1. Enumerate and define the parts of a law.

 Title - is the heading on the preliminary part, furnishing the name by which
the law is individually known. The Constitution provides that every bill
passed by Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall be expressed
in the title thereof. Thus, the title must always be germane to the discussion
on the body.
 Preamble - is a prefatory statement or explanation or a finding of facts,
reciting the purpose, reason, or occasion for making the law to which it is
prefixed.
 Enacting Clause - is the part of the law which states the authority by which
the law is enacted. It also serves to identify the law as an act of legislation.
 Body - is the main and operative part of the law which contains its
substantive and procedural provisions. It is the part which tells what the law
is all about.
 Proviso - is a clause added to an enactment, article, or law with the purpose
of restraining or qualifying the language which it follows.
 Exceptions - is a clause that exempts which should have been included or
fall within the general words of the law.
 Interpretative Clause - is the part in which the legislature defines its own
language or prescribed rules for its construction. It manifests the way the
legislature wants the law to be interpreted.
 Repealing Clause - is the part of the law which announces the intention of
the legislature to terminate or revoke the law or laws by virtue of another law.
It may be express or implied. The former tells exactly what it wants to repeal,
whereas the latter does not identify which is to be revoked but those which ae
inconsistent with the law is now repealed.
 Saving Clause - is the part of the law which saves the effect of a repealing
act, such as rights which have attached to the law and those proceedings
which are still pending. In simple terms, it saves the unfinished business form
being terminated.
 Separability Clause - is that part of a statute which states that if any
provision of the act is declared invalid, the remainder shall not be affected
thereby. The nullity of one provision shall not invalidate the other provisions
which are not unconstitutional.
 Effectivity Clause - is the part of the law which provides when the law shall
take effect. It is usually based on Article 2 of the Civil Code, unless a
specific date of effectivity is otherwise provided.
2. What is the function of an enacting clause?

 Enacting clause states the authority by which the law came from.
Categorically, the enacting clause is not essential. But, it is there for the
purpose of clothing the law with certain dignity which enables it to command
respect.

3. What is a preamble? Do modern laws still have a preamble?

 Preamble is a part of the law which states the reasons for its enactment and
the objects sought to be accomplished. Categorically, the preamble is not an
essential part of a law. But it serves the following purposes:
a. To connect the circumstances of the society which led to the
enactment of the law
b. To give the reasons and objects of the enactment
c. To put the reader of the law in proper perspective
d. To provide better organization of the law

However, modern laws do not include a preamble anymore. The legislature

seldom puts a preamble in a law because there already is an explanatory note
attached to it. Also, the absence of a preamble does not invalidate the law itself.

4. What is an explanatory note? What is the importance of an explanatory note to a

law?

5. What is a legislative history? Explain its importance.

6. Define the following kinds of laws:
 a. General Laws - are laws which affect the community at large. These are laws
that relate to a subject of a general nature, or those which affect all people of
the state or all of a particular class.
b. Special Laws - are laws which are designed for a particular purpose, or
limited in range, or confined to a prescribed field of action on operation.
c. Local Laws - are laws which relate or operate over a particular locality
instead of over the whole territory of the state.
d. Public Laws - refer to a general classification of law, consisting generally of
constitutional, administrative, criminal, and international law, concerned with
the relations between the state and the people, the responsibility of public
officers to the state, to each other, and to private persons, and the relations of
states to one another. Public law may be classified into general, special or
local laws.
e. Private Laws - are those portions of the law which define, regulate, enforce
and administers relationships among individuals, associations, and
corporations.
f. Remedial Laws - are laws which provide means or methods whereby causes
of action may be effectuated, wrongs redressed, and relief obtained.
g. Curative Law - refers to a form of retrospective legislation which are enacted
to cure errors or inefficiencies in a prior law.
h. Penal Laws - are laws that define criminal offenses and specify the
corresponding fines and punishment for the offense.
i. Prospective Laws - are laws which are applicable only to cases which shall
arise after their enactment.
j. Retrospective Laws - are laws which look backward or contemplates the past.
These laws can affect actions prior to the date of their effectivity.
k. Affirmative Laws - are laws which direct the doing of an act.
l. Mandatory Laws - are laws which require and not merely permit a course of
action. Noncompliance of these renders the proceeding void or illegal.
7. Which would prevail - the general or special law?

 In case of conflict between the general law or special law, the special law
would prevail since it evinces the legislative intent more clearly than that of a
general law.
 If the general law was enacted first, the special law is considered the
exception to the general law. Therefore the general law remains a good law,
and there is no repeal (Lichauco v. Apostol, 44 Phil 138), except insofar as
the exception or special law is concerned. However if there are
 inconsistencies with the general law it is considered as a repeal to the general
law.
 If the special law was enacted first, both special law and general law are
good laws unless:
- There is an express declaration to tho contrary.Or the is a clear , necessary
and unreconcilable conflict (Cia General v. Coll. of Customs, 46 Phil. Cool c.
- Or unless the subsequent general law covers the whole subject and is
clearly intended to replace the special law on the matter. (Joaquin v. Navarro,
81 Phil. 373)

8. List down types of laws that are usually given a liberal interpretation or treatment.

9. List down types of laws that are usually given a strict interpretation of its
provisions.

10. Why is publication necessary before the laws take effect? What was the doctrine
laid down under Tanada vs. Tuvera?

11. What is the function of a Separability Clause in a law?

12. Why is there a Repealing Clause in the Law? Explain.
13. What is a proviso? Explain its importance.
14. Can Congress dictate the date as to when a law becomes effective? Explain.