FIRAC/DEFINITION

FIRAC stands for FACTS, ISSUE, RULE, APPLICATION and CONCLUSION. It is

a method of briefing cases.

The “F” stands for “Facts” You need to outline both the procedural and
legally significant facts (those necessary to the court’s reasoning and
holding). The procedural facts are things like prior hearings, prior
order, prior history on appeal. Legally significant facts are the facts
the court looked to in making its decision.

The “I” stands for “Issue” The issue is the legal question presented.
It is the question being asked of the court.

The “R” stands for “Rule” The rule is the precedent – the judicial
opinions that have come before which are binding on the court making
this decision. The rule is typically a quotation from a prior case which
is usually given away by the quotation marks and the citation.

The “A” stands for “Analysis” or Application” This section outlines the
court’s reasoning, how the court reached its decision in the pending
case. It should be quoted in the brief but will probably not be in
quotations in the case itself. Often policy discussions, economic
balancing and discussions of the intent of the legislature will be
included in this section. It will also include an application of the
rule (precedent) to the facts of the pending case.

The “C” stands for “Conclusion” The conclusion is what the court did
with the lower court decision (e.g. affirmed, remanded, reversed) as
well as the real life result.

Sources of Law
● Constitution
 ● Legislative Enactment - Statute
● Judicial Decisions
● Treaties
● Other Sources

The main sources of Philippine law are:

● Constitution - the fundamental and supreme law of the land
● Statutes - including Acts of Congress, municipal charters,
municipal legislation, court rules, administrative rules and
orders, legislative rules and presidential issuances.
● Treaties and Conventions - these have the same force of authority
as statutes.
● Judicial decisions - Art 8 of the Civil Code provides that ‘judicial
decisions applying to or interpreting the laws or the Constitution
shall form a part of the legal system of the Philippines’. Only
decisions of its Supreme Court establish jurisprudence and are
binding on all other courts.

Law - any rule of action or norm of conduct/applicable to all kinds of

action and to all object of creation.

The following is a summary of how a bill becomes a law:

Filing/Calendaring for First Reading

A bill is filed in the Office of the Secretary where it is given a

corresponding number and calendared for First Reading.

First Reading

Its title, bill number, and author’s name are read on the floor, after which
it is referred to the proper committee.

Committee Hearings/Report

Committee conducts hearings and consultation meetings. It then either

approves the proposed bill without an amendment, approves it with changes, or
recommends substitution or consolidation with similar bills filed.

Calendaring for Second Reading

The Committee Report with its approved bill version is submitted to the
Committee on Rules for calendaring for Second Reading.

Second Reading
 Bill author delivers sponsorship speech on the floor. Senators engage in
debate, interpellation, turno en contra, and rebuttal to highlight the pros and
cons of the bill. A period of amendments incorporates necessary changes in the
bill proposed by the committee or introduced by the Senators themselves on the
floor.

Voting on Second Reading

Senators vote on the second reading version of the bill. If approved, the
bill is calendared for third reading.

Voting on Third Reading

Printed copies of the bill’s final version are distributed to the Senators.
This time, only the title of the bill is read on the floor. Nominal voting is
held. If passed, the approved Senate bill is referred to the House of
Representatives for concurrence.

At the House of Representatives

The Lower Chamber follows the same procedures (First Reading, Second Reading
and Third Reading).

Back to the Senate

If the House-approved version is compatible with that of the Senate’s, the

final version’s enrolled form is printed. If there are certain differences, a
Bicameral Conference Committee is called to reconcile conflicting provisions of
both versions of the Senate and of the House of Representatives. Conference
committee submits report on the reconciled version of the bill, duly approved
by both chambers. The Senate prints the reconciled version in its enrolled form.

Submission to Malacañang

Final enrolled form is submitted to Malacañang. The President either signs

it into law, or vetoes and sends it back to the Senate with veto message.

International Law-
● Body of rules and principles of action w/c are binding upon
civilized states in their relations to one another.
● Regulating in relations between states in diplomatic matters and
in the conduct of war.

Public and Private international law

Public International law - governs the relationships between and among states
and; their relationship between international organizations and
individual persons.

