Up to 37:00

That is an internal rule.

How about a conflicts rule?

Article 16 of the NCC. (Lex Situs)

2 kinds of conflicts rules

1. One sided rule;

2. All-sided/multilateral rule

One – sided rule indicates where PH law will apply. E.g. a. ART 15 NCC (Nationality theory/ Lex
Nationalii)/national law of the person)

b. ART 818 NCC Prohibition against Joint wills.

The above provisions of laws, apply only to Filipinos.

ALL sided/multilateral rule – This indicates whether to apply the local law or the proper foreign law.

e.g. a. ART 16 1st Para NCC (Lex situs)

b. Art 17 1st Ppara NCC Forms and solemnities of contracts… (Lex Celebrationis – the law where the
contract, wills, and opther public instruments are executed)

The above provisions tells us when to apply the PH law or the proper foreign law.

In the first (art 16) example, PH law shall apply if the property is found in the PH. If it is found in a
foreign country, you apply the said foreign law, because of lex situs.

In the second example, if the contract was executed in the PH, its forms and solemnities is governed by
the PH law, if it is executed in the foreign country , then such foreign law shall apply.

However, while Art 15 NCC, literally applies to only Filipinos and it is actually a one-sided rule, the SC has
given it a multilateral application in that it has held that foreigners either status and legal capacity are
governed by their national law. In other words, the nationality theory embodied in ART 15 NCC, has
been applied by the SC even to persons who are citizens of countries following the domiciliary theory
like Americas.

Parts of every conflicts rule

Unlike a purely internal rule which governs a purely domestic problem without a foreign element, a
conflicts rule which indicates whether to apply a internal law or the foreign law, has 2 parts, which are
readily recognizable:

1. The factual situation or the set of facts or situation presenting a conflicts problem because there
is a foreign element involved, and the point of contact or connecting factor which is the law of
the country with which the factual situation is most intimately connected. In other words, the
first part states certain operative acts, the legal consequences of which are determined in the
second part.
 E.g. ART 1763 NCC transportation. (The flag of the ship) The law of the country to which the
goods are traported shall govern the liability of the common carrier for the loss, destruction, or
deterioration. In this provision, we have picture of a cargo ship travelling on the high seas but
for some reasons or another, the cargo or part of it is lost, destroyed, or deteriorates during the
voyage. So what law is to be applied to determine the liability of the ship? The law of the
country to which the lost cargoes are to be transported or the law of destination, not the law of
the country where the lost cargoes were loaded or the place of embarkation.

E.g. Art 1039 NCC. Providing the capacity to succeed is governed by the law of the nation of the
decedent. (Lex Nationalii)

We get a picture of a person who dies but whose heirs may be citizens of another country. What
law should apply to determine who will succeed the deceased? The law says it is the law of the
country of which the deceased was a citizen, and not of the law of the citizenship of his/her
heirs.

Characterization of conflicts rules (in determining what to apply)

AKA classification/qualification – which is the process of assigning a certain set of facts or factual
situation to its proper or correct legal category.

Every rule of law is based on situations of fact, actual, or imagined, since the legislator must rtry
to solve factual situations that might arise in the future based on past observation and
experience.

These legal categories may be Family relations, contracts, torts, cession, property etc.

By characterizing the legal problem, the court or the parties involved, reach the proper solution,
whether to apply the local law or the proper foreign law.

What makes the problem of Characterization or Classification difficult?

The difficulty in characterization arises from the fact that a conflicts situation or problem maybe
characterized by the Lex Forii, differently from the characterization of Lex Cosci (the law of the State
with which the act or transaction is most closely connected).

The lex fori (the law of the forum) Might regard the problem as tort, while the lex sosci regard it as
contract… or the lex forii may regard the problem as crime, while the lex cosci considers it only as tort.

Which characterization should apply? Most prove that on the grounds of practical necessity and
convenience, it is the forum or the lex forii that should determine the problems characterization, unless
the result would be a clear injustice.

For example the foreign law characterized the problem as a crime but in the PH, it is not recognized as a
crime, it is only a civil case. What will apply? THE LEX FORII.
..Unless it will result to injustice or if it is against our public policy

Gibbs v. Gov’t of the Philippine Islands

The SC applied the Solution in the following case:

A Californian wife dies. Her Californian husband claims the properties acquired by the spouses during
their marriage. As his alone by accretion. Following Californian law on the Property relations of Sps.

But under PH law however, this issue: the issue in this case was characterized as problem in succession.
So that inheritance taxes should be paid by the husband as the lands in question were located in the PH.

The SC held that the properties inherited by the husband were subject to inheritance taxes, categorizing
the problem as one of Succession.

------

Suppose the problem of characterization involves a determination as to whether the matter pertains to
substance or to procedural law. If it is a procedural law problem, we apply the Lex Fori; if it is a
substantive law problem, it depends.

There is no question that all procedural matters are governed by the lex forii. Thus, matters of service of
summons, joinder of cause of action, appeal, etc. are governed by the law of the forum. But as we said
in one case, (Prescription) it is a sui generis. It is neither procedural nor substantial, and it depends again
kung unsa siya. It depends if the modern trend is to consider prescriptive periods or the the Statute of
frauds that the parties had in mind at the time of the transaction took place. Then proceed to apply the
intended law in its totality including the periods of prescription.

E.g. If the Subj. matter, its property located in the PH, in which case the PH law being the lex Situs
applies.

If an Englishman borrowed money from B, another Englishman in England evidenced by a PN, let as
assume that under English law the period to sure on the PN is 4 years. In the PH the period is 10 year, so
if the action is filed in the PH beyond 4 years from the issuance of the note, but within 10 years should
we hold the action as prescribed? YES. Because English law was evidently intended by the parties to
govern their transaction.

(3rd) RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGEMENTS

General rule

Foreign Judgements are effective only in the court of the place in where it was rendered.

Exception

However, Some decision of the SC allow the effectivity of foreign judgements here.

2 ways we give effect of foreign judgement

1. Recognition; and
2. Foreign Judgement.

Reasons

Are basically the same as recognition by the forum of the proper foreign law. The exceptions to the
application of the proper foreign law or comity are also applicable to foreign judgements.

Difference between recognition and enforecement

a. Enforcement means that the plaintiff or petitioner wants the court to positively carry out and
make effective the foreign judgement, while recognition means that the defendant or
respondent is presenting the foreign judgement merely as a defense on the basis of res judicata;
b. Enforcement implies an act of Sovereignty, while recognition involves merely a sense of justice;
c. Enforcement requires a separate action or proceeding brought precisely to make the foreign
judgement effective, while recognition being a matter of defense needs no action or proceeding
but implies that an action or proceeding has already been filed against the defendant who is
invoking the foreign judgementl; and
d. Enforcement cannot exist without recognition, while recognition does not require enforcement.