AFFIRMATIVE

DUTIES

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Affirmative Duties
01 Misfeasance is a
breach of the
general negative
duty

02 Nonfeasance is
the failure to act
Affirmative Duties
Nature of Misfeasance
and Nonfeasance
Misfeasance Misfeasance Nonfeasance

Vs The victim’s
position is
It is merely a
failure to
Nonfeasance changed for
the worse
benefit the
victim, which
through the
creation of a
is a loss only
negative in the sense
quantity in the that a positive
form of a quantity is not
positive loss or added.
new harm.
An analysis of nonfeasance
in terms of risk creation
explains why, even though a
risk may have arisen
independently of a defendant,
he is responsible for
aggravation of the danger, i.e.
for substantially increasing
the likelihood that it will
materialize in harm.
Duty to Rescue
“In Nothing Are Men More Like Gods Than In Coming
To The Rescue of Their Fellow Men”
- Cicero
Wagner vs International Ry. Co.
In this case, Justice
Cardozo explained that
there is liability to the
1 rescuer and the law
does not discriminate
between the rescuer
oblivious of the peril
and the one who counts
the costs.
Santiago vs De Leon
In this case, it was held that the
one who was hurt while trying to
rescue another who was injured
through negligence may
recover damages.
1

Conduct which might otherwise

be considered contributory
negligence may not be so
considered where a person is
injured in attempting to save
others from imminent danger of
personal injury or death.
Requisites to Make a
Tortfeasor Liable to
the Rescuer
Tortfeasor was negligent to the person
01 rescued causing the peril

The peril was imminent

02
A reasonably prudent person who
03 would have concluded such peril

Rescuer acted with reasonable care in

04 effectuating the rescue
Is A Person Who
Did Not Rescue
Another Who Is In
Distress Liable to
the Latter?

Is There A General
Duty to Rescue?
No such duty is recognized in
common law. The duty to do
no wrong is a legal duty. The
duty to protect against wrong is,
generally speaking, not
recognized or enforced by law.
Victims of
Crimes
“Not Everyone Who Passes
on The Road to Jericho is A
Clone of the Good
Samaritan.”
- People vs Laceste

Witnesses to commission of
crimes are not expected to help
the victims of the said crimes.

There is no standard form of

human behavioral response when
one is confronted with a frightful
experience.
Exceptions Under the
RPC
Abandonment of persons in danger and
Art. abandonment of one’s own victim. — The
penalty of arresto mayor shall be imposed
275 upon:
1. Anyone who shall fail to render assistance to
any person whom he shall find in an
uninhabited place wounded or in danger of
dying, when he can render such assistance
without detriment to himself, unless such
omission shall constitute a more serious
offense;

2. Anyone who shall fail to help or render

assistance to another whom he has accidentally
wounded or injured;

3. Anyone who, having found an abandoned

child under seven years of age, shall fail to
deliver said child to the authorities or to his
family, or shall fail to take him to a safe place.
Exceptions Under R.A.
4136
Duty of driver in case of accident. — x
Sec. xx
55 No driver of a motor vehicle
concerned in a vehicular accident
shall leave the scene of the accident
without aiding the victim, except under
the following circumstances:
1.If he is in imminent danger of being
seriously harmed by any person or
persons by reason of the accident;

2. If he reports the accident to the

nearest officer of the law; or

3. If he has to summon a physician or

nurse to aid the victim.”
Owners, Proprietors,
And Possessors
Generally, the owner is not liable to any person who
might be damaged if he is merely exercising his right
as such.
Trespassers
Owner has no duty to take
reasonable care towards a
trespasser for his
protection or even to
protect him from concealed
danger.
Tolerated
Possessor
Nobody is bound to
anticipate and defend
himself against the possible
negligence of another.
Rather, he has a right to
assume that the other will
use the ordinary care of the
ordinarily prudent man.

