a.
By State
Bar Exam Questions:
1.
2.
By teachers
of
in
in
is
Family Code
Art. 218. The school, its administrators and teachers, or the
individual, entity or institution engaged in child are shall have special
parental authority and responsibility over the minor child while
under their supervision, instruction or custody.
Authority and responsibility shall apply to all authorized activities
whether inside or outside the premises of the school, entity or
institution. (349a)
WHEN ARE THEY LIABLE?
Waivers
Can a teacher or school escape responsibility by asking parents to
file a waiver during field trips and outings?
This issue is closely related to liabilities outside school
and Art 218 is clear that authority and responsibility
shall apply to all authorized activities whether inside or
outside the premises of the school, entity or
institution.
The fact that the parents allowed their child to join the activity, or
even signed a waiver for this purpose, does not mean that the
teacher(s)-in-charge were already relieved of their duty to observe
the required diligence of a good father of a family in ensuring the
safety of the children.
The waiver not to hold the school or its teachers
responsible for negligence is not valid because the waiver is contrary
to public policy. Thus, a teacher can still be made to answer for
damages by the parent of the pupil or student in case she failed to
exercise the proper diligence to prevent harm or injury to the pupil
or student.
At best, what the waiver can bring about is a reminder to
the teacher of his duty of diligence.
Who is At fault?
Who to sue?
Student
Teacher, Head
School
Administrator
Basis of liability
Teacher
2180
paragraph
(Loco Parentis)
Art 218 1nd 219 of
Family Code
School
Stranger
School
proximate
When you speak of torts, the basis of liability is you being at fault
but then there can be a kind of tort that even if there is no fault
imputed there can still be liability and these are very limited kinds
you would call strict liability torts.
Possessors of animals
cause
of
the
accident?
SPECIAL TORTS
This one is the cases covered by the chapter on Human Relations
a.
MERCURY
DRUG
GR. No. 156037, May 28, 2007
CORP.
v.
BAKING
Article 26 of NCC
Every person shall respect the dignity, personality, privacy
and peace of mind of his neighbors and other persons. The
following and similar acts, though they may not constitute a
criminal offense, shall produce a cause of action for damages,
prevention and other relief:
Alienation of Affection
Exception:
RA 9262 SECTION 34
Persons Intervening Exempt from Liability. In every case of
violence against women and their children as herein defined, any
person, private individual or police authority or barangay official
who, acting in accordance with law, responds or intervenes without
using violence or restraint greater than necessary to ensure the
safety of the victim, shall not be liable for any criminal, civil or
administrative liability resulting therefrom.
d.
MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
It is a particular form of negligence which consists in the
failure of the physician or surgeon to apply his practice of medicine
that degree of care and skill which is ordinarily employed by the
profession generally, under similar conditions, and in like
surrounding circumstances.
Elements Involved in Medical Negligence Cases:
EVIDENTIARY RULE
GR: There is a necessity of expert testimony in proving medical
negligence.
EXC: Obvious errors, which the doctrine of Res IpsaLoquitor
applies.
In such case, the need for an expert medical testimony is dispensed
with because the injury itself provides the proof of negligence.
Meaning: When common language and experience teach that a
resulting injury would not have occurred to the patient if due care
had been exercised, an inference of negligence may be drawn giving
rise to an application of the doctrine without medical evidence,
which is ordinarily required to show not only what occurred but how
and why it occurred.
WHEN IS A HOSPITAL LIABLE?
but also of the passengers of the vessel. The head surgeon is made
responsible for everything that goes wrong within the four corners
of the operating room. It enunciates the liability of the surgeon not
only for the wrongful acts of those who are under his physical
control but also those wherein he has extension of control.
DOCTRINE OF INFORMED CONSENT
A duty imposed on a doctor to explain the risks of
recommended procedures to a patient before a patient determines
whether or not he or she should go forward with the procedure.
The gravamen in an informed consent case requires the
plaintiff to point to significant undisclosed information relating to
the treatment which would have altered her decision to undergo it.
The element of ethical duty to disclose material risks in the
proposed medical treatment cannot thus be reduced to one
simplistic formula applicable in all instances. Further, in a medical
malpractice action based on lack of informed consent, the plaintiff
must prove both the duty and the breach of that duty through
expert testimony. Such expert testimony must show the customary
standard of care of physicians in the same practice as that of the
defendant doctor.
The court thus concluded that the patients right of self-decision can
only be effectively exercised if the patient possesses adequate
information to enable him in making an intelligent choice. The
scope of the physicians communications to the patient, then must
be measured by the patients need, and that need is whatever
information is material to the decision. The test therefore for
determining whether a potential peril must be divulged is its
materiality to the patients decision.
Damage- the lost, hurt or harm, which results from injury =>illegal
invasion of a legal right
Damages- is the sum of money which the law awards or imposes as
pecuniary compensation, recompense or satisfaction for an injury
done.
When there is damage, do you expect damages? All the time?
No,
there
can
be
damage
without
injury
(damnumabsqueinjuria) and if there is no injury then no basis for
damages. It is not enough to show suffering or prejudice. What is
needed is a showing of invasion of right or legal duty.