Private International law- is domestic law which deals with cases where
foreign law intrudes in the domestic sphere where there are questions
of the applicability of foreign law or the law of foreign courts.

Sources of International Law

Formal Sources- can refer to various process by which rules come into
existence.
Thus, for instance, Legislation is a formal source of law. So are treaty
making and judicial making as well as the practice of states.
Maternal Sources-are not concerned with how rules come into existence but
rather with the substance and content of the obligation.
[UN resolution,treaties, judicial decision and writing of jurists]
-also sometimes referred as “evidence” of international law

1. Rule of International law is one that has been accepted as such

by the international community of the states
❖ Customary law - results from general and consistent
practice of states followed by them from a sense of legal
obligation.
❖ International agreements - create law for states parties/
may lead to customary international law w/c such agreements
are intended for adherence by states generally and are in
fact widely accepted.
❖ General principles common- supplemental rules of
international law
maybe found in: judicial decisions and teaching of the most
highly qualified publists of the various nations”

MUNICIPAL LAW INTERNATIONAL LAW

Product of local custom Treaties and custom

or of legislation grown among states

Regulate relations Regulate relations

between individual between states
persons under the state

Law of the sovereign Law between sovereign

 over individuals states.
source/relations they regulate/regarding their substance
Statute -
➔ act of legislature as organized body, expressed in the form, and
passed according to the procedure, required to constitute as part
of the law of the land.
➔ a law enacted by the legislative branch of a government
➔ formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs
the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of
consent.
➔ Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare
policy.
➔ Statutes enacted by the legislature are those passed by the;
Philippine commision, The Philippine legislature, Batasang
Pambansa, Congress of the Philippines.

1) Public statute- one w/c affect the public at large or the whole
community
2) Private Statute- one w/c applies only to specific person or
subject.

Statutes may also be according to:

● Operation
● Declaration
● Curative
● Mandatory
● Director
● Substantive
● Remedial
● Penal

The Civil Code of the Philippines

AN ACT TO ORDAIN AND INSTITUTE THE CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES

CHAPTER I
EFFECT AND APPLICATION OF LAWS

Article 1. This Act shall be known as the "Civil Code of the Philippines."
Art. 2. Laws shall take effect after fifteen days following the completion
of their publication in the Official Gazette, unless it is otherwise
provided. This Code shall take effect one year after such publication. (1a)
Art. 3. Ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith. (2)
Art. 4. Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is
provided. (3)
Art. 5. Acts executed against the provisions of mandatory or prohibitory laws
shall be void, except when the law itself authorizes their validity. (4a)
Art. 6. Rights may be waived, unless the waiver is contrary to law, public
order, public policy, morals, or good customs, or prejudicial to a third
person with a right recognized by law. (4a)
Art. 7. Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their violation or
non-observance shall not be excused by disuse, or custom or practice to the
contrary.
When the courts declared a law to be inconsistent with the Constitution, the
former shall be void and the latter shall govern.
Administrative or executive acts, orders and regulations shall be valid only
when they are not contrary to the laws or the Constitution. (5a)
Art. 8. Judicial decisions applying or interpreting the laws or the
Constitution shall form a part of the legal system of the Philippines. (n)
Art. 9. No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the
silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the laws. (6)
Art. 10. In case of doubt in the interpretation or application of laws, it
is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and justice to prevail.
(n)
Art. 11. Customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy
shall not be countenanced. (n)
Art. 12. A custom must be proved as a fact, according to the rules of
evidence. (n)
Art. 13. When the laws speak of years, months, days or nights, it shall be
understood that years are of three hundred sixty-five days each; months, of
thirty days; days, of twenty-four hours; and nights from sunset to sunrise.
If months are designated by their name, they shall be computed by the number
of days which they respectively have.
In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last day
included. (7a)
Art. 14. Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be
obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in the Philippine territory, subject
to the principles of public international law and to treaty stipulations.
(8a)
Art. 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status,
condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the
Philippines, even though living abroad. (9a)
Art. 16. Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of
the country where it is stipulated.
However, intestate and testamentary successions, both with respect to the
order of succession and to the amount of successional rights and to the
intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by the
national law of the person whose succession is under consideration, whatever
may be the nature of the property and regardless of the country wherein said
property may be found. (10a)
Art. 17. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other public
instruments shall be governed by the laws of the country in which they are
executed.
When the acts referred to are executed before the diplomatic or consular
officials of the Republic of the Philippines in a foreign country, the
solemnities established by Philippine laws shall be observed in their
execution.
Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or property, and those which
have, for their object, public order, public policy and good customs shall
not be rendered ineffective by laws or judgments promulgated, or by
determinations or conventions agreed upon in a foreign country. (11a)
Art. 18. In matters which are governed by the Code of Commerce and special
laws, their deficiency shall be supplied by the provisions of this Code.
(16a)