The owner is liable if the plaintiff is

inside his property by tolerance of
by implied permission.
Visitors
Owners of buildings or premises owe a duty of care
to visitors.
Common
Carriers
The law requires
common carriers
to carry
passengers safely
using the utmost
diligence of very
cautious persons
with due regard for
all circumstances.
The element of greatest
significance in Licensee Invitee
determining the liability of One who One who is at
a railroad company to a enters a place upon
licensee or invitee injured another’s invitation.
upon its premises is premises either
whether or not the without
presence of the injured invitation or
person was to have been purposes not
anticipated connected with
business
conducted on
The duty to exercise the the premises
diligence of a reasonable man but with
even extends to persons who permission or
are in the premises of the tolerance.
carrier under an implied
invitation.
Children and
Attractive Nuisance Rule
Attractive An owner is liable if he maintains in his
premises dangerous instrumentalities or
Nuisance appliances of a character likely to lure
children in play and he fails to exercise
Rule ordinary care to prevent children of tender
age from playing therewith.

The liability exists even if the child a

trespasser so long as he is not of sufficient
age or discretion.

An attractive nuisance A swimming pool or pond or reservoir of

is considered a water is not considered attractive nuisance.
nuisance only because
it attracts certain kinds
of persons, children.
Possessor of Land Subject to Liability for Physical Harm to Children If:

01 02 03 04 05

Possessor knows Condition is one Children do not Maintaining the Possessor fails to
that the place is which the realize the risk condition and the exercise
where children possessor knows involved burden of reasonable care
are likely to will involve an intermeddling eliminating the to eliminate the
trespass. unreasonable risk with it. danger are slight danger.
of harm to such compared with
children. the risk to
children.

D
D
D
Turntable
Cases
A class of cases where the
owner of the property is
held liable to children who
are trespassing thereon and
injured, upon the ground
that the owner is bound to
know that children may be
attracted and may be
injured, thereby although
the owner is guilty of no
negligence except in
maintaining the property in
such condition that children
may trespass thereon
State of It is a situation of present
danger to legally protected
Necessity interests, in which there is no
other remedy than the injuring
of another’s also legally
protected interests.
If the person concerned honestly believed that
the harm he did was less than the risk he ran,
that must suffice; for in time of danger it is not to
be expected that a person will arrive at a nicely
balanced judgment of the comparative
seriousness of two alternative evils.
Negligence of
Manufacturers
and Other
Establishments
The negligence of the
business
establishments
would make them
liable for the damage
and injury caused to
their neighbors.
Liability of
Proprietors of
Buildings

Art. The proprietor of a

building or structure
2190 is responsible for the
damages resulting
from its total or partial
collapse, if it should
be due to the lack of
necessary repairs.
Liability of
Proprietors of
Buildings Proprietors shall also be responsible
for damages caused:
Art.
(1) By the explosion of machinery
2191 which has not been taken care of
with due diligence, and the
inflammation of explosive
substances which have not been
kept in a safe and adequate
place;

(2) By excessive smoke, which may

be harmful to persons or property;

(3) By the falling of trees situated at or

near highways or lanes, if not caused
by force majeure;

(4) By emanations from tubes, canals,

sewers or deposits of infectious
matter, constructed without
precautions suitable to the place.
Employers and
Employees
Employers
Traditionally, employers, by engaging the
services of another as employee, impliedly
agree to use reasonable care to provide
reasonably safe premises and places in and
about which the servant is required to work,
to furnish reasonably safe and suitable
machinery, and a sufficient supply of proper
materials, tools, and appliances for the work
to be done, and at all times during the
continuance of work to repair and to keep in
the same safe suitable condition the places,
machinery, and appliances; to provide
competent workmen; and so far as the
servant could not be assumed to know the
perils of the work itself, or of the particular
portion of it in which he was engaged, to
instruct him and to warn him of any secret
danger which the master was aware.
Employees
Employees are also bound to
exercise due care in the
performance of their functions
for the employers. Absent such
due care, the employee may
be held liable.

The existence of the contract

constitutes no bar to the
commission of torts by one
against the other and the
consequent recovery of
damages.
Thank You
Grace D. Sulit