TORTS AND CRIMES

i.

CONCEPT AND PURPOSE OF TORT LIABILITY

Tort legal wrong committed upon a person or property independent of contract.

**Article 2176 of the NCC Whoever by act or omission causes damage to another, there
being no fault or negligence, is obliged to pay for the damage done. Such fault or
negligence, if there are no pre-existing contractual relations is termed quasi-delict and
shall be governed by the provisions of this Code.
Purpose:
1.
2.

ii.

To deter wrongdoer
To compensate persons

How is the lex loci determined?

2.

3.

Civil Law: the law of the country where the act began
**Note: the laws are intended to regulate human conduct
Common Law: the law of the country where the wrongful act has become
effective
**Note: there is no injury, thus there is nothing to protect and there is no
necessity for judicial relief
Theory of Dr. Rabel: the law of the country which has the most substantial
connection with the wrongful act

Modern Theories:
1.
2.

3.

4.

Considers the relevant concerns that both States have on the particular
conflict case.
State which has the most significant interest to advance is the lex loci
Cavers Principle of Preference
A higher standard of conduct and financial protection is given to the
injured by the State where the injury happened.
Applied only when there is no statutory provision.

Maritime Torts:
Public Vessel
Private or Merchant Vessel
Of the same state
Different state with identical laws
Different states with different laws

Law of the flag

Law of the registry
Law of the registry
Identical law
General maritime laws

CONFLICT RULES ON TORT

Lex Loci Delicti Commissii the law of the place where the delict or wrong has been
committed.

1.

Elective Concurrence
The injured person may choose to sue under one law or the other; he can
select a law most advantageous to him.
The State of most significant relationship
Derived from the vested right doctrine
Following factors are considered: I C D R (4)
o
Place where injury occurred
o
Place where the conduct causing the injury occurred
o
Domicile, residence, nationality, place of incorporation or the
place of business of the business of the parties
o
Place where relationship is centred
State-interest Analysis

iii.

Enforcement of claim for foreign tort

GENERAL RULE: an action of tort may be brought to any State where the defendant may
be served with process or is subject to a suit.
May a foreign tort be actionable in the PH?
Yes, provided we acquire jurisdiction over the person of the defendant (action in
personam)

iv.

Conditions for enforcement of tort liability

Conditions: P P J (3)
1.
2.
3.

Must not be penal in nature

Enforcement must not contravene public policy
Judicial machinery is adequate in enforcement

**Note:
a.
b.

v.

Procedural matters are governed by the law of the forum

Prescription is substantive

Crime versus Tort

Crime

Tort

Wrong committed against the State

A criminal action is instituted by the State
as the injured party
Vindication of the rights and interests
Primarily based on intention
Local

Wrong committed against private persons

A civil action is commenced by the injured
person
Involves indemnification
Intention is immaterial
Transitory

**Note:
a.
b.

Principles of Criminal Liability:

Protective Principle
Universality Principle
Passive Personality Principle

Any State whose national interest is

jeopardized by the act
State where the criminal is found
State where the victim is a citizen

PH: Territorial (GR), Protective (XP)

Do we have jurisdiction over cases committed on board a foreign vessel is said vessel is
within our territorial jurisdiction?
2 theories:
1.

2.

English Rule: the territory where the crime is committed will have jurisdiction.
(E T), except:
a. Purely internal matters
b. Affects solely the ship and its occupants
French Rule: the State whose flag is flown by the vessel has jurisdiction. (F
F), except:
a. Affects peace
b. Order
c. Security
d. Safety of the territory
i. Adopted by the PH
ii. People vs Wong Cheng

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------PROPERTY
i.

PHILIPPINE CIVIL CODE AND LEX SITUS RULE

Article 16 of NCC: Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the
country where it is situated.

iii.

