PROJECT JURISPRUDENCE

Limitations are provided for by the Constitution: [1] The rules shall provide a simplified and inexpensive procedure for the speedy disposition of cases, [2] The rules shall be uniform for all courts of the same grade, and [3] The rules shall not diminish, increase, or modify substantive rights. (Art. VIII, Sec. 5[5], Constitution). In determining whether a rule prescribed by the Supreme Court, for the practice and procedure of the lower courts, abridges, enlarges, or modifies any substantive right, the test is whether the rule really regulates procedure, that is, the judicial process for enforcing rights and duties recognized by substantive law and for justly administering remedy and redress for a disregard or infraction of them. If the rule takes away a vested right, it is not procedural. If the rule creates a right such as the right to appeal, it may be classified as a substantive matter; but if it operates as a means of implementing an existing right then the rule deals mer

None of the co-owners shall, without the consent of the others, make alterations in the thing owned in common, even though benefits for all will result therefrom. However, if the withholding of the consent of one or more of the co-owners is clearly prejudicial to the common interest, the courts may afford adequate relief. (Art. 491 of the Civil Code) An alteration is a change which is more or less permanent, changes the use of the thing, and prejudices the condition of the thing or its enjoyment by the others.

Money laundering is the term for any process that "cleans" illegally obtained funds of their "dirty" criminal origins, allowing them to be used within the legal economy. And the practice is about as old as money itself. But how does it actually work? Delena D. Spann describes the ins and outs of money laundering. Lesson by Delena D. Spann, animation by Juan M. Urbina. SOURCE:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=257wV-AbKaE

The Supreme Court has affirmed a decision by the Court of Appeals to dismiss a case that sought to reverse the acquittal of Imelda Marcos, widow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, of money laundering in connection with their secret Swiss bank accounts. In a decision dated June 27 but made public only this week, the Supreme Court’s Third Division denied for lack of merit the petition for certiorari filed in 2008 by the late Solicitor General Frank Chavez. xxx The case involved the 18 bank accounts in Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland, which were discovered to have been opened and maintained by the Marcos couple from 1973 to 1985. The foreign deposits, according to the 33 consolidated criminal complaints filed in 1991, violated Central Bank and other government regulations and were claimed as proof of the ill-gotten and hidden wealth of the Marcoses by President Corazon Aquino’s government. SOURCE:  SC upholds Imelda acquittal, scolds gov’t By: Jerome Aning - Reporter / @JeromeAningINQ P

Is the falsity employed in their statement in the affidavit of cohabitation a mere irregularity? The ratiocination of the Republic that as a marriage under a license is not invalidated by the fact that the license was wrongfully obtained, so must a marriage not be invalidated by a fabricated statement that the parties have cohabited for at least five years as required by law, is NOT correct. The contract is flagrant. The former is with reference to an irregularity of the marriage license, and not to the absence of one. Hence, there is no marriage license at all. Furthermore, the falsity of the allegation in the sworn affidavit relating to the period of the parties’ cohabitation, which would have qualified their marriage as an exception to the requirement for a marriage license, cannot be a mere irregularity, for it refers to a quintessential fact that the law precisely required to be deposed and attested to by the parties under oath. If the essential matter in the sworn affidavit

This week Craig continues our conversation on presidential powers by looking at those NOT found in the Constitution - implied or inherent powers. We’ll talk about how the president uses his or her power to negotiate executive agreements, recommend legislative initiatives, instate executive orders, impound funds, and claim executive privilege in order to get things done. Implied powers are kind of tough to tack down, as they aren’t really powers until they’re asserted, but once the they are, most subsequent presidents chose not to give them up. So we’ll try to cover those we’ve seen so far and talk a little bit about reactions to these sometimes controversial actions from the other branches of Congress. SOURCE:  https://youtu.be/fnHb-zyWh14

Jurisprudence has laid down the rule that the five-year common-law cohabitation period under Article 76 means a five-year period computed back from the date of celebration of marriage, and refers to a period of legal union had it not been for the absence of a marriage. (Niñal v. Bayadog). It covers the years immediately preceding the day of the marriage, characterized by exclusivity – meaning no third party was involved at any time within the five years – and continuity (that is, unbroken).

