Article 36.

Prejudicial Questions: Prejudicial question is understood in law to be that which must precede the criminal
action, that which requires a decision before a final judgment is rendered in the principal action with which
said question is closely connected.

Elements:

○ The elements of a prejudicial question are: (a) the previously instituted civil action
involves an issue similar or intimately related to the issue raised in the subsequent
criminal action, and (b) the resolution of such issue determines whether or not the
criminal action may proceed. (Section 7, Rule 111 of the 2000 Rules of Criminal
Procedure) The following requisites must be present for a civil action to be considered
prejudicial to a criminal case as to cause the suspension of the criminal proceedings until
the final resolution of the civil case: (1) the civil case involves facts intimately related to
those upon which the criminal prosecution would be based; (2) in the resolution of the
issue or issues raised in the civil action, the guilt or innocence of the accused would
necessarily be determined; and (3) jurisdiction to try said question must be lodged in
another tribunal. (G.R. No. 186597, June 17, 2015)
■ For a civil case to be considered prejudicial to a criminal action as to cause the
suspension of the latter pending the final determination of the former, it must
appear not only that the civil case involves the same facts upon which the
criminal prosecution would be based, but also that in the resolution of the issues
raised in said civil action, the guilt or innocence of the accused would necessarily
be determined. (Mendiola, et al. v. Macadaeg, et al., L-16874, Feb. 27, 1961)

PERSONS: CIVIL PERSONALITY

Defined: Civil personality defines the distinction between natural and juridical persons, as well as the
difference between juridical capacity and capacity to act. Effect and Application of Laws. Human relations.
Civil Personality.

Article 37:

Juridical capacity, which is the fitness to be the subject of legal relations, is inherent in every natural
person and is lost only through death.

The capacity to act, which is the power to do acts with legal effect, is acquired and may be lost.

2 component elements of capacity:

1. Juridical capacity

There are no degrees of juridical capacity. Juridical capacity is the same in every person. No one has
more juridical capacity than others. It is inherent in natural persons. On the other hand, it arises in artificial
persons when such artificial persons are created.

2. Capacity to act
Nobody has 100% capacity to act. The law imposes restrictions on capacity to act. As long as one has
contractual capacity (a.k.a. full civil capacity) one is near 100% capacity to act. ―Full civil capacity is not
really 100% but close to it. With contractual capacity, one is generally able to perform contracts and
dispose of property.

Nobody has 0% capacity to act. Infants are close to 0% but still have capacity to act.

For example, even fetus has the right to succeed and also have the right to the integrity of body. Aliens
cannot own colleges or broadcast media.

Juridical capacity, which is the fitness to be the subject of legal relations, cannot be restricted except by
death. This means that every person has juridical capacity which is lost only through death.

● Juridical capacity is the fitness to be the subject of legal relations; it is inherent in every natural
person. Capacity to act is the power to do acts with legal effect; it may be acquired and it may
also be lost; it is acquired upon the attainment of the age of majority.
● A person is a physical or legal being susceptible of rights and obligations or of being the subject
of legal relations.
● A right is the power which a person has to demand from another a prestation or the power to do
or not to do, or to demand something. On the other hand, an obligation is the juridical necessity to
give, to do or not to do. From the viewpoint of another wielding a right, the debtor or obligor's
obligation is the very reason the right exists in the first place; from the viewpoint of another
shouldering an obligation, the creditor or obligee's right is the very reason why the obligation has
to be performed, paid, fulfilled or accomplished.
● Juridical capacity is an inherent and ineffaceable attribute of man; it attaches to him by the mere
fact of his being a man and is lost only through death. Capacity to act, on the other hand, is
acquired and may be lost. The former can exist without the latter, but the existence of the latter
always implies that of the former. The union of these two is the full civil capacity.

Other meaning: In law, a legal person is any person that can do the things an everyday person can
usually do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason
for the term "legal person" is that some legal persons are not people: companies and corporations are
"persons" legally speaking (they can legally do most of the things an ordinary person can do), but they are
clearly not people in the ordinary sense.

There are therefore two kinds of legal entities: human and non-human. In law, a human person is called a
natural person (sometimes also a physical person), and a non-human person is called a juridical person
(sometimes also a juridic, juristic, artificial, legal, or fictitious person, Latin: persona ficta).

Article 38:

● legal process and effects can affect anyone, regardless of capacity to act; whereas, only those
with capacity to act have the power to act in such a way that legally affects or binds other people.
● capacity to act (which is the power to do acts with legal effects), may be acquired and it may also
be lost during one's lifetime.

Restrictions:

● When s/he is not yet eighteen (18) years old;

 ● When s/he is an insane person;
● When s/he is an imbecile;
● When s/he is a deaf-mute;
● When s/he squanders money or property with a morbid desire to prejudice the heirs of a person
(Martinez v. Martinez, 1 Phil. 182); and
● When s/he is civilly interdicted (i.e., the court imposes restrictions on a person's rights; also called
"civil interdictions").

Minority. A minor cannot get married and contracts entered into may suffer from a defect because of lack
of legal age.

Imbecility. According to the dictionary imbecile is a person marked by mental deficiency while an insane
person is one who has an unsound mind or suffers from a mental disorder.