Both intrinsic and extrinsic validity is covered by the lex situs rule
Exceptions:
i. Succession national law of the deceased
ii. Contracts involving real property but do not involve title to
it governed by lex loci intentionis (proper law)
iii. Real Estate Mortgage the contract of mortgage is
governed by lex situs
iv. Contract to transfer lex loci intentionis (proper law)

LEX SITUS RULE: MOVABLES

Criticism to the application of lex situs rule: it lumps all together all kinds of personal or
movable property and subjects all of them to the place where they are situated. This
fails to take into account that there are movables that cannot be touched or moved.
Classes of Movables:
1.

Choses in Possession tangible physical objects (P T)

Rule: the law of the State in which the property is located at the time the
transaction is made.

2.

Choses in Action intangible physical objects (A I)

Division:
a)

Credits and Debts:

involuntary transfers (garnishment)

voluntary assignments
credit
administration of debts

b)

Negotiable Instruments:

Determination of negotiability
Validity of transfer, delivery or negotiation

ii.

NATURE AND SCOPE OF LEX SITUS: IMMOVABLE

place where the debtor may be served

with summons
proper law of the contract (the law of the
place of the original transaction)
the domicile of the creditor where the
collectible credit may be taxed
law of the assets of the debtor is actually
situated

law governing the rights embodied in the

instrument (if PH check, PH law)
law of the situs of the instrument at the
time of transfer, delivery and negotiation

c)

Shares of Stock:

Sales of stocks & Taxation

registration
Place of incorporation
Proper law of the contract (lex loci
intentionis)

Sale of shares between parties

RA 8293 (Intellectual
Property Code)
**Note:
a.

d)

Franchises
b.

Subject to the law of the State which granted them.

e)

Goodwill, taxation

Subject to the law of the place where the business is carried out.

f)

a.

TRIPS AGREEMENT:
Basic Policies:
o
National Treatment (above)
o
Most Favored Nation Treatment: any advantage, favour or
privilege extended to the nationals of one country should
immediately and unconditionally be extended to the nationals of
other member States.
What is intellectual property and what are included?
o
Intellectual Property: works of the mind
o
Includes:

Copyright

Trademarks or Servicemarks

Geographic Indications

Industrial Designs

Patents

Lay-out Designs

Undisclosed Information
Technology Transfer Agreements: transfer of systematic knowledge
including management contracts
Prescriptive period under IPC: 4 years from the time the cause of action
arose

b.

IPO:
Government body set up to replace BPTTT
Functions: R A P E (4)
o
Examine application for the grant of letters of patents
o
Register TT agreements
o
Promote use of patent information
o
Administer or adjudicate contested proceedings affecting
intellectual property rights

GENERAL RULE: subject to the law of the State which granted them
EXCEPTION: if otherwise provided by a treaty

Mark or Tradename

Copyrights
Tradename

Section 21-A of RA 638

Union Convention for the

Protection of Industrial
Property

A corporations right to use its corporate and trade name is a

PROPERTY RIGHT, A RIGHT IN REM, which is enforceable against the
whole world. (Western Equipment and Supply Co. vs Reyes)
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
significant provisions:
i. National Treatment: each member shall accord to the
nationals of other members no less than favourable
treatment that it accords to its own nationals with regard
to protection of intellectual property.

[IP REVIEWER NOTES]

Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Tradenames and Servicemarks

Any foreign corporation,

whether licensed to do
business in the PH or not,
may bring about an action
for infringement, for unfair
competition,
or
false
description, PROVIDED:
The law of
the country
of the said
foreign
corporation
also extends
the
same
privilege to
PH
corporations
GR & XP
Shall be protected in all
countries without the
obligation of filing

Establishing of IPO

c.

Patents
Technical solution to any problem in the field of human activity which is
new, involves an inventive step, and is industrially applicable

New

Inventive Step
Industrially Applicable
-

First to File Rule

Commissioned Works

Term
-

d.

