Effectivity of Statutes

 Laws take effect after fifteen days

following the completion of their
publication in the Official Gazette, or in
a newspaper of general circulation.
 The requirement of the publication of a
statute prior to its taking effect is for the
purpose of enabling persons affected to
shape their courses of action accordingly.

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Place of Operation of Statutes
 Legislative enactments can only operate,
propio vigore, upon the persons and
things within the territorial jurisdiction
of the lawmaking power, and no law has
any effect, of its own force, beyond the
territorial limits of the sovereignty from
which its authority is derived.
 But it has been declared that a state may
have the power to legislate concerning
the rights and obligations of its citizens
with regard to transactions occurring
beyond its boundaries.

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Perspective and Retrospective Operation of Statutes
A statute is prospective in operation
if it merely regulates acts or
transactions taking place after it
takes effect.
On the other hand, a statute
operates retrospectively when it
creates a new obligation, imposes a
new duty or attaches a new disability
in respect to transactions taking
place before its passage

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But a statute is not made retrospective or retroactive
simply because it draws on antecedent facts for its
operation, or in other words, part of the requirements for
its action and application is drawn from a time antedating
its passage.

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Prospective Operation is General Rule
Although the Constitution does not
prohibit the enactment of
retrospective laws that do not impair
the obligations of contracts nor
deprive a person of property without
due process of law, the Civil Code
establishes the rule, in reiteration of
settled jurisprudence, that laws shall
have no retroactive effect, unless
the contrary is provided.

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Retrospective Operation of Remedial Statutes
Remedial Statutes, or statutes, or
statutes relating to remedies or modes of
procedures, which do not create new or
take away vested rights, but only
operate in the furtherance of the
remedy or confirmation of rights already
existing, do not come within the legal
conception of a retrospective law, or the
general rule against the retrospective
law, in a legal sense, is one which takes
away or impairs vested rights under
existing laws, or creates a new obligation
and imposes a new duty, or attaches a
new disability, in respect of transactions
or considerations already past.
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Retrospective Operation of Penal Laws
Penal Laws, as a general rule, are to be given
prospective operation: otherwise, they may fall within
the constitutional prohibition of ex post facto
legislation.

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An ex post facto law, it must be remembered,
may either be one:
a. which makes an action done before the
passage of the law, and which was innocent
when done before the passage of the line
punishes such action;
b. or that which aggravates a crime or makes
it greater than it was, when committed;
c. or a law which changes the punishment,
and inflicts is a greater punishment, than
that annexed to the crime when a
committed;
d. or one that alters the legal rules of
evidence, and receives less, or different
testimony, than the law required at the
time of the commission of the offense, in
order to convict the offender.
The condemnation of ex post facto legislation
is founded on its inherent harshness.
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Thus, it has been held that Republic Act No. 1790, amending
Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code, expressly making
punishable the offense of slight physical injuries thru reckless
imprudence, cannot be made applicable to an act committed
before the enactment of said amendatory law.

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In another case, it was held that Section 25 Republic Act No.
875, authorizing the imposition of a fine upon a party found
guilty of an unfair labor practice imposition of a fine for
conduct antedating the said law. In an old case, the Supreme
Court ruled that Articles 184 et seq. of the Revised Penal Code,
punishing false testimony and perjury committed prior to the
effectively of the said Code and punishable under Section 3 of
Act No. 1697, because the said articles prescribes a more severe
penalty than that imposed by Act No. 1697.

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It has also been held that Republic Act No. 7659, the “heinous
crimes law”, cannot be given retrospective application in
cases where in the penalty of “life imprisonment” had been
imposed by the trial court, as this would result in the
imposition of reclusion perpetua, which unlike “life
imprisonment” had accessory penalties, and a minimum fine
of P500,000.00 instead of P20,000.00, as prescribed by Republic
Act No. 6425.

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But the constitutional principle
prohibiting the passage of ex post law
inflicts criminal punishment; it cannot be
invoked to protect allegedly vested
rights.

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When Penal Laws Given Retroactive Operation –
Article 22 of the Revised Penal Code provides;
“Retroactive effect of penal laws:- Penal laws shall have a
retroactive effect in so far as they favour the person guilty
of a felony, who is not a habitual criminal, as this term is
defined in Rule 5 of Article 62 of this Code, although at the time
of the publication of such laws a final sentence has been
pronounced and the convict is serving the same.”

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Even Section 9 of the Judiciary Act of 1948, with respect to the
number of Supreme justices required to concur in the
imposition of the death penalty, has been given a retroactive
effect. Penal laws will retroact in favor of the accused even
if he is serving his sentence, but he must not be habitual
delinquent.

