Posts

Showing posts from November, 2020

Liability of city or municipal force (Article 34, Civil Code)

Image
When a member of a city or municipal police force refuses or fails to render aid or protection to any person in case of danger to life or property, such peace officer shall be primarily liable for damages and the city or municipality shall be subsidiarily responsible therefor. The civil action herein recognized shall be independent of any criminal proceedings, and a preponderance of evidence shall suffice to support such action. (Article 34, Civil Code) Article 34 lays down the availability of a separate and independent civil action against any member of a city or municipal police force who refuses or fails to air or protect in cases of danger to life or property. What makes this provision of law more powerful is the imposition of a subsidiary liability on the part of the city or municipality. Paras, however, explains: "Incidentally, this Article does not grant to the government the defense of due diligence in the selection and supervision of the policemen."

What should teenagers do to become great lawyers someday?

Image
Read more: Robert Charles Lee. What can I do at age 15 if I want to become a great lawyer? Updated answer on September 6, 2020. https://www.quora.com/What-can-I-do-at-age-15-if-I-want-to-become-a-great-lawyer. The truth? You don’t need to do anything special. You just need to do your current school stuff well first. Everything else is just a detail, I promise you that. Without good school grades, it will be a non-starter any which way you look at it. The field is highly competitive (and expensive) to get in, and even more competitive to stay in. If you don’t get good grades, you just won’t get in. Simple as that. (NOTE: This is not particularly true in all law schools in the Philippines.) If I had to give you pointers, I’d say these things will get you moving in the right direction: Find a way to become a fluent reader and articulate writer.  The whole racket about law is to read up, be read-in, and lots of writing. If your skills in the reading and writing department is

What makes law students special?

Image
Read more: Jemy Gatdula (2020). What makes law students special. Being Right. https://www.bworldonline.com/what-makes-law-students-special. Of the troubles besetting legal education today, the growing self-centeredness of many law students is most wearisome. The puffed self-conception of being superior to other students, with problems and studies so hard they’re entitled to special status, is not only annoying but problematic. It poses a profound obstacle not only to legal education but also to the legal profession’s development itself. Where did that come from? Why is socmed suddenly full of pathetic articles about the “difficulties of dating a law student,” “how to attract a law student,” or “how law school made me depressed”? “Freedom walls” are full of sophomoric law students pontificating on why their teachers are wrong and that law courses should be taught their way instead. Never mind that med or military schools offer more grueling, intense studies

Separate, independent civil action for defamation, fraud and physical injuries (Article 33, Civil Code)

Image
In cases of defamation, fraud and physical injuries, a civil action for damages, entirely separate and distinct from the criminal action, may be brought by the injured party. Such civil action shall proceed independently of the criminal prosecution, shall require only a preponderance of evidence. (Article 33, Civil Code) Article 33 speaks of separate and independent civil actions even if the basis of the liability is the the act or omission complained of as a crime as long as the case is one of defamation, fraud or physical injuries. The words "defamation," "fraud" and "physical injuries" are general terms which should be given their general meanings. For example, in Carandang v. Santiago, it was held that murder and homicide are within the term "physical injuries," the same way libel and slander are within "defamation" and the same way "fraud" is covered by estafa and other crimes involving fraud. The Supre

25 rights and liberties protected by the Civil Code

Image
Any public officer or employee, or any private individual, who directly or indirectly obstructs, defeats, violates or in any manner impedes or impairs any of the following rights and liberties of another person shall be liable to the latter for damages: Freedom of religion ; Freedom of speech ; Freedom to write for the press or to maintain a periodical publication; Freedom from arbitrary or illegal detention ; Freedom of suffrage ; The right against deprivation of property without due process of law; The right to a just compensation when private property is taken for public use; The right to the equal protection of the laws; The right to be secure in one's person, house, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures ; The liberty of abode and of changing the same; The privacy of communication and correspondence; The right

SC: Gov't should pay damages for failure to release innocent's property

Image
SECOND DIVISION  [ G.R. No. 180741, January 11, 2010 ]  JEREMIAS I. DOLINO V. BENJAMIN R. VILLANUEVA. In the absence of bad faith, malice or gross negligence, can a public officer be nonetheless held liable for nominal damages for incurring delay in the release of a seized vehicle to its owner? The Facts and the Case Respondent Benjamin R. Villanueva (Villanueva) owned a passenger jeepney that plied the Boljoon-Camprango-Dalayday route in Boljoon, Cebu. On July 31, 1993 police authorities stopped his jeepney because of the forest products loaded in it. When the owners of the products failed to present the proper clearance for transporting these products, the police authorities seized and impounded them together with the jeepney. These were later turned over to the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) at Argao, Cebu. On August 20, 1993 police authorities charged the owners of the forest products before the Provincial Prosecutor'

