Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Conflict of Laws – Part 2 (Conflict Rules in Civil Code)


This is the continuation of a two-part reviewer on the very difficult subject of Conflicts of Law.
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Personal law may be defined as that which attaches to him wherever he may go; the law that generally govern his status, capacity, condition, family relations, and the consequences of his actuations.
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Theories on How Personal Law of an Individual is Determined
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The nationality/personal theory – by virtue of which the status and capacity of a person is determined by the law of his nationality or his national law.
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The domiciliary/territorial theory - by virtue of which the status and capacity of a person is determined by the law of his domicile.
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The situs or eclectic theory – which views the particular place or situs of an event or transaction as generally the controlling law.
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The Philippines follow the nationality theory.
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Philippine Conflict Rules found in the Civil Code
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1.Art. 14 – “Penal laws and those of public security and safety shall be obligatory upon all who live or sojourn in Philippine territory, subject to the principles of public international law and to treaty stipulations.” – generality of Philippine Penal Law and exceptions.
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2.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.” – by implication this also applies to aliens.
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3.Art. 16 par. 1 – “Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the country where it is situated.”
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4.Art. 16 par. 2 – “Intestate and testatmentary succession 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.”
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5.Art. 17 pars 1 and 2 – “Lex Loci Celebrationis Rule on contracts and its exception.
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6.Art. 815 – “When a Filipino in a foreign country, he is authorized to make a will in any of the forms established by the law of the country in which he may be. Such will may be probated in the Philippines.”
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7.Art. 816 – “The will of an alien produces effect in the Philippines if made with the formalities prescribed by the law of the place in which he resides, or of his country, or of the Civil Code of the Philippines.”
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8.Art. 817 – “If an alien makes a will in the Philippines in accordance with the formalities prescribed by the laws of his country, it shall have the same effect as if executed according to the laws of the Philippines.”
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9.Art. 819 – “ Joint wills executed by Filipinos in a foreign country will not be valid.”
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10. Art. 829 – “Revocation of a will done outside the Philippines by a person who does not have his domicile in this country, is valid when it is done according to the law of the place where the testator had his domicile at the time.”
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11. Art. 1039 – “Capacity to succeed is governed by the decedent’s national law.”
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12. Art. 1753 – “The law of the country to which the goods are to be transported shall govern the liability of the common carrier for their loss, destruction or deterioration.”
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Philippine Conflict Rules found in the Family Code
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1. Art. 21 – “When either or both of the parties to a marriage contract are aliens, it shall be necessary, before they can secure a marriage license, to provide themselves with a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage, to be issued by their respective diplomat or consular officials.”
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2. Art. 26 – “All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines in accordance with the law in force in country where they are solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Arts. 35 (1), (4), (5) and (6), 36, 37 and 38 FC.”
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3. Art. 80 – “In the absence of contrary stipulation in a marriage settlement, the property relations of the spouses shall be governed by Philippine laws regardless of the place of the celebration of the marriage and their residence.

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