Origin, Nature and Development of Law PDF

Origin, Nature and Development of Law Engr. Lito I. Mauro 1. Law – any rule of action or any system of uniformity. – in general, it determines not only the activities of men as rational beings but also the movements or motions of all objects of creation, whe...

Origin, Nature and Development of Law Engr. Lito I. Mauro 1. Law – any rule of action or any system of uniformity. – in general, it determines not only the activities of men as rational beings but also the movements or motions of all objects of creation, whether animate or inanimate. 2. General divisions of law a. Law which is promulgated and enforced by the state. b. Law which is not promulgated and enforced by the state. The first refers to the state law while the second includes: Divine law – law of religion and faith which concerns itself with the concept of sin (as contrasted with crime) and salvation. Natural law – the divine inspiration in man of the sense of justice, fairness, righteousness, not by divine revelation or formal promulgation, but by internal dictates of reason alone.  Moral law – the totality of the norms of good and right conduct growing out of the collective sense of right and wrong of every community. Physical law – In the operation or course of nature, there are uniformities of actions and orders of sequence which are the physical phenomena that we sense and feel. State law – law that is promulgated and enforced by the state. This law is also called positive law, municipal law, and civil law or imperative law. 3. Characteristics of law a. It is a rule of conduct. b. It is obligatory. c. It is promulgated by legitimate authority. d. It is common observance and benefit. 4. What would life be without law? Society comes into existence because its members could not live without it. The need for internal order is as constant as the need for external defense. No society can be stable in which either of these requirements fails to be provided for. 5. What does law do? Law secures justice, resolves social conflict, orders society, protects interests, controls social relations. Life without basic laws against theft, violence, and destruction would be solitary, nasty, brutish and short. Life without other laws such as those regulating traffic, sanitation, employment, business, redress of harm or of broken agreements, etc. – would be less orderly, less healthful, less wholesome, etc. No society can last and continue without means of social control, without rules of social order binding on its members. 6. Sources of law a. Constitution – the written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited and defined, and by which these powers are distributed among the several departments for their safe and useful exercise for the benefit of the people. b. Legislation – It consists in the declaration of legal rules by a competent authority. It is the preponderant (having superior power) source of law in the Philippines. c. Administrative or executive orders, regulations, and rulings – They are those issued by administrative officials under legislative authority. Administrative rules and regulations are intended to clarify or explain the law and carry into effects its general provisions. Administrative acts are valid only when they are not contrary to the laws and Constitution. d. Custom – It consists of those habits and practices which through long and uninterrupted usage have become acknowledged and approved by society as binding rules of conduct. It has the force of the law when recognized and enforced by the state. e. Judicial decisions or jurisprudence – The decisions of the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, applying or interpreting the laws or the Constitution form part of the legal system of the Philippines. f. Other sources – Others are principles of justice and equity, decisions of foreign tribunals, opinions of text writers, and religion. 7. Organization of courts a. Regular courts – The Philippine judicial system consists of a hierarchy of courts resembling a pyramid with the Supreme Court at the apex. The other courts are: Court of Appeals, Regional Trial Courts sitting in the different provinces and cities, and Metropolitan Trial Courts in Metropolitan areas established by law; Municipal Trial Courts in cities not forming part of a metropolitan area, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts in areas defined as municipal circuits. The Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and the Regional Trial Courts are considered courts of general or superior jurisdiction. b. Special courts – There is a special anti-graft court, the Sandiganbayan. It forms part of the judicial hierarchy together with the Court of Tax Appeals, a special tax court created by law. c. Quasi-judicial agencies – Administrative bodies under the executive branch performing quasi-judicial functions, like the NLRC, the SEC, LTFRB, Insurance Commission, etc., and the independent Constitutional Commissions (CSC, Comelec, and CoA) do not form part of the integrated judicial system. 8. Classifications of law a. as to its purpose Substantive law or that portion of the body of law creating and defining rights and duties which may be either public or private in character. Ex.: law on obligations and contracts  Adjective law or that portion of the body of law prescribing the manner or procedure by which rights may be enforced or their violations redressed. Sometimes this is called remedial law or procedural law. Ex.: The provision of law which says that actions for the recovery of real property shall be filed with the RTC of the region where the property or any part therefore lies.  b. as to its subject matter Public law or the body of legal rules which regulates the rights and duties arising from the relationship of the state to the people. Ex: Criminal law – the law which defines crimes and provides for their punishment. International law or that law which governs the relations among nations or states. Constitutional law or that which governs the relations between the state and its citizens; it establishes the fundamental powers of the government. Administrative law or that which governs the methods by which the functions of administrative authorities are to be performed. Criminal procedure or that branch of private law which governs the methods of trial and punishment in criminal cases.  Private law or the body of rules which regulates the relations of individuals with one another for purely private ends. The law on obligations and contracts comes under this heading because it deals with the rights and obligations of the contracting parties only. Included in private law are civil law, commercial law or mercantile law and civil procedure. Civil procedure – that branch of private law which provides for the means by which private rights may be enforced. Law on obligations and contracts – the body of rules which deals with the nature and sources of obligations and the rights and duties arising from agreements and the particular contracts. “Ignorance of law excuses no one from compliance therewith.” “ Everyone, therefore, is conclusively presumed to know the law.”