Philippine legal codes
Encyclopedia
Codification of laws is a common practice in the Philippines
. Many general areas of substantive law
, such as criminal law
, civil law
and labor law are governed by legal codes.
. Spain
, a civil law country, introduced the practice of codification in the Philippines, which it had colonized
. Among the codes which Spain enforced in the Philippines were the Spanish Civil Code and the Penal Code.
The practice of codification was retained during the period of American occupation, even though the United States was a common law
jurisdiction. However, during the American era, judicial precedent
s of the Philippine Supreme Court
were accepted as binding
, a practice more attuned to common law jurisdictions. Eventually, the Philippine legal system emerged in such a way that while the practice of codification remained popular, the courts were not barred from employing methods of statutory construction
in order to arrive at an interpretation of the codal provisions that would be binding in itself in Philippine law.
Beginning in the American era, there was an effort to revise the Spanish codes that had remained in force even after the end of Spanish occupation. A new Revised Penal Code
was enacted in 1930, while a new Civil Code
took effect in 1950.
. Since 1946, the laws passed by the Congress, including legal codes, have been titled Republic Acts
.
While Philippine legal codes are, strictly speaking, also Republic Acts, they may be differentiated in that the former represents a more comprehensive effort in embodying all aspects of a general area of law into just one legislative act. In contrast, Republic Acts are generally less expansive and more specific in scope. Thus, while the Civil Code
seeks to govern all aspects of private law
in the Philippines, a Republic Act such as Republic Act No. 9048 would concern itself with a more limited field, as in that case, the correction of entries in the civil registry
.
Still, the amendment of Philippine legal codes is accomplished through the passage of Republic Acts. Republic Acts have also been utilized to enact legislation on areas where the legal codes have proven insufficient. For example, while the possession of narcotics had been penalized under the 1930s Revised Penal Code
, the wider attention drawn to illegal drugs in the 1960s and the 1970s led to new legislation increasing the penalties for possession and trafficking of narcotics. Instead of enacting amendments to the Revised Penal Code, Congress chose instead to enact a special law, the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972.
in the Philippines, including obligations
and contracts, succession
, tort
s and damages
, property
. It was enacted in 1950. Book I of the Civil Code, which governed marriage
and family law
, was supplanted by the Family Code in 1987.
s of the Philippines and is one of the major sources of criminal laws in the Philippines
. It was enacted in 1930 and has undergone several amendments.
practices and labor relations
in the Philippines.
The taxes imposed by the Code include a graduated income tax
on all income
earned by natural and juridical persons within the Philippines, a capital gains tax
, excise tax on certain products, a donor's tax, an estate tax, and a value-added tax on the sale of most goods and services in the Philippines.
Real property taxes
are considered as local
, rather than national taxes, and are covered instead under the Local Government Code. Tariffs and duties
are covered under the Tariff and Customs Code.
, city
, municipal and barangay
governments in the Philippines. It is the governing law on local government
s.
The Local Government Code also empowers local governments to enact local tax measures, including real property taxes. It further assures the local governments a share in the national internal revenue.
of government.
It is the Administrative Code which establishes the various Cabinet departments
and offices falling within the executive branch of government, and under the direct control and supervision of the President
. The Code also prescribes the administrative procedure undertaken in proceedings before the offices under the executive department.
An administrative code was enforced in the Philippines as early as 1917. That code was revised 7 decades later, in 1987, resulting in the present Code.
in the Philippines. Initially, the legal protection of intellectual property was contained in a few provisions in the Civil Code
. However, the growing concern over intellectual property protection led to the passage of more comprehensive special laws until the final codification of intellectual property law through the Code, enacted in 1997.
and non-stock
corporation
s in the Philippines. It was enacted in 1978. The regulation of securities
and practices in the stock market
governed by the 2000 Securities Regulation Code.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Many general areas of substantive law
Substantive law
Substantive law is the statutory or written law that defines rights and duties, such as crimes and punishments , civil rights and responsibilities in civil law. It is codified in legislated statutes or can be enacted through the initiative process.Substantive law stands in contrast to procedural...
, such as criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
, civil law
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
and labor law are governed by legal codes.
Tradition of codification
Codification is predominant in countries that adhere to the legal system of civil lawCivil law (legal system)
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
. Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, a civil law country, introduced the practice of codification in the Philippines, which it had colonized
History of the Philippines (1521–1898)
This article covers the history of the Philippines from the arrival of European explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, up to the end of Spanish rule in 1898.-Spanish expeditions and conquest:...
. Among the codes which Spain enforced in the Philippines were the Spanish Civil Code and the Penal Code.