CIVIL LAW COMMON LAW

Civil law systems, on the other hand, place common law system is based on the concept
much less emphasis on precedent than they do of judicial precedent. Judges take an
on the codification of the law. Civil law active role in shaping the law here,
systems rely on written statutes and other
since the decisions a court makes are
legal codes that are constantly updated and
which establish legal procedures, punishments, then used as a precedent for future
and what can and cannot be brought before a cases. Whilst common law systems have
court. laws that are created by legislators, it
In a civil law system, a judge merely is up to judges to rely on precedents set
establishes the facts of a case and applies by previous courts to interpret those
remedies found in the codified law. laws and apply them to individual cases.

Common Law System

Common law system include:
● There is not always a written constitution or codified laws;
● Judicial decisions are binding – decisions of the highest court
can generally only be overturned by that same court or through
legislation;
● Extensive freedom of contract - few provisions are implied into
the contract by law (although provisions seeking to protect private
consumers may be implied);
● Generally, everything is permitted that is not expressly prohibited
by law.

A common law system is less prescriptive than a civil law system. A government may
therefore wish to enshrine protections of its citizens in specific legislation related
to the infrastructure program being contemplated. For example, it may wish to prohibit
the service provider from cutting off the water or electricity supply of bad payers or
may require that documents related to the transaction be disclosed under a freedom of
information act. There may also be legal requirements to imply into a contract in equal
bargaining provisions where one party is in a much stronger bargaining position than the
other. Please see Legislation and Regulation for more on this.
There are few provisions implied into a contract under the common law system – it is
therefore important to set out ALL the terms governing the relationship between the
parties to a contract in the contract itself. This will often result in a contract being
longer than one in a civil law country.
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Civil Law System

The civil law system is a codified system of law. It takes its origins
from Roman law. Features of a civil law system include:
● There is generally a written constitution based on specific codes
(e.g., civil code, codes covering corporate law, administrative
law, tax law and constitutional law) enshrining basic rights and
duties; administrative law is however usually less codified and
administrative court judges tend to behave more like common law
judges;
● Only legislative enactments are considered binding for all. There
is little scope for judge-made law in civil, criminal and
commercial courts, although in practice judges tend to follow
previous judicial decisions; constitutional and administrative
courts can nullify laws and regulations and their decisions in such
cases are binding for all.
● In some civil law systems, e.g., Germany, writings of legal
scholars have significant influence on the courts;
● Courts specific to the underlying codes – there are therefore
usually separate constitutional court, administrative court and
civil court systems that opine on consistency of legislation and
administrative acts with and interpret that specific code;
● Less freedom of contract - many provisions are implied into a
contract by law and parties cannot contract out of certain
provisions.

A civil law system is generally more prescriptive than a common law

system. However, a government will still need to consider whether
specific legislation is required to either limit the scope of a certain
restriction to allow a successful infrastructure project, or may require
specific legislation for a sector.

authorized to make laws, alter, and

repeal them through the power vested
 in the Philippine Congress. This
Legislative branch institution is divided into the
Senate and the House of
Representatives.

carries out laws. It is composed of

the President and the Vice President
Executive branch who are elected by direct popular
vote and serve a term of six years.
The Constitution grants the President
authority to appoint his Cabinet.
These departments form a large
portion of the country’s bureaucracy.

evaluates laws. It holds the power to

settle controversies involving rights
that are legally demandable and
Judicial branch enforceable. This branch determines
whether or not there has been a grave
abuse of discretion amounting to lack
or excess of jurisdiction on the part
and instrumentality of the
government. It is made up of a
Supreme Court and lower courts.