Civil interdiction. Civil interdiction affects a person's right to parental or marital authority, to be the
guardian of a ward or a ward's person, to dispose of property by an act inter vivos, or to manage one's
own property. It must be emphasized that a person civilly interdicted can dispose of property mortis cause
(by making a will). Also, it is worth to note here that the penalty of civil interdiction is given to a criminal
punished by imprisonment for 12 years and 1 day or more (Art. 41, Revised Penal Code).

Easements: a right to cross or otherwise use someone else's land for a specified purpose.

Article 39:

Article 39 is broader than Article 38. While the latter talks about restrictions on capacity to act, the former
includes not only the restrictions or limitations but also those circumstances that modify capacity to act.
(Memorandum of the Code Commission, Lawyers’ Journal, July 31, 1953)

Articles 38 and 39 are the same and redundant, however, the only difference is mentioned above.

Insolvency – certain obligations cannot be performed (i.e., one cannot pay off debts in favor of one
creditor while excluding other creditors)

Trusteeship – one is placed in guardianship.

Prodigality – it is not by itself a restriction. It is a ground to be placed in guardianship

These restrictions don’t exempt incapacitated persons from certain obligations. Under Article 1156, there
are 5 sources of obligations:
1. Law
2. Contract
3. Delict
4. Quasi-delict
5. Quasi-contract

Thus, Articles 38 and 39 prevent incapacitated persons from incurring contractual obligations only. Thus,
even though an insane person cannot be thrown in jail for a criminal act, the insane person is still civilly
liable (delict). An incapacitated person must still pay income tax if income is earned.
Although Articles 38 and 39 don’t mention it, incapacitated persons may acquire rights. For example, they
have the right to accept donations or to succeed.

The enumeration in Articles 38 and 39 is not exclusive. There are others spread throughout the code.
(i.e., a lawyer cannot buy property in litigation – Article 1491(5))

Article 39, last has been amended by R.A. No. 6809. 21 years is no longer the age of majority but 18.

Article 40-41:

Principles:
1. For personality to be acquired one must be born
2. Once birth occurs, personality for favorable purposes retroacts to the moment of conception

To be born means to be alive after the fetus is completely separated from the mother’s womb by cutting
off the umbilical cord.

General Rule: To be born, it is enough that the fetus is alive when the umbilical cord is cut

Exception: If the intra-uterine life is less than 7 months, it must live for at least 24 hours, before it is
considered born (There is no distinction as to how the child dies – whether natural, accidental, etc.)

An example of a case where upon birth occurs personality retroacts to the moment of conception is in
case of succession since it is favorable to the child. On the other hand, if the purpose is for paying taxes,
personality does not retroact since it is unfavorable to the child.

Related case:

In Geluz vs. CA, the SC said that the father could not file the action for damages. The fetus never
acquired personality because it was never born – it was not alive at the time it was delivered from the
mother’s womb. Since the fetus did not acquire any personality, it acquired no rights which could be
transmitted to the father. Thus, the father could not sue in a representative capacity. The father could
have sued in his personal capacity had the father suffered anguish which he did not.

Article 42:

This article deals with the extinguishment of civil personality

Death is not defined in the Civil Code. Not even doctors know precisely when death occurs. There are
many theories.

The fact of death is important because it affects civil personality and legal relations. The main effect of
death is readily seen in succession. Death is also relevant to labor law and insurance.

Article 43:

RULE 131, RULES OF COURT

Sec. 3. Disputable presumptions. — The following presumptions are satisfactory if uncontradicted, but
may be contradicted and overcome by other evidence:
(jj) That except for purposes of succession, when two persons perish in the same calamity, such as
wreck, battle, or conflagration, and it is not shown who died first, and there are no particular
circumstances from which it can be inferred, the survivorship is determined from the probabilities resulting
from the strength and age of the sexes, according to the following rules:

1. If both were under the age of fifteen years, the older is deemed to have survived;
2. If both were above the age of sixty, the younger is deemed to have survived;
3. If one is under fifteen and the other above sixty, the former is deemed to have survived;
4. If both be over fifteen and under sixty, and the sex be different, the male is deemed to have survived; if
the sex be the same, the older;
5. If one be under fifteen or over sixty, and the other between those ages, the latter is deemed to have
survived.

This is a presumption regarding simultaneous death and not a rule on survivorship. On the other hand,
the Rules provide for a presumption of survivorship based on certain criteria.

The Rules of Court shall apply where:

1. The issue does not involve succession but something else (i.e., insurance, suspensive conditions); and
2. The persons perish in the same calamity

Article 43 shall apply where:

1. The case involves succession; and
2. The persons do not perish in the same calamity.

If the conditions in the Rules of Court or Article 43 do not concur, do not apply either.

Article 44:

This enumerates the juridical persons.

A juridical person is an organic unit resulting from a group of persons or mass or property to which the
state grants or recognizes personality and capacity to hold patrimonial rights independent of those of
component members.

The juridical personality of political subdivisions and public corporations (i.e., GSIS, SSS) commences
when the law creating them becomes effective.

The juridical personality of a private corporation commences upon incorporation with the SEC.

The juridical personality of a partnership commences upon the meeting of the minds of the parties.

Although the Catholic Church is not one of those mentioned in Article 44, it is still considered as a juridical
person in Barlin vs. Ramirez because of tradition.