ignorantia legis non excusat – ignorance of the law excuses no one
Unless It Is Otherwise Provided – refers to the date of effectivity and not to the requirement of publication itself, which cannot in any event be omitted.
doctrine of processual presumption – A foreign law must be properly pleaded and proved as a fact. Thus, if the foreign law involved is not properly pleaded and proved, our courts will presume that the foreign law is the same as our local or domestic or internal law
Ex-Post Facto Law – is one that would make a previous act criminal although it was not so at the time it was committed.
express repeal – is that contained in a special provision of a subsequent law
Implied repeal – takes place when the provisions of the subsequent law are incompatible with those of an earlier law and there is no express repeal
power of judicial review – is when the Supreme Court thus passes judgment upon the constitutionality of a statute or an administrative action
Decisions of the Supreme Court or Jurisprudence – although in themselves not laws, are evidence of what the law means.
doctrine of stare decisis – is based on the principle that once a question of law has been examined and decided, it should be deemed settled and closed to further argument.
nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege – there is no crime when there is no law punishing it
dura lex sed lex – the law may be harsh, but it is still the law
Principle of Lex Rei Sitae – real and personal properties are subject to the law of the country in which they are situated.
Renvoi Doctrine – literally means referring back; the problem arises when there is a doubt as to whether a reference to a foreign law is a reference to the internal law of said foreign law; or a reference to the whole of the foreign law, including its conflict rules.
Lex loci celebrationis – the forms and solemnities of contracts, wills and other public instruments are governed by the law of the country in which they are executed
lex contractus – The intrinsic validity of a contract is governed by the proper law of the contract
lex loci voluntatis – the law of the place voluntarily agreed upon by the contracting parties
lex loci intentionis – the law of the place intended by them expressly or impliedly
damnum absque injuria – damage resulting from the legitimate exercise of a person’s rights is a loss without injury. In other words, one who merely exercises one’s rights does no actionable injury and cannot be held liable for damages.
RES IPSA LOQUITUR – the thing speaks for itself
accion in rem verso – an action for recovery of what has been paid or delivered without just cause or legal ground
Solutio Indebiti – If something is received when there is no right to demand it, and it was unduly delivered through mistake, the obligation to return it arises.
Unfair Competition – is the employment of deception or any other means contrary to good faith by which he shall pass off the goods manufactured by him or in which he deals, or his business, or services for those of the one having established such goodwill, or who shall commit any acts calculated to produce said result.
Delict or crime as Source of Civil Liability – every person criminally liable for a felony is also civilly liable
quasi-delict or culpa aquiliana – is a separate legal institution with a substantivity all its own, and individuality that is entirely apart and independent from delict or crime
Prejudicial Question – I t is one based on a fact distinct and separate from the crime but so intimately connected with it that it determines the guilt or innocence of the accused, and for it to suspend the criminal action, it must appear not only that said case involves facts intimately related to those upon which the criminal prosecution would be based but also that in the resolution of the issue or issues raised in the civil case, the guilt or innocence of the accused would necessary be determined
A prejudicial question usually comes into play in a situation where a civil action and a criminal action both pend and there exists in the former an issue which must be preemptively resolved before the criminal action may proceed
juridical capacity or juridical personality – the fitness to be the subject of legal relations
capacity to act – the power to do acts with legal effect
Insanity and Imbecility – An imbecile is a person who while advanced in age has the mental capacity comparable to that of a child between two and seven years of age while an insane person is one whose mental faculties are diseased
Juridical persons – are artificial beings to which the law grants a personality distinct and separate from each individual member composing it and susceptible of rights and obligations, or of being the subject of legal relations
Marriage – is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature, consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the property relations during the marriage within the limits provided by this Code.
void ab initio – void at the very beginning
Common-Law Marriage – a marriage without formal solemnization or without formalities. It is sometimes termed as “consensual marriage” or “marriage in fact or Live In
Marriage License – is issued upon the submission of certificate of legal capacity and will be obtained in the locality where either of the contracting parties resides.
Marriage Ceremony – the contracting parties must appear personally before the solemnizing officer and declare in the presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age that they take each other as husband and wife
Articulo mortis – At the moment of death or at the point of death
Obiter Dictum – an incidental and collateral remark that is uttered or written by a judge but is not binding
Psychological Incapacity – no exact definition, but either or both parties were psychologically incapacitated from complying with the essential marital obligations of marriage at the time of the celebration of marriage even if such incapacity becomes manifest only after its celebration
sine qua non – without which it could not be, an indispensable action or condition
Donations by reason of marriage or donation propter nuptias – are those which are made before its celebration, in consideration of the same, and in favor of one or both of the future spouses. In donations propter nuptias, it is necessary that the donee should be one or both of the spouses, although the donor may either be a third person or one of the spouses.
Annulment – is the judicial or legal process of invalidating a voidable marriage. It is to be distinguished from an action for declaration of absolute nullity of a void marriage. Annul means to reduce to nothing; tonullify; to abolish; to do away with
Physical incapacity for marriage or impotency – the inability for procreation; hence barrenness or sterility of itself or mere sexual weakness or frigidity
doctrine of triennial cohabitation – if the wife remains a virgin after three years of cohabitation, the husband will be presumed impotent, and the burden to overcome such presumption of impotency will be shifted upon him
MOTU PROPRIO – Of his own motion
Ipso facto – by the fact itself
Legal Separation – is a legal remedy available to parties in a valid but failed marriage for the purpose of obtaining a decree from court entitling him or her to certain reliefs such as the right to live separately from each other (without affecting the marital bond that exists between them), the dissolution and liquidation of their absolute community or conjugal partnership property regime and the custody of their minor children.
psychological violence – acts or omissions causing or likely to cause mental or emotional suffering of the victim such as but not limited to intimidation, harassment, stalking, damage to property, public ridicule or humiliation, repeated verbal abuse and mental infidelity
sexual violence – an act which is sexual in nature, committed against a woman or her child
Sexual Perversion – includes all unusual or abnormal sexual practices which may be offensive to the feelings or sense of decency of either the husband or the wife
prima facie – at first look or on its face, sufficient to establish a fact or raise a presumption unless disproved or rebutted
Condonation – is the conditional forgiveness or remission, by a husband or wife, of a matrimonial offense which the other has committed
Consent – is agreement or conformity in advance of the commission of the act which would be a ground for legal separation
Connivance – implies agreement, express or implied, by both spouses to the ground for legal separation
Collusion – in legal separation means the agreement between husband and wife for one of them to commit, or to appear to commit, or to be represented in court as having committed, a matrimonial offense, or to suppress evidence of a valid defense, for the purpose of enabling the other to obtain a legal separation
Recrimination (Mutual Guilt) – Where both parties have given ground for legal separation, the petition for legal separation must be dismissed
action personalis moritur cum persona – the death of one party to the action causes the death of the action itself
Rights and Obligations between Husband and Wife – The husband and wife are obliged to live together, observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, and render mutual help and support
amor gignit amorem – love begets love
marriage settlement or ante nuptial contract – is a contract which is entered into before, but in contemplation and in consideration of, marriage, whereby the property relations of the spouses during the marriage are fixed and determined
Absolute Community Property – the spouses are considered co-owners of all property brought into and acquired during the marriage which are not otherwise excluded from the community property either by the provisions of the Family Code or by the marriage settlement
Separation de facto – refers to a situation where the spouses simply separate without the benefit of a decree of legal separation