CHAPTER 13
CASE LAW
• Decisions rendered by the SC, CA, Sandiganbayan, CTA, RTC’s, MTC’s Sharia courts
• Subordinate Case Law – decisions of commissions and boards with quasi-judicial
powers, rulings of administrative officers, opinions of the President, Secretary of
Justice, Solicitor General, and rulings of Court Martial
COURT OPINION
• Often referred to as a case, is the court’s written resolution of a legal dispute and
the reasons in support of its resolution
• Courts interpret constitutional or statutory provisions or create law when there is
no governing law (in exceptional cases only)
VALUE OF COURT OPINION
• Written summary of a court opinion that presents, in an organized format, all the
essential information of the opinion
• Saves an attorney time reading the entire case
• Serves as a valuable learning tool
• Serves as reference tool
• Serves as writing tool
STARE DECISIS OR DOCTRINE OF BINDING
PRECEDENT
• Basic principle of law whereby once a decision on a certain set of facts has been
made, the courts will apply that decision in subsequent cases with the same facts
• Decisions of a higher court is binding on lower courts
• Precedent – a case which establishes legal principles to a certain set of facts,
coming to a certain conclusion which is to be followed from that point on
DECISIONS OF THE COURT
• Only Philippine jurisprudence laid down by the Philippine Supreme Court is set as
precedent in this jurisdiction
• Foreign judgments are not binding but have persuasive effects.
RES JUDICATA
• A case starts in the trial courts (MTC/RTC) and may end up in higher courts
(CA/SC)
• Ponencia – the written decision rendered by the court.
• Reporters – published books containing the cases
ANATOMY OF A CASE
• Case Name – identifies the parties involved in the legal action, as well as the
nature of the proceeding
e.g. Caruncho v COMELEC; Guingona v Gonzales
People v Santos; Republic v Cruz
• In re Dela Cruz – regarding, not adversarial in nature
• In re J.M – typically used when involving minors to protect their privacy
• Ex Parte – cases involving just one party as supposed to both
ANATOMY OF A CASE
• Law Reports – decisions of the supreme courts are reported in law reports
Parts of a reported case are: Title, Syllabus, Headnotes, Facts, Opinion,
Decision, Concurring or Dissenting Opinions
• Lex Libris – covers the electronic format of the law reports from 1901-present
• Case or Court Reports
• Case Finders (Digest and Index)
CASE LAW CITATIONS
Courts Citation
Supreme Court Decisions G.R. No. ___
Date of promulgation
Court of Appeals Decisions C.A.-G.R. No. ___ -R, CV, CR or SP,
Date of promulgation
Sandiganbayan Decisions Sandiganbayan Crim Case No. __
Date of Promulgation
Regional Trial Courts RTC (Place and Branch no.)
Civil or Criminal Case No. __
Date of Promulgation
Municipal Trial Courts MTC, CTC, MeTC MTCC
(Place and Branch no.)
Civil or Criminal Case No. ____
Date of Promulgation
Sharia District and Circuit Courts Sharia District/Circuit. Court (place)
Case No. ___, (date of promulgation)
CASE LAW RESEARCH