Novel; is not part of prior art

Prior Art: everything which has been made
available to the public before the date of
the application for patent
It is not obvious to a person skilled in the
art at the time of the filing of the
application claiming the invention
Can be produced and used by any industry
-

Non-patentable Inventions: D A M P A (5)

o
Discoveries, schemes, mathematical solutions
o
Methods of treatment of human and animals
o
Plant varieties or animal breeds
o
Aesthetic creations
o
Anything against public policy

Right to Patent

E-Ee

Inventor, Heirs, Assigns

When 2 or more person have the same
invention, the first to apply for patent
shall acquire the right to it
Owner of Patent: one who commissioned
the work, unless otherwise agreed
In the course of work: employer
Not in the course of work: employee
20 years

Grounds of Cancellation:
o
Not new or patentable
o
Does not disclose the information in a sufficient manner
o
Contrary to public policy or morality
Infringement: making, selling, offering for sale, using or importing a
patented product without the authorization of the owner.
o
Literal infringement test
o
Doctrine of equivalents: alteration which merely substitutes one
ingredient for another in the subsequent product, there is
infringement

Trademark, tradename, servicemarks, servicenames

Visible sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services
How ownership is acquired?
o
Mark: registration

o
Name: adoption & use
Non-registrable marks:
o
Immoral, deceptive or scandalous
o
Flags, coat of arms of the PH
o
Name, portrait or signature of any living individual without his
consent
o
Identical mark with the one registered with an earlier priority
date
o
Identical or confusingly similar to a similar mark, whether
registered in the PH or not
o
Mislead the public
o
Common/generic
o
Customary or usual
Term: 10 years, renewable
Infringement:
o
Used in commerce by any person without the owners consent
Remedies:
o
Damages
o
Impound the infringing goods
o
Double damages
o
Injunction
o
Disposal of goods
o
Destruction
o
Criminal actions
o
Administrative actions
Unfair competition: use by a person of deception or any other means
contrary to good faith by which he passes off the manufacturing by him or
which he deals, or his business or services, those of another who already
have an established good will.

Unfair Competition
Passing off of ones goods for another
Intent to defraud is essential
No need for prior registration
e.

Infringement
Use without authority
No intention necessary
Prior registration is necessary

Copyright
Protected works for the fact of creation; protected of the expression and
not the idea itself
Rights of the author:
o
Economic Rights:

Reproduction, creation of derivative works, etc.

o
Moral Rights:

Attribution, preservation of integrity, etc.

Owner of copyright:
o
Author
o
Co-authors
o
The work shall belong to the one who paid the commission

Non-infringement:
o
Fair use: purpose, nature, amount and substantiality and effect
o
Recitation or performance of a work made accessible to the
public
o
Quotations with proper attributions
o
Current events
o
For teaching purposes
o
Private reproduction in a single copy exclusively for research
and private study
Remedies:
o
Civil action for injunction
o
Criminal actions
o
Enforcement tools:

Impound

Destroy

Seizure

**Article 17 of the NCC: forms and solemnities of contracts, wills and other instruments
shall be governed by the country in which they are executed.
**Situations:
o
o

Filipino
Makes a will abroad

o
o

Alien
Makes a will abroad

o
o

Alien
Makes a will in the PH

Holographic Will

Joint Wills (executed abroad by Filipino

nationals, OR executed by aliens in the PH)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SUCCESSION AND ADMINISTRATION

i.

LAWS APPLYING ON SUCCESSION

UNITARY
Only one law that determines the
transmission of both real and personal
properties
National law of the decedent
Article 16 of the NCC

Philippines

ii.

SPLIT OR DIVISION
Different laws governed the successional
rights of real and personal property
Lex situs (law of the place where the
property is located real property
Law of the domicile at time of death
personal property
US, France, Brazil, Belgium, England

PH laws
Lex loci celebrationis
Lex nationalii
Lex domicilii
Lex loci celebrationis
Lex nationalii
PH laws (lex loci celebrationis)
Subject to no form
May be executed in or out of the
PH

Shall not be valid in the PH

REVOCATION OF THE WILLS

**essentially revocable
**Situations:
o
o

Outside the PH
Does not domicile in the PH

Within the PH

According to the law where the will

was made
Lex domicilii
In accordance with PH law

PROBATE OF THE WILLS proof of establishing, before an appropriate tribunal, that the
document is the last will and testament of the deceased and a certification that the will
has been executed according to the law.
**Article 198 of the NCC: no will shall pass real or personal property unless it is proved
and allowed in accordance to the ROC.

