I

NTRODUCTI
ONTOLAW

THEGENERALNATUREOFLAW

Meani
ngofl
awi
ngener
al.

Ini
tswidestandmostcompr
ehensi
vesense,
thet
erml
awmeansanyr
uleofact
ionorany
sy
stem ofuni
for
mity.

Thus,l
aw,i
ngener
al,
det
erminesnotonl
ytheacti
vi
ti
esofmenasrat
ional
bei
ngsbutal
so
t
hemovement
sormoti
onsofall
object
sofcreat
ion,
whetherani
mat
eorinani
mat
e.

Gener
aldi
vi
sionsofl
aw.

Law,
asabov
edef
ined,
maybedi
vi
dedi
ntot
wo(
2)gener
al

gr
oups:

(
1)Law(
int
hest
ri
ctl
egal
sense)whi
chi
spr
omul
gat
ed

andenf
orcedbyt
hest
ate;
and

(
2)Law(
int
he'
non-
legal
sense)whi
chi
snotpr
omul
gat
ed

andenf
orcedbyt
hest
ate.

Thefir
stref
erstowhati
sknownast hestat
elawwhil
ethesecondincl
udesdiv
inel
aw,
nat
ural
law,morall
aw,andphy
sical
law.(seeM.J.Gamboa,I
ntr
oduct
iontoPhil
i
ppineLaw,
6th
ed.
,p.

3.
)Subj
ect
sofl
aw.

Statelaw,div
inelaw,nat
ural
law, andmoral l
awarecomprisedinthedefi
nit
ionoflawasa
rul
eofact i
on.Theyappl ytomenasr ati
onalbeingsonly
.Ontheotherhand,physicall
aw
operatesonal l
things,i
ncl
udi
ngmen, wit
houtregardtothel
att
er'
suseoftheirwillpowerand
i
ntell
igence.Iti
scalledlawonl
yfigur
at i
vel
yspeaking.

Page1

THELAW ONOBLI
GATI
ON

Bef
orepr
oceedi
ngwit
hthedi
scussi
onofst
atel
awf
ir
stdi
sposeoft
hosel
awsWi
thwhi
cht
he
st
atei
snotci
fconcer
ned.

Di
vi
nel
aw.

Di
vi
nel
awi
sthel
awofr
eli
gionandf
ait
hwhi
chcoi
tsel
fwi
tht
heconceptofsi
n(ascont
rast
ed
wi
thcr
ime)-
TIASki
arsal
vat
ion.meansofdi
rectr
evel
ati
on.pr
omul
gat
edbyGodai
d

(
1)Sour
ce.—I
tisf
ormal
l
ypr
eveal
edordi
vul
gedt
omanki
ndby,
ort
s

(a)UndertheOl dTest ament

,di
vinelawi sembodiedintheTenCommandment s.I
tisbel
i
eved
byChrist
iansthattheselawsweref ormallygi
venbyGodt hroughMoses,
thegr
eatHebrew
prophetandleader.(seeC.Pascual
, LegalMethod,2nded.,
pp.7-8.
)

(b)Ofcourse,di
vinel
awdi
ff
ersaccor
dingtowhatonebel
i
evest
ohavebeenest
abli
shedand
communi catedt
omankindbyrev
elat
ion.Thus,
tot
heMohammedans,di
vi
nelawisembodiedi
n
theMusli
m Quor an

.(2)Sanct
ion.—Thesanctionofdi
vinelawli
esi
ntheassuranceofcer
tai
nrewardsand
punishmentsint
hepresentli
feori
nt heli
fet
ocome.(
Clark,El
ementar
yLaw,p.5.)

Nat
ural
law

.Natural
lawmayt henbedefi
nedasthedivi
neinspi
rati
oninmanoft
hesenseofjust
ice,
fai
rness,andri
ghteousness,
notdi
ctatesofr
easonalone.pbydi
vi
nerev
elati
onorfor
mal
romulgat
ion,butbyinter
nalwrobi
ndingonallmenev er
ywher
eandatal
lti
mes.Thereisi
nev
er

(
1)Bindingforce.—Nat ur
all
awisev erparsiesecenoanandmanabasi cunderstandingof
r
ightand,understandingofthefundamental st
andardorngbasedofnyandev i
l
.Inot herwords,
t
herearesomeact sorcondutgoodmanknowsi nhishear
tandhi
sConscience,notbyt i
,c
Whichbutbyt hedictatesofhi
smor alnature,aresimpl
ygoodorbadorevi
l.

