OBLIGATION AND CONTRACTS

2ND SEMESTER

ASSIGNMENT:
DIFFERENTIATE CIVIL LAW FROM MORAL LAW, NATURAL LAW AND OTHER FORMS OF LAW.
 Unlike other subjects of law, civil law uses codes and avoids excessive details so that it will
be accessible to the citizen while still leaving room for some changes. However, other
subjects of law only exist within one’s self. It is based on their understanding of life. On the
other hand, all of these subjects of law talk about human understandings of good, bad, and
evil.

 CIVIL LAW

o A comprehensive system of rules and principles usually arranged in codes

and easily accessible to citizens and jurists. A well-organized system that
favors cooperation, order, and predictability, based on a logical and dynamic
taxonomy developed from Roman law and reflected in the structure of the
codes. An adaptable system, with civil codes avoiding excessive detail and
containing general clauses that permit adaptation to change. A primarily
legislative system, yet leaving room for the judiciary to adjust rules to social
change and new needs, by way of interpretation and creative jurisprudence.
 DIVINE LAW
o It is the law of religion and faith which concern itself with the concept of sin
(as contrasted with crime) and salvation.
o Source. It is formally promulgated by God and revealed or divulged to
mankind by means of direct revelation.
 Under the Old Testament, divine law is embodied in the ten
Commandments. It is believed by Christians that these laws were
formally given by God through Moses, the great Hebrew prophet and
leader.
 Of course, divine law differs to what one believes to have been
established and communicated to mankind by revelation. Thus to the
Mohammedans, divine law is embodied in the Muslim Quoran.
o Sanction. The sanction of divine law lies in the assurance of certain rewards
and punishments in the present life or in the life to come.

 NATURAL LAW
o It may then be defined as the divine inspiration in man of the sense of justice,
fairness, and righteousness, not by divine revelation or formal promulgation,
but by internal dictates of reason alone.
o Binding force. Natural law is ever present and binding all men everywhere
and at all times. There is in every man a basic understanding of right and
wrong based on an understanding of the fundamental standard or criterion
of good and evil. In other words, there are some acts or conducts which man
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knows in his heart and his conscience, not by theorizing, but by the dictates
of his moral nature, are simply good or bad or evil.
o Thus, we know that killing for the sake of killing or stealing for the sake of
stealing is bad or evil because it is contrary to what we believe is just, fair or
righteous. When we speak of this inward instinct of justice, fairness and
righteousness in man as divinely inspired by the dictates of his higher nature,
we are talking about natural law or the law of nature. (see C. Pascual, The
Nature and Elements of the Law, 1954 ed., pp. 9-10.)
o Compared to divine law. While natural law and divine law are very similar,
they are not, however, the same. Divine law, as the law of religious faith, is
made known to man by means of direct revelation. On the other hand,
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. (see C. Pascual, Legal
Method, 2nd ed., p. 111.)
o Place in state law. - Natural law has been regarded as the reasonable basis of
state law.

 MORAL LAW
o When we talk of moral law, we are speaking of the totality of the norms of
good and right conduct growing out of the collective sense of right and wrong
of every community.
o Determination of what is right and wrong. "At a comparatively early stage of
their existence human beings learned that 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 of the group. The mores or ways of life were then
evolved which were always considered right and correct, and obedience to
them was demanded by the group."
o Sanction. As distinguished from state law, there 1 is no definite legal sanction
(punishment imposed by law like imprisonment and/or payment of fines or
damages) for violation of purely moral law. "If a member of the community
disregards the moral norms, a spontaneous social reaction is produced in the
form of public displeasure, contempt or even indignation. If, on the other
hand, there is conformity to the moral norms, there is created spontaneous
social response which may be in the form of public pleasure, approval or
even joy." (see C. Pascual, The Nature and Elements of Law, 1954 ed., p. 16.)
o Binding force. Moral law is not absolute. It varies with the changing times,
conditions or convictions of the people For example, polygamy is considered
immoral (it is also a crime) in the Philippines, whereas, it is allowed in some
parts of the world. Today's fashions in women's dress are socially allowed but
at different times, they would have been morally condemned.
o Place in state law. influences or shapes state law. Moral law, to a great
extent, influences or shapes state law.
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 PHYSICAL LAW
o "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. They are known as the laws of physical science or physical law." (Ibid., p.
19.)
o Order or regularity in nature. A law of physical science, being addressed to
objects which have no power to disobey, is in reality nothing more than an
order or regularity in nature by which certain results follow certain causes.
(Clark, Elementary Law, p. 34.)
o Called law only by analogy. In other words, this order or regularity is called
law only by analogy. "Examples of physical law are many. The more
conspicuous ones are the law of gravitation and the law of chemical
combination." (see C. Pascual, Legal Method, 2nd ed., p. 13.)

 STATE LAW
o The kind of law, however, which particularly concerns us in this work is the
state law or the law that is promulgated and enforced by the state.
o Other terms used. This law is also called positive law, municipal law, civil law,
or imperative law. It is the law that we refer to when we speak of law in
connection with obligations and contracts, marriage, the administration of
justice, the conduct of elections, and the entire governmental process itself.
o Binding force. As a rule of action, only state law is enforced by the state, with
the aid of its physical force, if necessary.
o Concern of state law. The fields of state law are different from those of divine
law, natural law, and moral law. State law does not concern itself with
violations of the latter rules of action unless they also constitute violations of
its com- mands. A full examination of divine law properly belongs to the fields
of philosophical theology; of natural law, to metaphysics; of moral law, to
ethics; and of physical law, to physical science or physics. (M.J. Gamboa, op.
cit., p. 5.)
o Leaving aside these topics, we proceed now with the consideration of state
law

SOURCES OF OBLIGATION

 An obligation imposed on a person and the corresponding right granted to another

must be rooted in at least any of the following sources:
1. Law. — when they are imposed by the law itself, e.g., obligation to pay taxes;
obligation to support one’s family (see Art. 195, Family Code.);
2. Contracts. — when they arise from the stipulation of the parties (Art. 1306.),
e.g., the obligation to repay a loan by virtue of an agreement;
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2ND SEMESTER

3. Quasi-contracts. — when they arise from lawful, voluntary and unilateral

acts and which are enforceable to the end that no one shall be unjustly
enriched or benefi ted at the expense of another (Art. 2142.), e.g., the
obligation to return money paid by mistake or which is not due. (Art. 2154.)
In a sense, these obligations may be considered as arising from law; Art.
4. Crimes or acts or omissions punished by law. — when they arise from civil
liability which is the consequence of a criminal offense (Art. 1161.), e.g., the
obligation of a thief to return the car stolen by him; the duty of a killer to
indemnify the heirs of his victim; and
5. Quasi-delicts or torts. — when they arise from damage caused to another
through an act or omission, there being fault or negligence, but no
contractual relation exists between the parties (Art. 2176.), e.g., the
obligation of the head of a family that lives in a building or a part thereof to
answer for damages caused by things thrown or falling from the same (Art.
2193.); the obligation of the possessor of an animal to pay for the damage
which it may have caused. (Art. 2183.) The enumeration by the law is
exclusive; hence, there is no obligation as defined in Article 1156, if its source
is not any of those enumerated.