The practice of codification was retained during the period of American occupation, even though the United States was a common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
jurisdiction. However, during the American era, judicial precedent
Precedent
In common law legal systems, a precedent or authority is a principle or rule established in a legal case that a court or other judicial body may apply when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts...
s of the Philippine Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the Philippines
The Supreme Court of the Philippines is the Philippines' highest judicial court, as well as the court of last resort. The court consists of 14 Associate Justices and 1 Chief Justice...
were accepted as binding
Binding precedent
In law, a binding precedent is a precedent which must be followed by all lower courts under common law legal systems. In English law it is usually created by the decision of a higher court, such as the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which took over the judicial functions of the House of...
, a practice more attuned to common law jurisdictions. Eventually, the Philippine legal system emerged in such a way that while the practice of codification remained popular, the courts were not barred from employing methods of statutory construction
Statutory interpretation
Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. Some amount of interpretation is always necessary when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and straightforward meaning. But in many cases, there is some ambiguity or...
in order to arrive at an interpretation of the codal provisions that would be binding in itself in Philippine law.
Beginning in the American era, there was an effort to revise the Spanish codes that had remained in force even after the end of Spanish occupation. A new Revised Penal Code
Revised Penal Code of the Philippines
The Revised Penal Code contains the general penal laws of the Philippines. First enacted in 1930, it remains in effect today, despite several amendments thereto. It does not comprise a comprehensive compendium of all Philippine penal laws. The Revised Penal Code itself was enacted as Act No...
was enacted in 1930, while a new Civil Code
Civil Code of the Philippines
The Civil Code of the Philippines is the product of the codification of private law in the Philippines. It is the general law that governs family and property relations in the Philippines...
took effect in 1950.
Codes in relation to Republic Acts
Since the formation of local legislative bodies in the Philippines, Philippine legal codes have been enacted by the legislature, in the exercise of its powers of legislationLegislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
. Since 1946, the laws passed by the Congress, including legal codes, have been titled Republic Acts
Republic Acts of the Philippines
This article contains a partial list of Philippine laws. Philippine laws have had various nomenclature designations at different periods in the history of the Philippines, as shown in the following table:...
.
While Philippine legal codes are, strictly speaking, also Republic Acts, they may be differentiated in that the former represents a more comprehensive effort in embodying all aspects of a general area of law into just one legislative act. In contrast, Republic Acts are generally less expansive and more specific in scope. Thus, while the Civil Code
Civil Code of the Philippines
The Civil Code of the Philippines is the product of the codification of private law in the Philippines. It is the general law that governs family and property relations in the Philippines...
seeks to govern all aspects of private law
Private law
Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts, as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligations as it is called in civilian legal systems...
in the Philippines, a Republic Act such as Republic Act No. 9048 would concern itself with a more limited field, as in that case, the correction of entries in the civil registry
Civil registry
Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database is called civil register or registry, or population registry. The primary purpose of civil registration is to create legal documents that are used to...
.
Still, the amendment of Philippine legal codes is accomplished through the passage of Republic Acts. Republic Acts have also been utilized to enact legislation on areas where the legal codes have proven insufficient. For example, while the possession of narcotics had been penalized under the 1930s Revised Penal Code
Revised Penal Code of the Philippines
The Revised Penal Code contains the general penal laws of the Philippines. First enacted in 1930, it remains in effect today, despite several amendments thereto. It does not comprise a comprehensive compendium of all Philippine penal laws. The Revised Penal Code itself was enacted as Act No...
, the wider attention drawn to illegal drugs in the 1960s and the 1970s led to new legislation increasing the penalties for possession and trafficking of narcotics. Instead of enacting amendments to the Revised Penal Code, Congress chose instead to enact a special law, the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972.
Civil Code
The Civil Code governs private lawPrivate law
Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts, as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligations as it is called in civilian legal systems...
in the Philippines, including obligations
Law of obligations
The law of obligations is one of the component private law elements of the civil system of law. It includes contract law, delict law, quasi-contract law, and quasi-delict law...
and contracts, succession
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
, tort
Tort
A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a wrong that involves a breach of a civil duty owed to someone else. It is differentiated from a crime, which involves a breach of a duty owed to society in general...
s and damages
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
, property
Property law
Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property and in personal property, within the common law legal system. In the civil law system, there is a division between movable and immovable property...
. It was enacted in 1950. Book I of the Civil Code, which governed marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
and family law
Family law
Family law is an area of the law that deals with family-related issues and domestic relations including:*the nature of marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships;...
, was supplanted by the Family Code in 1987.
Revised Penal Code
The Revised Penal Code contains the general penal lawPenal law
In the most general sense, penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation, as opposed to civil law that seeks to redress private wrongs...
s of the Philippines and is one of the major sources of criminal laws in the Philippines
Philippine Criminal Law
Philippine Criminal Laws is the body of laws defining crimes and defining the penalties thereof in the Philippines.-History:The Philippines was a colony of Spain for more than 300 years, beginning in 1565 until 1898...