PAGE2

I
NTRODUCTI
ONTOLAW

thusweknowt hatkil
l
ingforthesakeofki lli
ngorst eal
i
ngt orthei
sbadorev ilbecauseiti
s
contrar
ytolvl
iatwcbel i
eveisjust,fairorr
ighteo-us.Whenwespeakoft hisinwardinsti
nctof
j
ustice,f
air
nessandr ight
eousnessi nmanasdi v
inelyi
n,vi
redbythedi
ctatesofhishigher
nature,
wear etalki
ngaboutnat urallawort helawofnat ur
e.(seeC.Pascual,TheNat ur
eand
ElementsoftheLaw, 1934ed. ,pp.9-10.)

(2)Compar edtodivi
nelaw.—Whi lenatur
allawanddivinecilawareverysimil
ar,t
heyar
e
not,however,thesame.Di v
inel
aw, ast hel
awofr el
igi
ousfait
h,icmadeknownt omanby
meansofdi rectrevel
ati
on.ontheot herhand,natur
all
awi ssai
dt obeimpressedinmanast he
coreofhishigherselfatthever
ymomentofbei ngor,
perhaps,evenbefor
et hat
.(seeC.
Pascual,LegalMethod,2nded.,p.111.)

(3)Pl
acei
nst
atel
aw.—Nat
ural
lawhasbeenr
egar
dedast
her
easonabl
ebasi
sofst
ate
l
aw.
Mor
all
aw.

Whenwetal
kofmorall
aw,
wear espeaki
ngofthetot
ali
tyoft
henormsofgoodandr
ight
conductgr
owi
ngoutoft
hecol
lect
ivesenseofr
ightandwrongofev
erycommunit
y

.(1)Det er
mi nat
ionofwhatisrightandwr ong.—"Atacomparati
vel
yearl
ystageoftheir
existencehumanbei ngsl
earnedthatitwasgoodf ort
hewelf
areofthegroupthatt
heprivi
l
ege
todet erminewhatisr i
ghtandwhatiswr ongwasnotleftt
oeachmemberoft hegroup.The
mar esorway sofli
fewerethenev ol
vedwhi chwereal
waysconsi
deredri
ghtandcorrect
,and
obedi encetothem wasdemandedbyt hegroup.
"

(2)Sanction.—Asdi sti
ngui shedfrom statelaw,thereisnodef i
nit
elegal
sanct i
on( punishment
i
mposedbyl awl i
keimprisonmentand/ orpay mentoff i
nesordamages)f orviolati
onofpur el
y
mor all
aw."ifamemberoft hecommuni tydisregardsthemor alnorms,aspontancol v,-
Ax i
al
reacti
onispr oducedi
nthef orm ofpubli
cdispleasure,contemptorev eni
ndignation.If,
ont he
otherhand,thereisconformi t
yt othemor alnorms, t
hereiscreatedspont
aneoussoci al
responsewhi chmaybei nt hef orm

PAGE3

THELAW ONLEGATI
ONSANDCONTRACTS

publ
icpl
easur
e,appr
ovalorevenj
oy.
".(
seeC.PAscuatofNat
ureandEl
ement
sofLaw,
1954ed.
,
p.16.
)Morall
awisnotabsolut
e.I
tv

(3)Bindingfor
ce.—withthechangi
ngti
mes, condi
ti
onsorconvi
ct i
onsofthepeopl
eFor
example, poly
gamyisconsider
edimmoral(
iti
sal soacri
tn131'
,i
nthePhili
ppi
nes,whereas,
iti
s
all
owed, i
nsomepar t
softheworl
d.Today
'sfashionsi
nwomen' sdressaresoci
all
yall
owedbut
atdiff
erenttimes,t
heywouldhavebeenmorall
yconderari
e.;

(
4)Pl
acei
nst
atel
aw.—Mor
all
aw,
toagr
eatext
ent
,inf
luencesorshapesst
atel
aw.

Phy
sical
law.

"I
ntheoper
ationorcourseofnat
ure,thereareuni
for
miti
esofact
ionsandorder
sofsequence'
whichar
ethephysicalPhenomenathatwesenseandf eel
.Theyareknownasthel
awsof
physi
cal
scienceorphysical
law.
"(I
bid.,p.19.
)

(1)Orderorregul
ari
tyinnatur
e.—Al awofphysicalsci
ence,bei
ngaddressedtoobj
ect
s
whi
chhav enopowert odisobey,
isinreali
tynot
hingmor ethananorderorregul
ari
tyi
nnat
ure
bywhichcert
ainresul
tsfoll
owcertai
ncauses.(Clar
k, El
ementar
yLaw, p.34.)

(2)Cal
ledl
awonl
ybyanalogy.—I
not
herwords,
thi
orderorr
egul
ari
tyi
scal
ledlawonl
ybysy
analogy"
Exampl
esofphy
sicall
awar
emany.Themoreconspi
cuusonesar
ethelawof
gravi
tat
ionandt
hel
awofchemi
cal
coombi
nat
ion.
"(seeC.Pascual
,Legal
Met
hod,
2nded.
,p.
13.)