PHILIPPINE CONFLICT RULES ON SUCCESSION AND ADMINSTRATION

INTRINSIC VALIDITY OF WILLS O A I and other matters falling under substance

**Article 16 of the NCC, par. 2: whatever may be the nature of the property and wherever
it may be found, the national law of the person whose succession is under consideration
regulates the following: O A I (3)
a.
b.
c.

Order of succession
Amount of successional rights
Intrinsic validity of testamentary provision

EXTRINSIC VALIDITY OF WILLS forms and solemnities in making the wills

INTERPRETATION OF THE WILLS

**according to the intention of the testator
ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATE process by which the assets of the estate are realized and
debts settled.
Executor person named in the will
Administrator no person named, or no will; the one appointed by court
GENERAL RULE: Administration only extends to the assets of the estate found within the
jurisdiction which granted its powers. Powers and duties are determined by the country
which appointed him or where he derives his authority.
Principal Administrator administrator in the decedents last domicile

Ancillary Administrator other administrator

iv.
iii.
2 theories:
1.
2.

Caduciary Rights the exercise of the State of its jus regale when occupying a
property that has become ownerless.
Jure Hereditario the State becomes the universal heir in the absence of the
usual heirs.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GENERAL RULE: a valid judgment rendered in a foreign court will be considered valid
in the Philippines provided our courts are convinced that the parties have been given
an opportunity for a full and fair trial by a court of competent jurisdiction conducted
during a regular proceeding, under a system of jurisprudence likely to secure an
impartial judgment; and there is nothing to show either prejudice in the court, or
fraud in its procurement.
Requisites: J C C I V R M M P P (10) || N F C (3)
a.

RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN JUDGMENT

b.
i.

DISTINCTION

Recognition when it is given the same effect that it has in State where it was rendered,
as to the parties, the subject matter and issues involved. This means extending the res
judicata effect of the judgment in one State to another.

c.

Enforcement in addition to being recognized, a party is given affirmative relief.

e.

d.

f.
ii.

PHILIPPINE RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT SYTEM OF QUALIFIED

RECOGNITION
IN REM

The judgment is a conclusive upon the title

of the thing

IN PERSONAM
May be repelled by want of jurisdiction,
notice, collusion, fraud or clear mistake of
law

System of Qualified Recognition the judgment in one State may not be directly enforced
in another State; an action must be brought in another State. The procedure exequatur is
provided to give effect to foreign judgment.
iii.

BASIS OF RECOGNITION THE POLICY OF PRECLUSION

What is the basis for a foreign judgment to be recognized?

a.

PHILIPPINE CONFLICT RULES ON RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT

RIGHT OF THE STATE TO CLAIM THE ESTATE OF THE DECEASED

Doctrine of Res Judicata: public policy dictates that there should be an end to
litigation; that those who have contested an issue shall be bound thereby, once
matters are tried, it shall forever be settled between the parties.

g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.

It is judgment by a judicial or quasi-judicial action, such that it was only

resorted to after giving the parties reasonable notices and opportunities to be
heard.
Judgment on civil and commercial matters, including questions of status.
**Note: criminal cases, tax cases and strictly administrative cases may not be
enforced in the PH
The court is a court of competent jurisdiction.
**Note: the competency of the court shall be judged by its own law.
The judgment must emanate from an impartial court.
**Note: impartial = disinterested
The judgment must be valid according to the laws of court which rendered
them.
The judgment is final and amounts to res judicata in the court which rendered
them.
Judgment for payment of money must be for a fixed sum.
The judgment must be a judgment on merits.
The judgment must not be barred by prescription both in the promulgating
State and the State where judgment is sought to be enforced.
The foreign judgment must not be contrary to public policy in the place where
it is sought.
Must not be contrary to natural or substantial justice.
Should not have been procured through fraud.
Must not constitute a clear mistake of law.

**Note:
1.

If the foreign judgment is sought to be enforced in the PH, the PH laws shall
determine the method of enforcement.