Obligations & Contracts

Question 1

Define Obligation.

Answer 1

An obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do or not to do.

Question 2

What are the Essential Requisites of an Obligation?

Answer 2

1) A passive subject (called debtor or obligor) or the person who is bound to the fulfillment of the obligation; he who has a duty.

2) An active subject (called creditor or obligee) or the person who is entitled to demand the fulfillment of the obligation; he who has a right;

3) Object or prestation (subject matter of the obligation) or the conduct required to be observed by the debtor. It should be licit, possible, determinate/determinable, and must have pecuniary value;

4) A juridical or legal tie (also called efficient cause) or that which binds or connects the parties to the obligation (Vinculum Juris);

Question 3

What are the Essential Elements of Cause of Action?

Answer 3

1) a legal right in favor of a person (creditor/plaintiff) by whatever means and under whatever law it arises or is created;

2) a correlative legal obligation on the part of another (debtor/defendant) to respect or not to violate said right;

3) an act or omission in breach or violation of said right by the defendant with consequential injury or damage to the plaintiff for which he may maintain an action for the recovery of damages or other appropriate relief.

Question 4

What is a Civil Obligation?

Answer 4

A civil obligation is based on positive law which gives a right of action to compel their performance in case of breach.

Question 5

What is a Natural Obligation?

Answer 5

A natural obligation is based on equity and natural law and cannot be enforced by court action but after voluntary fulfillment by the obligator, they authorize the retention if what may have been delivered or rendered by reason thereof.

Question 6

What are the sources of Obligations?

Answer 6

1. Law - when they are imposed by the law itself, e.g. to pay taxes; obligation to support one’s family
2. Contracts - when they arise from the stipulation of the parties, e.g. the obligation to repay a loan by virtue of an agreement; (private acts)
3. Quasi-contracts - when they arise from lawful, voluntary, and unilateral acts and which are enforceable to the end (juridical relations) that no one shall be unjustly enriched or benefited at the expense of another, e.g. the obligation to return money paid by mistake or which is not due. (Presumptive consent)
4. Crimes or acts or omissions punished by law - when they arise from civil liability which is the consequence of a criminal offense, e.g. the obligation of a thief to return the car stolen by him; the duty of a killer to indemnify the heirs of his victim.
5. Quasi-delicts or torts - when they arise from damage caused to another through an act or omission, there being fault or negligence, but no contractual relation exists between the parties, e.g. the obligation of the possessor of an animal to pay for the damage which it may have caused.