St
atel
aw.

Thekindofl
aw,however,
whichParti
cul
arl
yconcer
nsusi
nthi
swor
kist
hest
atel
awort
hel
aw
thati
spromuienf
orcedbythest
ate.gat
edand

(
1)Ot hertermsused.—Thi slawisalsocal
ledposi
ti
veLawmuni cipal
law,ci
vil
law,or
i
mper ati
vel aw.I
tisthelawr ef
ert owhenwespeakoflawi nconnect
ionwithobl
igati
onsarlci
e
thatvv.'
A' cont
racts,
mar ri
age,theadminist
rat
ionofj
usti
ce,t
heconductofelect
ions,andthe
enti
regov ernmentalprocessit
self.

PAGE4

I
NTRODUCTI
ONTOLAW

(
2)Bi
ndingforce.—Asar ul
eofact
ion,
onl
yst
atel
awi
senf
orcedbyt
hest
ate,
wit
htheai
d
ofi
tsphy
sical
force,ifnecessar
y.

(3)Concer nofstat
el aw.—Thef i
eldsofst atel
awaredif-
ferentfrom t
hoseofdi vi
nel aw,
naturall
aw, andmor all
aw.St atelawdoesnotconcer ni
tsel
fwithv i
olati
onsoft helatt
err ulesof
acti
onunl esstheyalsoconst i
tuteviol
ationsofi t
scom-mands.Af ullexaminati
onofdi vinel aw
properl
ybel ongstothefieldsofphilosophicaltheol
ogy;
ofnaturallaw, t
omet aphysics;ofmor al
l
aw, toethics;andofphysi cal
law, t
ophy sical
scienceorphysi
cs.(M. J.Gamboa, op.cit.
,p.5. )

Leav
ingasi
det
heset
opi
cs,
wepr
oceednowwi
tht
heconsi
der
ati
onofst
atel
aw.

Concept
sof(
stat
e)l
aw.

Thetermlawmaybeunderstoodi
ntwo(
2)concept
s:i
nthegener
alorabst
ractsense,
andi
n
thespeci
fi
cormat
eri
alsense..

(
1)Ini t
sgener alsense,thetermr ef
erstoal
l t
helawst akentogether.I
tmaybedef i
nedas
"
themassofobl igatoryrulesestabli
shedforthepurposeofgov erni
ngt herelat
ionsofpersons
i
nsociety
."(seeA.Tol enti
no, Ci
vilCodeofthePhili
ppines,1953ed.,Vol.1,p.1.)Examplesof
t
heuseofl awint hissensear e:"
lawoft hel
and,""r
uleoflawandnotofmen, ""
equali
tybefor
e
t
helaw,""enfor
cementoft helaw,"etc.

(
2)Init
sspecif
icsense,t
heterm hasbeendef
inedas"
ar ul
eofconduct
,just
,obli
gat
ory
,
pr
omulgat
edbylegi
timateauthor
it
y,andofcommonobservanceandbenefi
t.
"(ISanchez
Roman

3.
)Ithasthi
ssecondconnotat
ionwhenwer
efert
oapar
ti
cul
arst
atut
eorl
egal
rul
e,e.
g.,
t
hel
awonobl i
gati
onsandcontr
acts.
Char
act
eri
sti
csofl
aw.

Thechar
act
eri
sti
csofl
aw(
ini
tsspeci
fi
csense)ar
e:

(
1)Iti
sarul
eofconduct.—Lawtel
lsuswhatshal
lbedoneandwhatshal
lnotbedone.Asa
r
uleofhumanconduct
,lawt
akescogni
zanceofext
ernal
act
sonly
;

PAGE5

LAW ONOBLI
GATI
ONSANDCONTRACT

(
2)iti
sobli
gator
y.—Lawi sconsi
der
edaposi
ti
v(0,
11mandi
mposi
ngadut
ytoobeyand
i
nvol
vingasanct
ionIIf
orcesobedi
ence;

(
3)Itispromul gatedbylegi
ti
mateauthori
ty..
...
..
.inademocr at i
ccountry
,li
kethe
Phili
ppi
nes, t
hel egit
imateorcompetentauthori
tyisthelegisl
ature.UndertheConsti
tut
ion,
laws
call
ed"statutes"areenactedbyCongresswhi chisthenameoft helegisl
ati
vebranchofour
government ;l
ocal governmentuni
tsareal
soempower edt oenactor di
nanceswhichhavethe
bindi
ngf orceofl aws;and

(4)I
tisofcommonobserv
anceandbenefi
t.—Lawisi
ntendedbymant oser
veman.It
regul
atestherel
ati
onsofmentomaint
ainhar
monyinsoci
etyandtomakeorderandco-
exist
encepossibl
e.Lawmust
,ther
efor
e,beobser
vedbyal
lfort
hebenef
itofa11.