. It was enacted in 1930 and has undergone several amendments.
Labor Code
The Labor Code, enacted in 1974, governs employmentEmployment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
practices and labor relations
Labor relations
Industrial relations is a multidisciplinary field that studies the employment relationship. Industrial relations is increasingly being called employment relations because of the importance of non-industrial employment relationships. Many outsiders also equate industrial relations to labour relations...
in the Philippines.
National Internal Revenue Code
The National Internal Revenue Code is the law establishing the system of national taxation in the Philippines. The most recent extensive revision of the Code occurred in 1997, although the Code was amended in 2005 to expand the coverage and rates of value-added tax.The taxes imposed by the Code include a graduated income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
on all income
Income
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...
earned by natural and juridical persons within the Philippines, a capital gains tax
Capital gains tax
A capital gains tax is a tax charged on capital gains, the profit realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset that was purchased at a lower price. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals and property...
, excise tax on certain products, a donor's tax, an estate tax, and a value-added tax on the sale of most goods and services in the Philippines.
Real property taxes
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
are considered as local
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
, rather than national taxes, and are covered instead under the Local Government Code. Tariffs and duties
Duty (economics)
In economics, a duty is a kind of tax, often associated with customs, a payment due to the revenue of a state, levied by force of law. It is a tax on certain items purchased abroad...
are covered under the Tariff and Customs Code.
Local Government Code of commerce
The Local Government Code, enacted in 1991, establishes the system and powers of provincialProvinces of the Philippines
The Provinces of the Philippines are the primary political and administrative divisions of the Philippines. There are 80 provinces at present, further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The National Capital Region, as well as independent cities, are autonomous from any provincial...
, city
Cities of the Philippines
A city is a tier of local government in the Philippines. All Philippine cities are chartered cities, whose existence as corporate and administrative entities is governed by their own specific charters in addition to the Local Government Code of 1991, which specifies the administrative structure...
, municipal and barangay
Barangay
A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...
governments in the Philippines. It is the governing law on local government
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
s.
The Local Government Code also empowers local governments to enact local tax measures, including real property taxes. It further assures the local governments a share in the national internal revenue.
Administrative Code
The Administrative Code “incorporates in a unified document the major structural, functional and procedural principles and rules of governance.” Its primary function is to prescribe the standards, guidelines and practices within the executive branchExecutive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
of government.
It is the Administrative Code which establishes the various Cabinet departments
Executive Departments of the Philippines
The Executive departments of the Philippines is the largest component of the national executive branch of the government of the Philippines. There are a total of nineteen executive departments. The departments comprise the largest part of the country's bureaucracy...
and offices falling within the executive branch of government, and under the direct control and supervision of the President
President of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...
. The Code also prescribes the administrative procedure undertaken in proceedings before the offices under the executive department.
An administrative code was enforced in the Philippines as early as 1917. That code was revised 7 decades later, in 1987, resulting in the present Code.
Intellectual Property Code
The Intellectual Property Code governs the protection of intellectual propertyIntellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
in the Philippines. Initially, the legal protection of intellectual property was contained in a few provisions in the Civil Code
Civil Code of the Philippines
The Civil Code of the Philippines is the product of the codification of private law in the Philippines. It is the general law that governs family and property relations in the Philippines...
. However, the growing concern over intellectual property protection led to the passage of more comprehensive special laws until the final codification of intellectual property law through the Code, enacted in 1997.
Corporation Code
The Corporation Code provides for the rules and regulations in the establishment and operation of stockStock corporation
A stock corporation is a for-profit corporation which the ownership of the corporation is expressed by shares of stock. This allows for the ownership of the corporation to be readily determined, as shares are property, and are transferrable as any other property such as money, subject to any...
and non-stock
Non-stock corporation
A non-stock corporation is a corporation that does not have owners represented by shares of stock. That type of corporation is called a stock corporation. Instead, a non-stock corporation typically has members, who are the functional equivalent of stockholders in a stock corporation Non-stock...
corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s in the Philippines. It was enacted in 1978. The regulation of securities
Security (finance)
A security is generally a fungible, negotiable financial instrument representing financial value. Securities are broadly categorized into:* debt securities ,* equity securities, e.g., common stocks; and,...
and practices in the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
governed by the 2000 Securities Regulation Code.
Some other legal codes
- Ominubus Election Code (1978)
- Family Code of the Philippines (1987)
- Forestry Code (1975)
- Cooperative Code (1990)
- Milk Code (1987)
- Flag and Heraldic Code' (1998)
External links
- Laws at The Corpus Juris.