implement the laws
Judiciary- they question the law
Organizations of courts
Regular courts
- Philippine judicial system consists of
hierarchy of courts, resembling pyramid
with the Supreme court at the apex.
- Court of Appeals, Regional Trial Courts,
Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial
Courts, Municipal Circuit Trial Courts.
- Circuit courts exercise jurisdiction over two
or more cities and/or municipalities.
Special Courts
- Special anti-graft court (under the
constitution) the Sandiganbayan
- Part of the judicial hierarchy together with
the Court Tax Appeals.
Quasi-judicial agencies
- Administrative bodies under the executive
branch performing quasi-judicial functions.
- Quasi-judicial- involve the settlement or
adjudication of controversies or disputes.
Classifications of law
1. As to its purpose
a. Substantive law
b. Adjective law
2. As to its subject matter:
a. Public Law
b. Private Law
Substantive Law
- The portion of the body of law creating,
defining, and regulating rights and duties
which may be either public or private in
character.
- Example: Law on Obligations and Contracts
Adjective Law
- The portion of the body of law prescribing
the manner or procedure by which rights
may be enforced or the violations
redressed.
- Remedial Law
- Governed by the Rules of Court
promulgated by the Supreme Court and by
special laws
Public Law
- Body of legal rules which regulates the
rights and duties arising from the
relationship of the state to the people
- Example:
- Criminal Law – which defines crimes and
provides for their punishment.
- International Law- the law which governs
the relations between the state and its
citizens.
Private Law
- The body of rules which regulates the
relations of individuals with one another for
purely private ends.
- Obligations and contracts- under the
private law because it deals with the right
and obligation of the contracting parties
only.
- Other Private Law: Civil law, commercial or
mercantile law, and civil procedure (branch
of private law which provides for the means
by which private rights may be enforced)

Law on obligations and contracts

- Is the body of rules which deals with the
nature and sources of obligations and the
rights and duties arising from agreements
and the particular contracts.

Upper – senate
Lower - representatives and congressmen
- they undergo three readings, create an
output of the senate when making a law -if
there is an inconsistency regarding the law,
bicameral session happens (debate to which
provision will be included in law) -after that,
another voting happens and lastly the
signing of the president

Vito
- A term which means disapproval of the
president -however, if 2/3 from the
majority approves the law, then the
president cannot disagree.