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Notes+for+General+Provisions+%28COMLAW+1%29

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sammerlao
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Notes in Commercial Law 1 – Obligations and Contracts

As summarized from the discussion of Atty. Cedric Lance Militar


At the University of St. La Salle.
Main Reference: Law on Obligations and Contracts by Hector De Leon

Part II: General Provisions of Obligations (Articles 1156-1162 of the New


Civil Code)

Article 1156: An obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do or not to do.

This provision can be broken down as follows:

The term obligation is predicated by the concept of juridical necessity. Juridical


necessity simply means that an obligation has legal consequences that can be
enforced in a court of law. To further understand a civil obligation, reference to
the requisites must be made:
Requisites of a Civil Obligation:

- A passive subject/debtor/obligor – it is the party who has the duty or


responsibility to fulfill. This party is the one being demanded to by the
creditor/obligee, hence, referred to as the passive subject.

- An active subject/creditor/obligee- it is the party who has the right to


demand the fulfillment of the obligation to the passive subject/debtor.

- The object/prestation/subject matter- it is the conduct between the active


and passive subjects. This conduct can be identified by determining if the
obligation is an obligation to give, to do, or not to do. These types of
obligations are determinative of the conduct by which the passive subject
must fulfill, and to discuss further:

Prepared by Atty. Cedric Lance Militar Page 1 of 4


o Obligation To Give – this obligation is also known as a real
obligation. This obligation aims to deliver something, which can
either be a determinate/specific thing or an indeterminate/generic
thing.
§ An Indeterminate/Generic Thing is one that belongs to a
particular class or genus. An example of which is a box of
pencils, markers, or sacks of rice.
§ A Determinate/Specific Thing is one that is physically
segregated or particularly separated from its class or genus.
An example of which is a white Toyota vios with plate number
123, my marker, or my laptop.

o Obligation To Do – this obligation is also known as a positive


personal obligation. This involves the performance of a service, such
as a contract to paint a house or build a house.

o Obligation Not To Do – this obligation is also known as a negative


personal obligation. This involves not doing any act, such as an
agreement not to construct an extension of a building.

- The legal tie/juridical tie/vinculum juris – this is the binding relation


between the parties. The existence of a legal tie can be determined by
identifying the source of an obligation under Article 1157.

Article 1157 provides for the sources of an obligation. These sources are as
follows:

Prepared by Atty. Cedric Lance Militar Page 2 of 4


Law – obligations derived from law shall not presumed. This means that
obligations sourced from law must be specifically provided for by law, such as
the payment of taxes or obligation to support one’s child.

Contracts – contracts, as a source of an obligation, has the force of law between


the parties. This means that the agreement contained in a contract becomes the
controlling law between the contracting parties, provided that the said agreement
must not be contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order, and public
policy. A contract is considered valid and binding as a juridical tie when there is
a meeting of the minds.

Quasi- Contracts – this obligation is born out of the unilateral or voluntary act
of a party, that benefited the other party, or that there is a wrongful delivery of
a thing where the recipient has no right to receive the said thing. The essence
for this source is founded on the concept of unjust enrichment of one party at
the expense of the other. There are two types of Quasi-Contracts:

- Negotiorum Gestio – exists when through the unilateral/voluntary


act of managing the property or affairs of the owner without a prior
consent or authority, the said owner was benefited at the expense of
the managing party.

- Solutio Indebiti – exists when a party wrongfully receives a thing


without any right to do so, and that thing belongs to another.

Delicts/Acts or Omissions Punished by Law – this is also called as a crime or


offense. As a general rule, when a person commits a crime, there is a civil liability
attached to that offense or crime. Hence, when a felony, crime or offense is
committed, the perpetrator has both criminal liability and civil liability. The civil
liabilities of an offender or accused are:

Prepared by Atty. Cedric Lance Militar Page 3 of 4


1. Restitution – to restore the thing or putting things as they were or
back to status quo
2. Reparation – to repair the damage caused
3. Indemnification – to pay for the consequential damages.

Note: these civil liabilities are resorted to in order. Hence, restitution


must be applied first, and if such is not possible, reparation should be
applied, and so on.

Quasi-Delicts/Torts – this obligation is created when the following requisites


exist:
1. Act or omission by the tortfeasor
2. There being fault or negligence accompanying the act or omission
3. There is damaged cause to the aggrieved party
4. There is a direct connection between the act/omission and the damage
as the effect
5. There is no pre-existing contractual relation between the tortfeasor and
the aggrieved party.

Note: an injury/wrong/cause of action is the violation or invasion of one’s right.


Further, it exists when, because of the act/omission of the tortfeasor, the right
of the aggrieved party has been violated or invaded, thereby causing damage to
the said party.

Nota bene: While there are five sources of obligation, there are generally two
types: the law and the contract. This is so because quasi-contract, delicts and
quasi-delicts are all governed by the provisions of the law and the contract is
governed by the stipulations of the parties.

Prepared by Atty. Cedric Lance Militar Page 4 of 4

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