Article 1227. The debtor cannot exempt himself from the performance of the obligation by paying the penalty, save in the case where this right has been expressly reserved for him. Neither can the creditor demand the fulfillment of the obligation and the satisfaction of the penalty at the same time, unless this right has been clearly granted him. However, if after the creditor has decided to require the fulfillment of the obligation, the performance thereof should become impossible without his fault, the penalty may be enforced. (Civil Code of the Philippines) The one who failed to perform that which is incumbent upon him cannot exculpate himself from the performance of the main obligation by the payment of the penalty provided by the penal clause except when the agreement so specifically provides that said payment will actually extinguish the main obligation. As for the creditor, he cannot ask the debtor to fulfill the main obligation and the penalty at the same time, unless, of co

When an unlawful aggression has ceased to exist, the one making a defense has no right to kill or injure the former aggressor. An act of aggression, when its author does not persist in his purpose, or when he discontinues his attitude to the extent that the object of his attack is no longer in peril, is not unlawful aggression warranting self-defense. When the unlawful aggression which has begun no longer exists, the one making the defense has no more right to kill or even wound the former aggressor. Aggression, if not continuous, does not constitute aggression warranting self-defense. SOURCES: People vs. San Juan, G.R. No. 144505, 06 August 2002, 386 SCRA 400; People vs. Tejero, G.R. No. 135050, 19 April 2002, 381 SCRA 382; People vs. Geneblazo, G.R. No. 133580, 20 July 2001, 361 SCRA 572; People vs. Caguing, G.R. No. 139822, 06 December 2000, 347 SCRA 374

NOTE: Please remember that "practice of law" is defined differently in different jurisdictions. In the Philippines, it has been defined rather loosely by the Supreme Court. Please check the case of Cayetano v. Monsod cited below. Is there a good reason to allow non-lawyers to provide legal services? Lawyers’ education and training is superior. Admission standards are high. We are bound by codes of conduct and must be insured. Lawyers who breach professional duties may be disciplined. Why should anyone with lesser qualifications be inflicted on the public? The short answer is that lawyers do not and cannot fill the public’s need for legal services. According to the 2009 Ontario Civil Legal Needs Project, lawyers provide advice and representation for only 11.7 per cent of what the study called "justiciable events:" issues relating to consumers, employment, debt, social assistance, housing, disability pension, discrimination, family law, and hospit

LIVING THROUGH MARTIAL LAW...My testimony I was in fourth year high school the day we woke up, on September 23, went to school, and were told that there was no school. My father drove me and Jet through town, and there was an eerie quiet. There were soldiers at radio stations, and there was no broadcast, except a brief announcement that we were to tune in at 6 that night. But the days before were sheer chaos: There were demonstrations and rallies almost every day. The thoroughfares were impassable because activists wanted the streets to themselves. Earlier we were told of UP students who had occupied the university for some time, until they were driven off by the elements of the military. At 6 that evening, we tuned in the TV at home, at Mercedes Village. There was TV but no cable service, which meant that my grandfather had to construct such a high antenna that installing it alone caused him to scrape his knee very badly. Through the blurry black and white monitor came Marcos

NEWS BY ABS-CBN:  The Supreme Court (SC) has approved the implementation of salary increase for first level court judges nationwide. Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro approved the recommendation of Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez to increase the salary of judges in lower courts, pursuant to an en banc resolution passed in June. From salary grade 26 and 27, judges of municipal trial courts, municipal circuit trial courts, Shari’a circuit courts, and municipal trial court in cities will now be under salary grade 28. This would mean that judges receiving P102,000 to P114,000 shall be receiving around P127,000, effective July 1, 2018. SOURCE:  Lower court judges to get pay hike; Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News; Posted at Sep 19 2018 04:55 AM; https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/19/18/lower-court-judges-to-get-pay-hike

Article 1226. In obligations with a penal clause, the penalty shall substitute the indemnity for damages and the payment of interests in case of noncompliance, if there is no stipulation to the contrary. Nevertheless, damages shall be paid if the obligor refuses to pay the penalty or is guilty of fraud in the fulfillment of the obligation. The penalty may be enforced only when it is demandable in accordance with the provisions of this Code. If the agreement contains a stipulation that in case of noncompliance, the person obliged shall pay a certain fine, there is no more need for payment for damages or for interests, except when the parties agreed that there must still be payment of the same. Otherwise put, parties to an agreement may stipulate that the debtor in case of noncompliance shall pay both a certain fine agreed upon and the damages and interests for failure to perform the obligation. Remember, as a general rule, the stipulated fine substitutes the payment for damages a

Centuries ago Magna Charta decreed that — "No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or be disseized of his freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will we pass upon him nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either justice or right." (Magna Charta, 9 Hen., 111, 1225, Cap. 29; 1 Eng. Stat. at Large, 7.) No official, no matter how high, is above the law. The courts are the forum which functionate to safeguard individual liberty and to punish official transgressors. "The law," said Justice Miller, delivering the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, "is the only supreme power in our system of government, and every man who by accepting office participates in its functions is all the more strongly bound to submit to that supremacy, and to observe the limitations which

