Obligations and Contracts
Atty. Mark B. Bachard | Week 1: Intro to Oblico (PPT based)
Topic Outline:
● Topic I : Introduction to Law
● Topic II : Business Law
INTRODUCTION TO LAW
Law as defined
• A binding custom or practice of a community : a rule of
conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as
binding or enforced by a controlling authority
• The whole body of such customs, practices, or rules
• The discipline and profession concerned with the
customs, practices, and rules of conduct of a community
that are recognized as binding by the community.
☆State Law
• Law that is promulgated by the State ( Philippines)
• Also referred to as: positive law, municipal law, civil law,
or imperative law.
• As a rule of action, only state law is enforced by the state,
with the aid of its physical force, if necessary.
• State law does not concern itself with divine law, natural
law, and moral law unless they also constitute violations
of its commands.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LAW
●Rule of Conduct – tells us what to do and what not to do. The
law takes cognizance of external acts only;
●Obligatory – A positive command imposing a duty to obey and
involving a sanction which forces obedience;
●Promulgated by legitimate authority – In our country, laws are
made by Congress. Congress is the body vested by the
Constitution with the authority to make laws.
●Of common observance and benefit – Intended to serve man;
regulates the relations of men to maintain social harmony in
society and to make order and co-existence possible.
Necessity and Functions of Law
1. Necessary for us to live in our current world
2. Secures justice, resolves social conflict, orders society,
protects interests, controls social relations.
3. No society can last and continue without means of social
control, without rules of social order binding on its
members.
Sources of Law
• 1. Constitution- the 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; Supreme Law; Highest
Law.
• 2. Legislation- Consists in the declaration of legal rules by a
competent authority. Acts passed by the legislature are so-called
enacted law or statute law. Includes ordinances enacted by local
government units.
• 3. Administrative or Executive Orders, regulations, and rulings –
they are those issued by the Administrative officials under
legislative authority. Valid only if not contrary to the laws and the
constitution.
• 4. Judicial Decisions or Jurisprudence- decisions of the courts,
particularly the Supreme Court, applying or interpreting the laws
or the Constitution form part of the legal system of the
Philippines. The decisions of a superior court on a point of law
are binding on all subordinate courts. This is called the doctrine
of precedent or stare decisis.
• 5. Custom – It consists of those habits and practices which
through long and uninterrupted usage have become
acknowledged and approved by society as binding rules of
conduct.
6. Other Sources- Justice and Equity, decisions of foreign tribunals,
opinions of textwriters, and religion. ONLY Supplementary.
ORGANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL
Laws are not the sole means of social control in the
Philippines we also have
• churches, • corporations,
• political parties, • trade associations,
• schools, • labor unions,
• professional organizations, • social clubs,
• families, etc.
LAW COMPARED WITH OTHER MEANS OF SOCIAL
CONTROL
¤Laws are made and administered by the only institutions in
society authorized to act in behalf of the entire citizenry.
¤Only the legal institutions within the society can make rules,
regulations, and orders with which the entire citizenry must
comply.
¤Citizens of a state cannot easily terminate their relationship
with the state and thereby free themselves from the impact of
its rules and regulations.
¤The sanctions or techniques of control through law are more
varied and complex than the techniques available to
organizations.
¤Before a law operates against an individual various
procedural steps are required.
ORGANIZATION OF COURTS
1. Regular Courts – Supreme Court, Court of Appeals,
Regional Trial Courts, Municipal/ Metropolitan Trial
Courts
2. Special Courts – Court of Tax Appeals, Sandiganbayan.
Etc.
3. Quasi Judicial agencies- NLRC, SEC, LTFRB, etc. may
settle and adjudication of controversies or disputes.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF LAW
1. PURPOSE
A.M.M | 1
 • SUBSTANTIVE LAW- that portion of the body of law
creating, defining, and regulating rights and duties which
may either by public or private in character. (obligations and
contracts)
• ADJECTIVE LAW – that portion of the body of law
prescribing the manner or procedure by which rights may be
enforced or their violations redressed. ( Remedial law or
procedural Law)
2. SUBJECT MATTER
▪︎PUBLIC LAW – or the body of legal rules which regulates
the rights and duties arising from the relationship of the state
to the people (criminal law, international law, constitutional
law, etc.)
▪︎PRIVATE LAW – the body of rules which regulates the
relations of individuals with one another for purely private
ends. ( obligations and contracts) The state is only involved
as an arbiter not as a party.
BUSINESS LAW
• Business law, also called commercial law or mercantile law, the
body of rules, whether by convention, agreement, or national or
international legislation, governing the dealings between persons
in commercial matters
CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS LAW
• Defining general rules of commerce;
• Protecting business ideas and business assets;
• Providing mechanisms that allow businesspeople to determine
how they will participate in business ventures and how much risk
they will bear;
• Ensuring that losses are borne by those responsible for causing
them; and
• Facilitating planning by ensuring that commitments are
honored.
LAW ON OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS DEFINED
• “ The 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 “.