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Retrospective Operation of Curative Acts
Curative Acts which are enacted to
validate legal proceedings, the acts of
public officers, or private deeds and
contracts, operate on conditions
already existing and, in a sense, can
have no prospective operation.
Where valid, they must be given a
retrospective operation by the
courts.

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Amendment of Statutes
An amendment is a change is some of the
existing provisions of a statute; or, stated in
more detail, a law is amended when it is in
whole or in part permitted to remain and
something is added to, or taken from it, or
it is in some way changed or altered in order
to make it more complete, or perfect, or
effective.
Amendment is not the same as repeal,
although it may operate as a repeal to a
certain degree.

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The power to amend existing legislation resides in the
lawmaking authority.
Courts have no duty nor power to amend a statute which
presents no interstitial space wherein to insert, in the words of
Cardozo “judge made innovations.”

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The intent of the lawmaking authority to set out the original
act section as amended is most commonly indicated by as
statement in the amendatory act that the original law is
amended “to read as follows.”
The lawmaking authority thereby declares that the new
statute is a substitute for the original act or section. Only
those provisions of the original act or section repeated in the
amendment are retained.

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An amendment of a law, being part of the original which is already in
force and effect in a certain territory, must necessarily become
effective therein as part of the amended law at the time the
amendment takes effect.
While the amendment should be construed as if it had been
included in the original act, it cannot ordinarily be given
retroactive operation unless plainly made so by the terms thereof.
And so after an act is amended, the rights that has Accrued prior to
such amendment.

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But, as we have seen in previous discussions,
some laws may under certain
circumstances be given retroactive
operation.
Those discussions apply equally to
amendatory acts.

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Revisions and Codification
The legislature may revise or codify existing law
to any extent it deems necessary so long as no
constitutional limitation is exceeded.
The purpose of a revision or codification is to
clarify statute law and make it easily found.
And the title of a bill enacting a revision or code
is sufficient if it relates to a unified subject.
The actual work of codification or revision is
however usually done by commissioners
appointed by the legislature.

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The enactment of adoption of a code or revision by the
legislature has the same effect as if all the matters, both new and
altered, therein contained, had been, enacted as one general
statute or act.
Hence, all laws of a general and permanent nature which have
been omitted from the revision or codification are no longer
law, and any matter which had never been previously enacted by
the legislature, if included therein, becomes operative as law.

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Suspension
The suspension of a statute means a
temporary stop for a time, and the courts
may not enforce the law during said period.
It is a legislative act, unless based on some
contingency, exigency, or state of facts,
declared by legislative enactment to be
sufficient to warrant suspension by an
executive or administrative body whose
duty is to administer the law suspended.
But in exercising the power of suspension,
the legislature must make the suspension
general.

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Repeat of Statutes
The term “repeal” , as its etymology imports, is the recall or
revocation of the statue; it signifies the abrogation of one
statute by an other.

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The lawmaking authority of any
government has plenary power to
enact or repeal laws.
The power to repeal a law is as
complete as the power to enact it.
A legislature cannot enact
irrepealable laws or limit its future
legislative acts.
The power to repeal is, of course,
subject to constitutional restrictions
such as the prohibition against the
impairment of obligations of contract,
or the denial of due process law.

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Modes of Repeal
According to the Civil Code, laws are
repealed only by subsequent ones, and their
violation or non-observance shall not be
excused by disuse, or custom or practice to
the contrary.

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Repeal may either be express or implied.
An express repeal is the abrogation or annulment or a
previously existing law by the enactment of a subsequent
designation of its name, the title, or caption or by reference
to its subject, contents, or substance as to leave no doubt as to
what statute is intended.

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On the other hand, an implied repeal or repeal by
implication is one which takes place when a new law
contains provisions which are contrary to, but do not
expressly repeal, those of a former law.
Cases abound holding that a repeal of this nature is not
presumed nor favored, considering that the legislature is
presumed to be aware of existing law: ordinarily, if it
intends to revoke a statute, it would manifest such
intention in express terms.

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But no conflicting and irreconcilable laws in the same
subject should be allowed to be in force simultaneously;
otherwise, there would be confusion as the people would not
know which law to follow or obey; hence, one law must give
way to other.
Implied repeal, though not favored, is therefore still necessary.

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Modes of Implied Repeal
Implied repeal may take place by
substitution or absolute consistency.
(a) Implied repeal by substitution – where a
later statute covers the whole subject of
earlier acts and shows that it was
intended as a substitute therefore, and to
cover the whole subject and prescribe the
only rules with respect thereto, it operates
as a repeal of all former statutes relating to
the subject, even though it makes no
reference to the earlier statutes.
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(b) Implied repeal by absolute inconsistency – where two
legislative acts relating to the same subject are repugnant to
or in conflict with each other, and they cannot be deemed as
an exception to the other, the last one enacted, as the
latest expression of the legislative will, supersedes and
repeals the earlier act although it contains no repealing
clause.

