PRINCIPLES OF ROMAN LAW IN PHILIPPINE JURISPRUDENCE

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERNATURE AND EXTENT OF ROMAN LAW

3 Main Legal Systems Adapted by all Countries1. Roman Law – the most lasting and prevailing influence2. Mohammedan or Arabic Law3. Anglo-American Laws

Roman Private Lawo Defines, in concise and consistent terminology, mature rules and a complete system,

logical and firm, tempered with a high sense of equity Roman Law v. Civil Law (jus civile Romanorum)

o Two terms used interchangeablyo Roman Law

Those legal rules and principles which were in force among the Romans without reference to the time when they were adopted

The law compiled under the auspices of the Emperor Justinian and his successors, comprising the Institutes, Code, Digest and Novels, collectively denoted as Corpus Juris Civilis to which all refer now as authority or written reason

o Tribonian and other lawyers (533 AD) – compiled and finished the Corpus Juris Civilis Divisions of Roman Law

1. Public Laws – under such are the political, administrative and public international laws, including criminal law and procedure

2. Private Laws – now known as the “Civil Law”; includes mercantile law, private international law and civil procedure; covers rules defining the rights and duties of the members of the community which arise from their mutual relations and to society for the protection of private interests

ROMAN LAW INFLUENCE IN THE PHILIPPINES Code of Napoleon

o Way for the Spanish Civil Code of Spain to be enacted – adopting the Roman Law Principles

o The Spanish Civil Code took effect in the Philippines on December 7or 8, 1889o The entire Spanish Civil Code was enforced in the Philippines except for the Law on

Marriage and the Law on Family Council o The Spanish Civil Code was enforced in the Philippines during the American regime even

up to the earlier years of Philippine independence Civil Law (as distinguished from Canon Law)

o During the Spanish regime – covers the rules and principles defining the rights and duties of the members of the community which arise from their relations and to society for the protection of their private rights

E.O 48 ( March 20, 1947; President Manuel Roxas)o an act creating the Code Commission to draft the New Civil Code (to codify laws with

Philippine customs as well as the progressive principles of law)o the draft of the new code was enacted into law by Congress and approved on June 18,

1949 and took effect 1 year after publication in the OG (August 30, 1950)

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o the new code is based on the Civil Code of Spain 1889 which is Spanish and French in origin (CODE COMMISSION – said that since the Philippines had been under the western culture for the last 4 centuries, then it is a rightful beneficiary of the Roman Law

HISTORY OF ROMAN LAW The control and the influence of the Roman Empire, during its peak, encompassed all

nations and when Rome had been the leader of the Western civilization, it had been confronted with problems with (1) defense of lands and (2) administration of justice

The REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT was not able to provide solutions to these problems and caused its downfall giving rise to an empire

Citizenship in Ronqie – considered as membership in a privileged class Emperors – absolute rulers of Rome during the 4th Century Christianity – the state religion Bureaucratic System – for the political unity of the states 2 parts of the History of the Roman Law

a) Pre-Justinian Erab) Justinian Era

Pre-Justinian Period Divided into:

a) Archaic period from the Foundation of Rome (753 BC – 200 BC) An aristocratic nation controlled by the Senate The knowledge of law was limited to the aristocratic class Sarcedos (Highest Priest) – where the Pontiffs Roman Senators – held magistracy and performed public rites and gave advice on the

question of law 12 Tables (written code of laws) – framed by the decemvirs and confirmed as law

bythe Comitia Centuriata; collections of legal principles engraved on metal tablets and set up on the forum

Lex Decemviralis – a law that acquired a great authority and mainly constituted the foundation of all public and private law of the Romans until the time of Justinian

b) Republican Era (200 BC – 30 BC) Law was developed through the rise of jurists De jure Civili (by Quintus Mucius Scaevola) – classified law into law of persons, real

rights and obligationsc) Classical Period (30 BC – 285 AD)

Emperor Augustus Caesar – gave importance to jurists by giving greater authority to their opinions (which were later considered decisions)

Resolutions of the Senate (Senatus Consultum) – where the edicts promulgated by the praetor are found

Institutiones – one of the most important works during this period where legal literature was also produced in abundance

Law schools of Sabinian and Proculian were establishedd) Post Classical Period (285 AD – 534 AD)

Autocratic – form of government The jurists became official advisers known as the Imperial Consiliurn Valentinian Law of Citations – where Emperor Theodosius and Valentinian gave

official authority to writings of Papinian,Paul and Ulpian, Modestinus and Gaius. Majority opinion prevails when jurists should not agree on questions of law

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Legal Education – became important as a degree in law was necessary to government employment

Humanitas – spirit of kindness to neighbors and Christian influence; pervaded the lawThe Justinian Codification

The event that divided the two periods of the history of the Roman Law The Codification was necessary in order to revise all existing law and to correct all

inconsistencies The law of the 12 tables was compiled and simplified into a systematic and Coherent Code

of Law Corpus Juris (codified law during the Justinian’s reign); 4 parts:

a) Institutes (533 AD) – introduction to the entire work and intended as an elementary textbook used in Roman Law Schools based on commentaries by Gaius, Ulpian and Marcianus and divided into 4 books (persons, obligations and actions)

b) Digests or Pandects – covers the entire body of the Roman Private Law with the purpose to extract the spirit of jurisprudence from the decisions and conjectures, the questions and disputes of Roman Civilization

c) Codex (434 AD) – contains more public and criminal law than the Digest and based on the constitutions or documents issuing from the Emperor (edicts, rescripts, decrees)

d) Novel or Novellae Constitutiones (565 AD) – a supplement containing enactments after the other parts had been published, and relating mainly to public and ecclesiastical affairs, private law and intestate succession

Even Germanic invaders recognized the superiority of the Roman Legal institutions to those of their own

Development of the Roman Law after the Justinian Codification Roman Law – preserved through the Justinian Codification even after the upheavals in

Europe, downfall of kingdoms and the dark ages Roman Catholic Church – an institution that survived the political changes Ecclesia vivit lege Romana – the Church lives by the Roman Law Corpus Juris Canonici – Canon Law was based largely on Roman Law Corpus Juris – preservation of the Roman Law; taught in University of Bologna, Paris and

Oxford Glossotars – doctors of law who developed and enriched the Roman Law in the 12th C.; they

were so-called for they wrote notes on margins or between texts to analyze or compare provisions of the law

Bartolists (named after Bartolus, a famous jurist) – applied Roman law to practical problems of the government administration (e.g. Court Procedure and Judicial Mirror)

Court Procedure and Judicial Mirror (by William Durantis) – treatise of civil and canon law dealing on Civil and Criminal Procedure

Humanists or Romanists – considered the Roman law in the light of the Renaissance and Reformations (the medieval theory of the Holy Roman Empire was abandoned with the rise of independent sovereign states)

Hugo Grotius – developed the practice of having the International Law be based on Roman Law

Code of Napoleon – the best known code to replace the Justinian Roman Law in which Napoleon himself took and active part in its drafting

French Civil Code – the code of today that is bound to influence the whole worldCHAPTER 1 – GENERAL PRINCIPLES

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