Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Matrimonial Consent
o The ff. are incapable of contracting a marriage: Those who
1. Lack sufficient use of reason
2. Suffer from grave lack of discretionary judgment concerning
essential matrimonial rights and obligations to be mutually given
and accepted
3. Because of causes of a psychological nature, are unable to assume
the essential obligations of marriage
Reasons:
o Substitute for divorce
Divorce is very controversial and would surely be opposed by the
Catholic Church. In drawing from the Canon Law, grounds for
declaring nullity of marriage without violating traditional civil law
concept of voidable marriages was found
o Solution to problem of Church-annulled marriages
Many marriages annulled by Church but still valid under civil law
This provision provides cause of action for parties of Churchannulled marriages to have their marriages declared void
o Additional remedy
Give remedy to parties imprisoned by a marriage that exists in
name only due to long period of separation because of inability to
perform essential obligations of marriage
Does the action to declare the marriage void under this article prescribe?
No.
However, under amendment by E.O. 277 (July 17, 1987)
o Marriages before effectivity of FC: action or defense for declaration of
nullity prescribes in ten years after FC becomes effective (Aug. 3, 1988)
Action for annulment instead of action for declaration of nullity can be filed
o If case falls under any action for annulment of marriage and has not
prescribed
Advantageous to aggrieved spouse
o Marriage will have all effects of a valid marriage because it is valid until
annulled
Art. 36 was first interpreted in Leouel Santos vs. C.A. and Julia Rosario BediaSantos
o High court in said case held:
Jurisprudence under Canon Law on subject prevailing at the time of
FCs enactment CANNOT be dismissed as impertinent for its value
as an aid to the interpretation/construction of the codal provision
Term psychological incapacity in Art. 36
Not meant to comprehend all cases of psychoses
Cant be taken and construed independently of, but rather
must stand in conjunction with, existing marriage laws
Laws intent: confine meaning of psychological incapacity to
the most serious cases of personality disorders demonstrating
inability to give meaning and significance to marriage
Careful examination of degree, extent, and other conditions of
incapacity must be applied so no precipitate and
indiscriminate nullity is peremptorily decreed
o Courts ruling
The fact that respondent wife left her husband and baby for two
years after marriage to work as a nurse in the US and never
returned, and that husband desperately tried to locate her but all his
efforts to find her failed, were considered by High Court insufficient