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CHAPTER ON HUMAN RELATIONS:

CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES
.
Judge Evelyn J. Gamotin-Nery
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Civil Code of the Philippines –
August 30, 1950
The chapter on Human Relations governs
several aspects of private affairs not
otherwise covered by the old Civil Code.
Starts with Articles 19, 20, and 21
provide the legal bedrock for the
award of damages to a party who
suffers damage.
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ARTICLES 19, 20, AND 21
These articles apply either when:
 onecommits an act in violation of some legal
provision,
 and more relevantly, one commits an act that
does not violate any positive law but
nevertheless violates rudimentary rights of
the party aggrieved.
These are so-called catch-all provisions
because they provide the bases for actions
for damages in the absence of any express
provision.
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Article 19 of the Civil Code:

“every person must, in the

exercise of his rights and in the
performance of his duties, act
with justice, give everyone his
due, and observe honesty and
good faith”.
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ARTICLE 19

A right, although legal because recognized

or granted by law, may nevertheless
become a source of some illegality. When a
right is exercised in a manner which does
not conform with the norms enshrined in
Article 19 and results in damage to another,
a legal wrong is thereby committed for
which the wrongdoer must be held
responsible.
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ARTICLE 19
recognizes the primordial limitation on
all rights
abandoned the old theory that no
person can be held liable for damages
against another while in the exercise of
his or her right
grant indemnity for damages in cases
where there is an abuse of right, even
when the act is legal
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ARTICLE 20

“every person who, contrary to law,

willfully or negligently causes
damage to another shall indemnify
the latter for the same.”
enacted to fill in any gaps in the law
It is a general sanction for all other
provisions of law which do not
especially provide their own sanction
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ARTICLE 21

“any person who willfully causes

loss or injury to another in a
manner that is contrary to morals,
good customs or public policy shall
compensate the latter for the
damage”
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ARTICLE 21

This
principle is taken from the
German Civil Code.
doesnot refer to any violation
of any statute or positive law,
but to a transgression of
“morals, good customs, or
public policy.
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Article 21

enacted because of the countless gaps

in the statutes, which leave so many
victims of moral wrongs helpless, even
though they have actually suffered
material and moral injury
.It provides for adequate legal remedy
for that untold number of moral wrongs,
which it is impossible for human
foresight to capture in the statutes.
+ COMPARATIVE LOOK AT ACTS
CAUSING DAMAGES

Art 21;
ART 20 WILLFUL ACT
ART 19 WILLFUL OR CONTRARY TO
ABUSE OF RIGHT NEGLECTFUL MORALS GOOD
ACT CUSTOMS OR
GOOD POLICY