Persons June 22, 2012

Article 9
- the judge is somehow forced to legislate in a loose sense or to fill
the gap in obscure or insufficient laws (does not include criminal
offence no law = dismiss)
- there is no crime when there is no law.
Judge may use as his guides:
1. Decisions of foreign courts
2. Opinions of known authors and professors
3. Applicable rules of statutory construction
4. Principles formulated in analogous cases
Article 10
- applies only if there is doubt
Dura Lex Sed Lex the law maybe harsh (hard) but it is (still) the law
- the first duty of the judge is to apply the law
- what the law grants, the court cannot deny
If law is iniquitous lobby for the repeal or amendment of the law
Resort to equity (justice outside legality) only in the absence of, and
never against, statutory law or juridical rules of procedure.
*Article 26 Par. 2 (Marriage) When a marriage between a Filipino
citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter
validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to
remarry, the Filipino spouse shall likewise have capacity to remarry
under Philippine Law.
- at the time of marriage, one is a foreigner (strictly speaking)
- but Supreme Court ruled at the time of divorce, one is a foreigner
interpreted the law.
Article 11 & 12
Facts to be proved to make a custom an obligatory rule:
1. plurality of acts which have been repeatedly done
2. generally practiced by the great mass of the social group
3. practiced for a long period of time
4. community accepts it as a proper way of acting
Usage repetition of acts
Custom law or general rule which arises from such repetition
- not subject to judicial notice
*While there may be usage without custom, there cannot be a custom
without a usage accompanying or preceding it.