The Commission has the power, authority and duty to examine, audit and settle all accounts and expenditures of the funds and properties of the Philippine government. Towards that end, it has the exclusive authority to define the scope, techniques and methods of its auditing and examination procedures. It also may prevent and disallow irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant or unconscionable expenditures, or uses of government funds and properties. (Section 2(2), Article IX-D, Constitution of the Philippines) RULE II, SECTION 1 OF 2009 REVISED RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COMMISSION ON AUDIT The Commission on Audit shall have the power, authority, and duty to examine, audit and settle all accounts pertaining to the revenues and receipts of, and expenditures or uses of funds and property, owned or held in trust by, or pertaining to the Government, or any of its subdivisions, agencies, or instrumentalities, including government-owned and controlled corporations with original c

Female lawyers, too, get sexually harassed. [1] Female lawyers say sexual harassment is rife in the industry, but many are afraid to report their senior male colleagues. [2] One former lawyer goes so far as to say equity partners are "untouchable." [3] Experts say the culture within the legal profession is such that the victim is seen as being "weak." Lawyers, the people who regularly represent and report cases of sexual harassment, have revealed it is a big problem within their own profession. READ MORE AT:  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-13/female-lawyers-reveal-sexual-harassment-in-legal-profession/10239078 The legal profession has benefited from an enormous increase in the number of women lawyers entering the profession over the past four decades. While the entry pipeline of women remains robust, at each advancing level of a lawyer’s career, we lose a disproportionate number of talented women lawyers. Many of the reasons for the falloff can be traced

To be entitled to this mitigating circumstance, the following elements must be present: (1) There should be an act both unlawful and sufficient to produce such condition of mind; (2) the act that produced the obfuscation was not far removed from the commission of the crime by a considerable length of time, during which the perpetrator might recover his normal equanimity. (People vs. Gonzalez, G.R. No. 139542, 21 June 2001, 359 SCRA 220)

Instead of money, the United States and the United Nations will give the Philippines rice, food, generators, storage tents and other equipment. The United States Agency for International Development/Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) disaster risk reduction support, and the UN World Food Programme, are coordinating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development. This is "to provide logistics support" for Ompong response activities, "including transporting 1,000 metric tons of rice to be used in emergency food parcels" for Ompong-hit communities in northern Luzon. The WFP also helped in "prepositioning generators, storage tents, and other logistics equipment" in WFP warehouses in Luzon. – Rappler.com SOURCE:  LIST: Foreign aid for Philippines after Typhoon Ompong; Rappler.com Published 6:55 PM, September 16, 2018 Updated 6:55 PM, September 16, 2018; https://www.rappler.com/nation/212128-foreign-aid-philippines-typhoon-ompong

[1] Traditionally, the general rule is non-delegation. However, under modern political law, delegation has slowly become the general rule. [2] The principle of non-delegation of powers is usually cited with reference to legislative powers. NON-DELEGATION OF POWERS REINFORCES SEPARATION OF POWERS [3] The general principle of non-delegation of legislative power, which both flows from the reinforces the more fundamental rule of the separation and allocation of powers among the three great departments of government, must be applied with circumspection in respect of statutes which like the Medical Act of 1959, deal with subjects as obviously complex and technical as medical education and the practice of medicine in our present day world. (Tablarin v. Gutierrez, 152 SCRA 730, 1987) [4] One thing, however, is apparent in the development of the principle of separation of powers and that is that the maxim of delegatus non potest delegare or delegate potestas non potest delegare, adopt

[ NO RECOMMENDED CITATION ] PJP UNDOCKETED : This content is yet to be peer reviewed and has not yet received any favorable recommendation for citation. It may or may not be queued up for citation recommendation or peer review. Caution is advised. CONTACT US : For immediate action on requests, comments, concerns, suggestions, and other forms of feedback, please message us on Facebook at www.m.me/projectjuris . [1] The general rule is separation of powers. The exceptions are blending of powers and checks and balances. [2] Constitutional entities blend powers when they put their powers together to achieve a goal. When the President signs a bill, there is a blending between the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch. When the President vetoes, there is checks and balances. [3] When the Commission on Appointments confirms the President's appointment, there is blending of powers. When it does not confirm, there is checks and balances. [4

BY INQ:  The national flag of the People’s Republic of China was hoisted side-by-side the Philippine national flag in front of the House of Representatives building in Quezon City on Monday. A banner welcoming Ji Bingxuan, the Vice Chairman of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China, was also posted in front of the House’s main entrance. The flags and the banner were removed on the same day at around 2:00 p.m. SOURCE:  LOOK: China flag hoisted at House to welcome Chinese execs, a ‘first’ in PH, solon claims By: Pathricia Ann V. Roxas - Reporter / @PathRoxasINQ INQUIRER.net / 02:14 PM September 10, 2018 Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1030188/look-china-flag-hoisted-at-house-to-welcome-chinese-execs-a-first-in-ph-solon-claims#ixzz5Qlf8McQ8 Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook PHOTO LINK:  http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/wp-content/blogs.dir/10/files/2018/09/China-flag-at-House-620x465.jpg