Obligations: Legal, Civil and Natural

Obligations

• Legal obligations have legal sanction.
• Non-legal obligations are moral or ethical duties, not legally enforced.
• Moral, religious, and social obligations are examples of non-legal obligations.
• Non-legal obligations may result in illegal sanctions

Article 1156

• Defines an obligation as a juridical necessity to give, to do, or not to do, establishing the basis for civil obligations.

Civil vs. Natural Obligations

• Civil Obligations: Grant a right of action to compel performance.
• Natural Obligations: Based on fairness, equity and natural law, these do not grant a right of action.

Juridical Necessity

• An obligation's performance can be legally compelled.
• Courts can order compliance and/or damages for non-performance.
• The remedy for non-compliance is usually payment of damages.

Requisites of an Obligation

• Active Subject (Creditor/Obligee): The party with the right to demand performance.
• Passive Subject (Debtor/Obligor): The party with the obligation to perform.
• Prestation: The subject matter of the obligation (to give, to do, or not to do).
• Juridical Tie: The source of the obligation.

Sources of Obligations (Art. 1157)

• Law: Obligations arising from legal provisions.
• Contracts: Obligations arising from agreements between parties.
• Quasi-contracts: Obligations resemble contracts but lack agreement
• Acts or omissions punished by law: Obligations arising from criminal offenses.
• Quasi-delicts: Obligations arising from damage caused by fault or negligence.

Obligations Arising from Law (Art. 1158)

• Obligations derived from law are not presumed; they must be expressly determined by law or special laws.
• Obligations from law are demandable and regulated by the law that establishes them.
• Obligations not expressly provided by law are not demandable, enforceable, and cannot be presumed.
• The Civil Code can supplement obligations arising from laws outside the Civil Code itself.
• Special laws refer to laws outside the Civil Code.

Obligations Arising from Contracts (Art. 1159)

• Contractual obligations have the force of law between the contracting parties.
• Contractual obligations must be complied with in good faith.
• Bilateral Agreements: Must not violate law, morals, public order, public policy, and good custom
• Bilateral agreements that violate the requirements mentioned above are void

Quasi-Contracts (Art. 1160)

• Obligations from quasi-contracts are subject to provisions in the Civil Code
• Quasi-contracts involve unilateral, lawful, and voluntary acts.
• Consent is presumed in quasi-contracts.
• Negotiorum Gestio: Voluntarily managing another's property affairs without their knowledge or consent
• The owner must reimburse the gestor for necessary and useful expenses incurred.
• Solutio Indebiti: Receiving something unduly delivered through mistake, with the obligation to return it.

Civil Obligations Arising from Criminal Offenses (Art. 1161)

• Civil obligations from criminal offenses are governed by penal laws and provisions of the Civil Code.
• Crime is any punishable act by law.
• Criminal liability include crimes like smuggling, spy, and rebellion.
• Civil liability arises if the criminal act causes private harm to an individual.

Quasi-Delicts (Art. 1162)

• Obligations from quasi-delicts are governed by the Civil Code and special laws.
• Quasi-delicts arise from lack of foresight or skills.
• Negligence causing injury is the foundation of quasi-delicts.

Real vs. Personal Obligation

• Real obligation is the obligation to give or deliver something.
• Personal obligation is the obligation to do or not to do something.

Remedies for Non-Compliance

• Court orders delivery of the thing due and payment of damages.
• If delivery is impossible, payment of damages is ordered
• Courts cannot compel personal obligations; the remedy is payment of damages

Obligations "To Give"

• Specific/Determinate: Refers to a particular, identified item.
• Generic/Indeterminate: Refers to items that can be replaced
• Must exercise diligence in taking care of the thing

Duties and Guidelines for Obligations to Deliver

• Must take care of the thing.
• Includes delivering the fruits of the item
  • Natural: products of the soil, and animals
  • Industrial: produced by land of any kind through cultivation or labor
  • Civil: are the result of juridical relation
• Real Right: Right against everyone.
• Personal Right: Right against a specific debtor.
• Effects of loss of item depends on whether it's specific or generic item

Fruits & Accessories

• The specific items already accounted for

  • Perfection of contract

• The general things of an item

  • Not delivered but remains an obligation

• If there is no specific item

  • The accessions and accessories are already part of the main item

Debtor's Duties

• Exercise ordinary diligence.
• If "poorly done" services can be fixed
• Must not do certain things/ UNDONE items

Fortuitous Events

• Fortuitous events are unforeseen occurrences or acts of nature.
• The debtor isn't responsible if they were not actively involved in the event
• Obligations related to generic items are not extinguished by fortuitous events
• To deliver a specific item must be extinguished by fortuitous events (unless otherwise stated