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In this connection, it has been held
that a repealing clause which provides
that “all laws or parts thereof
inconsistent with the provisions of
the act are hereby repealed of
modified accordingly” is NOT AN
EXPRESS REPEALING CLAUSE because
if fails to identify or designate the act
or acts that are intended to be
repealed.

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Rather, it is a clause which predicates the intended repeal
upon the condition that a substantial conflict must be found
in .
The failure to add a specific repealing clause indicates that the
intent was not to repeal any law, unless an irreconcilable
inconsistency and repugnancy exists in terms of the new and
old laws.

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It is however necessary before such a repeal is deemed to exist
that it be shown that the statutes or statutory provisions deal
with the same subject matter and that the latter be inconsistent
with the former.
There must be a showing a repugnancy clear and convincing in
character.
The language used in the latter statute must be such as to render it
irreconcilable with that had been formerly enacted. An
inconsistency that falls short of that standard does not suffice.

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Effects of Repeal
Repeal whether express or implied, puts
an end to the law.
But it will not operate to impair rights
vested under the repealed law or to
revive rights lost or taken away under the
same, or to affect acts performed or suits
commenced, prosecuted, and concluded
there under.
The repeal of a statute does not undo or
set aside consequences of its operation
while in force unless so directed by
express language or necessary
implication.
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It has therefore been held that where the
closing of a cabaret was done under
authority of a statute, the subsequent
repeal of such statute does not render the
closing of establishment illegal.
And where a right has arisen upon a contract
or transaction infected that there is nothing
more to be done by the party asserting, it
has become “vested” and repeal of the
statute recognizing it will not affect it or
an action for its enforcement.

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The enactment of new penal laws, not with standing the fact
that they contain general repealing clauses, does not deprive
the courts of jurisdiction to try, convict, and sentence
persons charged with violations of the old law prior to the
date when the repealing law goes into effect, unless the new
law wholly fails to penalize the acts which constituted the
offense defined and penalized in the repealed law.

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Thus, if the new penal law substantially re-
enacted the former law with more
elaboration and detail in its provisions than
were contained in the former law, and not
increasing the punishment of the accused,
there would be no question that the right
still exists to punish the accused for an
offense of which they were convicted and
sentenced before the passage of the
repealing law.

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But where the repealing law wholly fails to penalize acts
which constituted the offense defined and penalized in the
repealed law, the repeal carries with it the deprivation of the
courts of jurisdiction to try, convict and sentence persons
charged with violation of the old law prior to the repeal.
For the extinction of the statute is understood to be an
indication that the sovereign power no longer desires the
former crime to be punished or regarded as criminal.

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With respect to remedies, it is firmly established that there is
no vested right in any particular mode of procedure and that
where a particular remedy is unqualifiedly repealed, the
remedy is gone.

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It has also been held that the governing law in the prosecution
of a cause of action which accrued prior to the effectivity of
a new law on the same subject matter shall be the law in
force at the time of the accrual of the said cause of action.

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The repealing statute cannot be given retroactive operation
where the statute repealed is substantive in nature.
Thus, the repeal by Republic Act No. 4252 of Section 145 of the
Revised Administrative Code, requiring the approval of the
Provincial Governor of the contracts entered into by non-
Christians, cannot retroact to contracts entered into prior
to such repeal.

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Simultaneous Repeal and Re-enactment
Where the legislature instead of simply
amending a pre-existing statute repeals the
latter in its entirety and by the repealing
law re-enacts all or certain portions of the
pre-existing law, all rights and liabilities
which have accrued under the original
statute are preserved and may be
enforced, since the re-enactment
neutralizes the repeal, thereby continuing
the law in force without interruption.

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Repeal of Repealing Act
It is by law provided that when a law which
expressly repeals a prior law is itself
repealed, the law first repealed shall not be
thereby revived, unless expressly so provided.
The Supreme Court has held that foregoing
provision does not change or modify the rule
which prescribes that when a law which
repeals a prior law, not expressly but by
implication, is itself repealed, the repeal of
the repealing law revives the prior law, unless
language of the repealing statute provides
otherwise.
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Revival
The term “revive” signifies the re-conference of validity, force,
and effect; and it is synonymous with “re-enact”.
Statutes which have been repealed may be revived either by
express legislative enactment or by operation or law, as
when the repealing act is itself repealed.

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Thank you for listening!
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