CASE DIGEST: Aberca v. Ver (G.R. No. 69866)

Image
CASE DIGEST: [ G.R. No. 69866, April 15, 1988 ] ROGELIO ABERCA, et al., PETITIONERS, VS. MAJ. GEN. FABIAN VER, et al. YAP, J.: FACTS: Persons apprehended and imprisoned without charges during the Martial Law regime, upon their release after a new administration took over, filed suits for damages against General Fabian Ver and others who effected their arrest and detention. ISSUE: Are respondents immune from Article 32 as members of the armed forces merely doing their duty? HELD: Article 32 of the Civil Code which renders any public officer or employee or any private individual liable in damages for violating the Constitutional rights and liberties of another, as enumerated therein, does not exempt the respondents from responsibility. Only judges are excluded from liability under the said article, provided their acts or omissions do not constitute a violation of the Penal Code or other penal statute. This is not to say that military author

CIVIL LIABILITY FROM OTHER SOURCES (ARTICLE 31, CIVIL CODE)

[ 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 . When the civil action is based on an obligation not arising from the act or omission complained of as a felony, such civil action may proceed independently of the criminal proceedings and regardless of the result of the latter. (Article 31, Civil Code) This article refers to a civil action which is no longer based on the criminal liability of the defendant, but on an obligation arising from other sources, like law, contracts, quasi-contracts and quasi-delicts. Article 1157 must be recalled in stating: "Obligations arise from: (1) Law; (2) Contracts; (3) Quasi-con

Civil liability arising from crime (Article 30, Civil Code)

Image
When a separate civil action is brought to demand civil liability arising from a criminal offense, and no criminal proceedings are instituted during the pendency of the civil case, a preponderance of evidence shall likewise be sufficient to prove the act complained of. (Article 30, Civil Code) Article 30 simply means that a civil action arising from crime can proceed as long as there is no pending criminal action for the same act or omission complained of as a crime. In such a case, only a preponderance of evidence is required in the civil action to prove entitlement to damages. However, if there is a pending criminal action for the same act or omission, the suspension of the civil action is government by Rule 111 of the Rules of Court. It must be emphasized that Article 30 does not refer to separate and independent civil actions . Separate and independent civil actions can proceed despite the pendency of a criminal action for the same act or omission. W

Civil action despite accused's acquittal (Article 29, Civil Code)

Image
When the accused in a criminal prosecution is acquitted on the ground that his guilt has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt, a civil action for damages for the same act or omission may be instituted. Such action requires only a preponderance of evidence. Upon motion of the defendant, the court may require the plaintiff to file a bond to answer for damages in case the complaint should be found to be malicious. (Paragraph 1, Article 29, Civil Code) If in a criminal case the judgment of acquittal is based upon reasonable doubt, the court shall so declare. In the absence of any declaration to that effect, it may be inferred from the text of the decision whether or not the acquittal is due to that ground. (Paragraph 2, Article 29, Civil Code) The law, via Article 29, allows a civil action to prosper even if the accused has been acquitted due to reasonable doubt. In other words, even if the prosecution fails to prove criminal liability beyond reasonable doubt,

Reasonable interchangeability test and consumer response test to determine unfair competition

Image
SEPARATE CONCURRING OPINION in [ G.R. Nos. 213365-66, December 10, 2018 ] ASIA PACIFIC RESOURCES INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, LTD., PETITIONER, vs. PAPERONE, INC., RESPONDENT. LEONEN, J.: I concur in the result. Respondent should be liable for unfair competition under Section 168 [1]  of Republic Act No. 8293, or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines. I agree that we should base our decision in this case on present jurisprudence. This means, generally, that there are two types of confusion with trademarks and trade names: confusion of goods and confusion of business. A finding of confusion is highly fact-specific based on the circumstances of the case. [2]  In  Canon Kabushiki Kaisha v. Court of Appeals : [3] The likelihood of confusion of goods or business is a relative concept, to be determined only according to the particular, and sometimes peculiar, circumstances of each case. Indeed, in trademark law cases, even more than in oth

Unfair competition (Article 28, Civil Code)

Image
Unfair competition in agricultural, commercial or industrial enterprises or in labor through the use of force, intimidation, deceit, machination or any other unjust, oppressive or highhanded method shall give rise to a right of action by the person who thereby suffers damage. (Article 28 of the Civil Code) Article 28 is the counterpart of Article 189 of the Revised Penal Code (Act 3815). The latter punished "unfair competition, fraudulent registration of trade-mark, trade-name or service mark, fraudulent designation of origin, and false description." Article 189 punishes: Any person who, in unfair competition and for the purposes of deceiving or defrauding another of his legitimate trade or the public in general, shall sell his goods giving them the general appearance of goods of another manufacturer or dealer, either as to the goods themselves, or in the wrapping of the packages in which they are contained or the device or words the