INTRODUCTION

TO LAW

Lecture by Atty. Kenneth Z. Ocampo-Lantin

FOR BSU COLLEGE OF LAW

AY 2018-2019
 COURSE OUTLINE
①Definition of Law
②Overview of Branches of Law
③Effect and Application of Laws
④Law, Social Justice and Morality
⑤Lawyer and the Profession
⑥The Philippine Legal System
⑦The Philippine Government
⑧The Judicial Power
⑨Basics of Legal Concepts
GOLDEN RULES

5 READ
4 RECORD
3 RECITE
2 REVIEW
1 REFLECT
 ① DEFINITION OF LAW

Law means any rule of action or norm of

conduct applicable to all kinds of action and
all objects of creation.

It covers state laws, physical laws, divine

laws, and others.
In strict legal sense law is a rule of conduct, just
and obligatory, laid down by a legitimate
authority, for common observance and benefit.
(Sanchez Roman, 23)
ELEMENTS:
1. IT IS A RULE OF CONDUCT.
2. LAW MUST BE JUST.
3. IT MUST BE OBLIGATORY.
4. IT MUST BE PRESCRIBED BY LEGITIMATE
AUTHORITY.
5. IT MUST BE ORDAINED FOR THE COMMON
BENEFIT.
 LAW
Natural Positive

Physical Moral Divine Public

Divine Positive Divine Human Constitutional Administrative International Private

Substantive Procedural
 SOURCES OF LAW

Law is derived from the sources, namely:

legislation, precedents, court decisions and
customs.

• Legislation are those enacted by the

legislative or rule-making body.
• Precedents are decisions or principles
enunciated by a court of competent
jurisdiction on a question of law which serves
not only as a guide by as an authority to be
followed by all courts of equal or inferior
jurisdiction in all cases involving the same
question until the same is reversed or
overruled by a superior court.

Article 8, NCC “xxx Judicial decisions applying or

interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form part
of the legal system of the Philippines. xxx”
• Court decisions are judicial decisions which
apply or interpret the Constitution and the
laws are part of the legal system of the
Philippines. Judicial decisions are not laws but
serve as evidence of the meaning and
interpretation of the laws.

Doctrine of STARE DECISIS once a case has been

decided one way, then another case involving
exactly the same question or point of law should be
decided in the same manner.
• Customs have the force of law only when they
are acknowledged and approved by the
society through long and uninterrupted usage.
REQUISITES:
1. IT MUST BE PROVED AS A FACT ACCORDING TO THE RULES
OF EVIDENCE. (ART. 12, NCC)
2. IT MUST NOT BE CONTRARY TO LAW. (ART. 11, NCC)
3. THERE MUST BE A NUMBER OIF REPEATED ACTS AND THE
REPEATED ACTS MUST HAVE BEEN UNIFORMLY
PERFORMED.
4. JUDICIAL INTENTION TO MAKE IT A RULE OF SOCIAL
CONDUCT.
5. ACKNOWLEDGED AND APPROVED BY SOCIRTY THROUGH
A LONG AND UNINTERRUPTED USAGE.
② EFFECT & APPLICATION OF LAW

“Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following

the completion of their publication in the Official
Gazette, or in a newspaper of general circulation
in the Philippines, unless it is otherwise provided.”
(Art. 2, Civil Code, as amended by E.O. 200)

General Rule: As stated in the law, laws take effect

after fifteen (15) days following the completion of
their publication either in the Official Gazette or in a
newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.
Exception: However, the law may provide that it
is effective immediately upon publication, or
that will be effective on a particular date.

The publication of laws is indispensable—laws

must be published to inform the public what the
law is about. The publication requirement is a
part of procedural due process.

Without notice and publication, there would be

no basis for the application of the maxim
“ignorantia legis non excusat”.
In the case of Tanada v. Tuvera (1985) the Supreme
Court said that all laws shall be published in the
Official Gazette before it become valid. This is in
consonance with Art. 2 of the Civil Code which says
“Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following
the completion of their publication in the Official
Gazette, unless it is otherwise provided”.
It would be the height of injustice to punish or
otherwise burden a citizen for the transgression of
a law which he had no notice whatsoever, not even
a constructive one.
 Further, the Supreme Court in Tanada v.
Tuvera (1986) further said that the “unless it is
otherwise provided” refers to the date of the
effectivity and not to the requirement of
publication itself.
The term “laws” should refer to all laws and
not only to those of general application, for strictly
speaking all laws relate to the people in general
even there are some that do not apply to them
directly.
Publication must be in full or it is no
publication at all since its purpose is to inform the
public of the contents of the law.
Department Orders issued by the Secretary of
Education promulgating rules and regulations
being addressed only to the Directors of Public
and Private Schools and educational institutions
under their supervision cannot be said of
general application therefore do not require
publication in order to be binding and effective
Balbuna v. Secretary of Education (1960).
A judge cannot decline to render judgment by
reason of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency
of the laws (Art. 9, NCC).