Irregular Performance

• Obligations must be performed accordingly
• Failing to perform would mean liability

Kinds of Irregularities

• Fraud(dolo): Conscious, intentional and deliberate
• Negligence(culpa): Lack of caution/ fails to act accordingly

Fraud (dolo)

• Conscious and intentional act with bad faith.
• Future fraud cannot be forgiven because it's against public policy.
• Past fraud are forgivable
• Causual Fraud: Consent in the contract is achieved with fraud -> contract is voidable

Negligence (culpa)

• Lack of reasonable care
• Debtor liable for the natural and probable consequenses

Types of Negligence

• Culpa Contractual: Negligence in performance of contract -> sourced by the contract
• Culpa Aquiliana: Negligence that causes injury (Quasi-delict)
• Culpa Criminal: Negligent act that's criminal

3. Delay (mora)

• Delay in the fulfilment of the obligation -> missing timing
• General Rule: No demand -> no delay
• Can be judical/ extrajudicial
• Reminder is NOT a demand

Exception: No demand is needed

• Law expressly declares (Date to pay x taxes)
• Obligation expressly states
• Time is of an essence

Kinds of Delay

• Mora Solvendi: Delay of debtor
• Mora Accipiendi: Delay of creditor
• Compesatio Morea: Both parties at fault

Contravention

• Illicit act that impairs the obligations
• Every kind of defective performance

Defenses against obligations

• Fortuitous event, provided that the debtor was in no way responsible
• Unless agreed otherwise, there is no obligation to take preventative measures

Defenses of Debtor

3. Benefit of Resumption
   • A debtor is innocent unless proven guilty A) Instalment payments -> a recurring debit is not proof of debt -> must be proven with evidence B) Payment of principal -> usually occurs once interest has been paid

** Conclusive presumption **

- a legal assumption that cannot be challenged or disproven by evidence.
- Presumption of Paternity, Presumption of Sanity

Credit Remedies

A) Specific performance + ramages B) Payment of damages C) Rescission: Only in reciprocal contracts

Cannot pay

I) Garnishment/ attachment- debtors possessions are exhausted II) Action Subgrogatoria: A-> B (debtor) -> C debtor cannot be found to take A's place to collect debts III) Action Paulianna: a fill validation of a contract cannot be designed to defraud A Example: Spending habbits determine negligable debtors

Pure

Performance is NOT subject to future events and is required at once

Conditional

Future uncertainty that has conditions

Suspensive

Needs to be there for obligation to arise

Resolutory:

Condition that once met -> obligation can be extinguished

Potestatire

fulfilment depends on the will of one party

Casual

"fulfilmented depends upon chance to the will of a third person

Mixed":

fulfilment depends on parties

"Important Principles"

If there is voluntarily perversion then the conditions will be deemed #Important to remember

debtors cannot take action to prevent certain conditions to not be met due to lack of their help.

If the obligations have a date and certain conditions will determine the payment with both parties and intersts #Important to remember

Important to remember

Important to Remember

Credotrs cannot collect if debts are clear Debtors cannot request debts under certain conditions

TO Consider

Damages for loss, and improvements If a party does NOT intended to make conditions then the obligations are pure and should be followed through

When can fix?

House The moment the obligatinos will take, to make by consideration

TO know

The rules and regulations to abide by

What to remember

If it will be seen as for the enfit of both parties

Deliver do?

1. simple- single thing 2)conjuctive_ multiple things
2. distrubitive - when on of the objects must be performed

A) alternatice: payment must allow the debit to perform one of them B)Faculatitive - ONE prestatiion upon agreement then debit can make adjustments

How to Obligations Persist

1. diviseble- partial
2. Indivisible -> ONE time whole

• if the party had no intent then service -> MUST be 18

IMPORTANT rules

Accesorites must be known or then cannot follow, then the code can not go through with it

Then the penalities

Penalties

1)subsidiary - ONLY the penlaty 2) Joint - enforced if not right

1 - cannot have a penalty if didnt do obligation or viceversa, not possible for it not to be

Joint/ several:

1)Joint: default is group effort 2) SEveral- single is respoinible for entire obligations

Defenses;

1)Derived- are from illegal cuases 2)Personnal - miniority of debtor 3) Defensives - belong to others

PAYMENTS!!!!

1:payment to death/ succesor

4. not good in faith for any pssessions, for all involved

• pay legally and according to price

What may make?

• 1: cannot tell a creditor is incapcitited
• 2)Cannot allow if told by the judge

pay if help make their benfif and the benefit is proven