Necessi
tyandf
unct
ionsofl
aw.

(
1)Whatwouldli
febewi t
houtlaw?Ifwecananswerthisquest
ion,
wecananswert
hemore
basi
cquesti
onofwhetherlawisnecessar
y.I
fli
fewi
thoutlawwouldbethesameasiti
snow,
obvi
ousl
ylawisnotnecessar
y.

Societycomesi ntoexistencebecauseit
smember scouldnotl
i
vewi t
houti
t.Theneedf
or
i
nternalorderi
sas const antast heneedforext
ernal
defense.Nosoci
etycanbestabl
ein
whicheitheroftheserequirementsfai
lstobeprovi
dedfor.(
seeF.Poll
ack,AFi
rstBookon
Juri
sprudence,-5thed.,
.p.6.)

(
2)Whatdoesl awdo?I thasbeensai dthatlawsecur esjusti
ce, r
esolvessocialconfli
ct,
orderssociet
y,protectsinterests,
control
ssoci alr
elations.Lifewithoutbasicl awsagainstthef
t,
vi
olence,anddest r
uctionwoul dbesol i
tary,-t
asty,
br uti
sh, andshort.Lifewithoutotherlaws
suchast hoseregulati
ngt raffi
csanitat
ion,empl oy
ment ,business,redressofhar m orofbroker
agreements,etc.—woul dbel essorderl
y,lesshealthful,l
esswhol esome, etc.(seeHowar dand
Summer s,Law, i
ts'Functions;andItsLimits,1965ed. ,pp.35- 37.
)

(
3)Whati
sourdut
yasmember
sofsoci
ety
?Nosoci
etycanl
astandcont
inuewi
thout
means0fsoci
alCont
rol
,Wi
thout

PAGE6

I
NTRODUCTI
ONTOLAW

rul
esofsocialorderbindingonitsmember s.Thesum ofsuchrul
esexsit
inginagi
vensoci
ety
,
underwhateverpart
icularforms,i
swhat,i
ncommonspeech, weunderst
andbylaworisal
so
ref
err
edt oasthelegalsy st
em.Sincewefindlawnocc,
arv,ever
ycit
izenshoul
dhavesome
underst
andingoflawandobser v
eitfort
hecommongood.

Sour
cesofl
aw.

Theprinci
palsourcesofl
awi nt
hePhili
ppinesar
etheConst
it
uti
on,
legi
slat
ion,
admi
nist
rat
ive
r
ulesandregulat
ions,j
udi
cial
deci
sions,andcust
oms.

(
1)Const i
tuti
on.—Wi thpart
icularrefer
encetotheConstit
uti
onofthePhi
li
ppines,i
tmaybe
defi
nedasi nstrumentbywhicht hef undament
al powersofthegover
nmentareestabli
shed,
l
imited,anddef i
ned,andbywhi cht hesepowersarcdist
ri
butedamongtheseveraldepart
ments
forthei
rsaf eandusefulexer
cisef orthebenef
itofthepeople.
"(seeMal
col
m &Laur el
,Phil
.
Constit
utionalLaw,1936ed.,p.6.)

iti
sof t
enref
err
edt oasthefundament allaworsupr emelaworhi ghestlawoft heland
becauseiti
spromulgatedbyt
hepeopl ethemselves,bindi
ngonal li
ndivi
dual ci
ti
zensandall
agenciesoft
hegovernment.I
ti sthelawt owhichallotherl
awsenact edbyt helegisl
atur
e(as
wellasadmini
str
ati
veorexecut i
veacts,ordersandr egul
ati
onshav i
ngthef orceoflaw)must
confor
m.Thismeanst hatl
awswhi charedeclaredbyt hecourtstobeinconsistentwit
hthe
Consti
tuti
onshal
lbev oi
dandt helatt
ershal l
govern.(seeArt.7,Ci
vil
Code. )

(
2)Legi
slati
on.—I tconsistsinthedecl
arati
onofl egal
rulesbyacompet entaut
hori
ty.
(Sal
mond, Jur
isprudence,9thed.,p.209.
)Iti
st hepreponderantsour
ceoflawi nt
hePhili
ppines.
Actspassedbyt helegi
slatureareso-cal
l
edt enactedMt)orstatutel
aze.Legi
slat
ioni
ncludes
ordi
nancesenact edbylocal.governmentsunits.

(3)Admini
str
ati
veorexecut
iveorders,
regul
ati
on,andr
uli
ng.-Theyar
ethoseissuedby
admini
str
ati
veoffi
cial
sunderl
egisl
ati
veauthor
it
y.Admini
str
ati
verul
esandregul
ati
ons

PAGE7