The court should discover the real intent and

purpose of the legislature. If the meaning is
clear, categorical and unmistakable, there is no
need to interpret the law shall be applied.

To determine the legislative intent, courts

should be guided first by intrinsic aids.
Statutory construction is the act or process of
discovering and expounding the meaning and
intention of the authors of the law with respect
to its application to a given case, where that
intention is rendered doubtful, among others,
by reason of the fact that the given case is not
explicitly provided for in the law. (Caltex Inc. v.
Palomar 1966)
Intrinsic aids (for interpretation) enable the court
to determine the meaning or intent of the law by
studying the meaning found within the law or
statute itself.

Extrinsic aids (for construction) reference to

sources outside of the written language to ascertain
the meaning or intent of its construction.

Interpretation and construction have the same

purpose which is to ascertain and give effect to the
legislative intent. However, one must interpret first
before he construes.
 WHEN TO INTERPRET OR CONSTRUCT?

Interpretation and construction is necessary

when:

1. The language of the statute is ambiguous or

obscure when taken in relation to a set of
facts; and
2. Reasonable mind disagrees as to the
meaning of the language used in the statute.
Otherwise, apply the law.
 Which prevails – the letter of the law or the
spirit of the law?

“xxx In case of doubt in the interpretation or

application of the laws, it is presumed that the
lawmaking body intended right and justice to
prevail. Xxx” (Art. 10, NCC)
The Supreme Courts said in Zulueta v. Zulueta (1902)
“ xxx The mistake in this instance was her own, but it was
a mistake of law, and while we should be unwilling to say
that special cases might not occur in which relief would
be afforded in such a proceeding as this against a mistake
of law made by a party, we are of opinion that the
present is not such a case. Nothing is shown here except
the bare fact that the party acted under ignorance or
misconception of the provisions of the law in regard to
the time within which the appeal could be taken, and
there is no reason why the general principle, a principle
"founded no only on expediency and policy but on
necessity," that "ignorance of the law does not excuse
from compliance therewith" (Civil Code, Art. 2), should
be relaxed. Xxx”
“The framers of Act No. 75 could not have
intended to totally abrogate this principle with
reference to the class of cases covered by the
act. If such were the effect of this legislation the
court "would be involved and perplexed with
questions incapable of any just solution and
embarrassed by inquiries almost interminable."
③ LAW, SOCIAL JUSTICE & MORALITY

“xxx The Constitution and the laws should be

applied uninfluenced by public opinion, true
democracy and be resilient enough to withstand
vigorous debate due to conflicting opinions. Xxx”
(Ang Ladlad LGBT Party v. COMELEC 2010)
“Hence, laws of general application should apply
with equal force to LGBTs and they deserve to
participate in the party-list system on the same
basis as the marginalized and underrepresented
sectors. This is in accord with the country’s
international obligation to protect and promote
human rights. The principle of non-
discrimination as it releases to the right to
electoral participation enunciated in the UDHR
abd the ICCPR should be recognized. Xxx”
The Supreme Court said in Calalang v. Williams 1940) “xxx the
promotion of social justice is to be achieved not through a
mistaken sympathy towards any given group. Social justice is
neither communism or despotism, nor atomism nor
anarchy” but the humanization of laws and the equalization
of social and economic forces by the State so that justice in
its rational and objectively secular conception may at least
be approximated. Social justice means the promotion of the
welfare of all the people, the adoption by the government of
measures calculated to ensure economic stability of all the
competent elements of society through the maintenance of a
proper economic and social equilibrium in the interrelations
of the members of the community, constitutionally, through
he adoption of measures legally justifiable, or extra-
constitutionally, through the exercise of powers underlying
the existence of all governments on the time-honored
principle of SALUS POPULI EST SUPREMA LEX”.