Example
1. Right to litigate- as long as it is only an exercise of a right
and no attendance of abuse is present
2. 2013 Bar Question:
A collision occurred at an intersection involving a
bicycle and a taxicab. Both the bicycle rider (a
businessman then doing his morning exercise) and the taxi
driver claimed that the other was at fault. Based on the
police report, the bicycle crossed the intersection first but
the taxicab, crossing at a fast clip from the bicycle's left,
could not brake in time and hit the bicycle's rear wheel,
toppling it and throwing the bicycle rider into the sidewalk
5 meters away.
The bicycle rider suffered a fractured right knee,
sustained when he fell on his right side on the concrete
side walk. He was hospitalized and was subsequently
operated on, rendering him immobile for 3 weeks and
requiring physical rehabilitation for another 3 months. In
his complaint for damages, the rider prayed for the award
ofP1,000,000
actual
damages,P200,000
moral
damages, P200,000 exemplary damages, P1 00,000
nominal damages and P50,000 attorney's fees.
Assuming the police report to be correct and as the
lawyer for the bicycle rider, what evidence (documentary
and testimonial) and legal arguments will you present in
court to justify the damages that your client claims?
What is needed to prove/claim for damages?
1. There is a loss or injury- injury can either be special or
general; difference is important because a special injury
needs to be plead specifically in the pleading to be
granted.
2. Legal duty or right violated
3. Know the specific requirements for the damages youre
asking
4. Know what are the damages that can or cannot co-exist
KINDS OF DAMAGES:
ACTUAL DAMAGES- are those recoverable because of pecuniary
loss- in business, trade, property, profession, job or occupation.
What is meant to compensate is money or
monetary loss; there must be an actual loss
and such loss must be duly proven
-
2.
3.
4.
ARTICLE 2219
Moral damages may be recovered in the following and analogous
cases:
(1) A criminal offense resulting in physical injuries;
(2) Quasi-delicts causing physical injuries;
(3) Seduction, abduction, rape, or other lascivious acts;
(4) Adultery or concubinage;
(5) Illegal or arbitrary detention or arrest;
(6) Illegal search;
(7) Libel, slander or any other form of defamation;
(8) Malicious prosecution;
(9) Acts mentioned in Article 309;
(10) Acts and actions referred to in Articles 21, 26, 27, 28,
29, 30, 32, 34, and 35.
The parents of the female seduced, abducted, raped, or abused,
referred to in No. 3 of this article, may also recover moral damages.
The spouse, descendants, ascendants, and brothers and sisters may
bring the action mentioned in No. 9 of this article, in the order
named.
ARTICLE 2220
MORAL DAMAGES
What kind of injury does it seek to address?
It does not cover pecuniary loss unlike actual damages but there is
still a need to prove loss for both actual and moral damages. The
difference is that for actual damages, it must be proven with
certainty through receipts, etc while for moral damages there is a
need to prove loss but not in the same degree of exactness as that
needed for actual damages.
You need to understand the kind of loss it is meant address and
since it deals with besmirched reputation, wounded feelings, etc.,
you cannot determine those with exactitude so there is still proof of
loss required but unlike actual damages, the proof of loss need not
be established with such degree of exactitude.
The purpose for actual damages is for full compensation while the
purpose for moral damages is to compensate one for manifold
injuries or for the injury suffered. It is still for compensation but not
for monetary loss. The purpose is to give the injured some means in
order to obtain diversion or recreation. Court said to restore him to
his spiritual status quo
REQUIREMENTS FOR AN AWARD OF MORAL DAMAGES:
1.
2.
Ex:
1.
Public conduct,
MALICIOUS PROSECUTION
WRIT OF KALIKASAN
o
o
o
TEMPERATE DAMAGES
ART 2224, NCC
Temperate or moderate damages, which are more than nominal
but less than compensatory damages, may be recovered when the
court finds that some pecuniary loss has been suffered but its
amount can not, from the nature of the case, be provided with
certainty.
MORAL DAMAGES
- prove that a loss was suffered
and that it falls under what is
enumerated by law
-purpose is to provide diversion
or recreation
NOMINAL DAMAGES
ART 2221, NCC
Nominal damages are adjudicated in order that a right of the
plaintiff, which has been violated or invaded by the defendant, may
be vindicated or recognized, and not for the purpose of indemnifying
the plaintiff for any loss suffered by him.
EXEMPLARY DAMAGES
-
When you file a claim for beach of contract and you pray
for ED, you must allege in the complaint that the breach
was done in a wanton, fraudulent, reckless, oppressive or
malevolent manner. You cannot just say that it is claimed
to set an example for public good.
When a claim for quasi-delict is filed, you must allege gross
negligence in order to be entitled to ED.
In crimes, it may be awarded when there is one or more
aggravating circumstances.
So it is not enough to say that it is asked for to set an
example for public good. The legal basis must be stated.
Asked in a bar exam, the contract stipulates that parties
renounce in advance an award for ED. You cannot