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Origin and meaning of tort

INTRODUCTION
TO
TORTS AND DAMAGES

From an old French word

torquere derived from the Latin
tortus which means twisted or

Tort in Philippine law

Common Law Definition of

tort

Tort is a common law term.

It came to be used in the
Philippine legal system only after
the advent of the American
regime.

crooked
In English as a general synonym for
wrong
- its more specialized meaning as
designating a class of legal
wrongs

an unlawful violation of a private

legal right, not created by
contract, which gives rise to a
common-law action for damages.
Chapin on Torts, p. 1; Street, Foundations of
Legal Liability, Vol. 1.

Philippine Tort Law

Obligations based on law & quasidelict

Philippine Tort Law

Sources
New Civil Code
Roman Law
Spanish
French
Anglo-American Law

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Philippine Tort Law

Scope And Applicable Laws
the Code Commission uses the
word
quasi-delict instead of torts
because torts in Angle American
law is much
broader than the Spanish-Philippine
concept of obligations arising from
noncontractual negligence.
Intentional acts (considered torts in
Anglo American law) are intended to
be governed by the RPC in the
Philippines

Many of the legal wrongs classified

as torts in common law are
actionable in Philippine law as

quasi-delicts, while others are

considered and treated as crimes
and, therefore, governed by the
Revised Penal Code.

Art. 20 is the general sanction for all other

provisions of law which do not
especially provide their own sanctions
and is broad enough to cover all legal
wrongs which do not constitute violation
of contract.
Defamation, fraud, physical injuries,
violation of constitutional rights,
negligence, interference with
contractual relations, violation of
privacy, malicious prosecution, product
liability, strict liability for possession of
animals, abuse of right (Art. 19, NCC),
acts which violate good morals and
customs (Art. 21, NCC)

After a careful deliberation, it

was agreed to use the term
quasi-delict for those

obligations which do not arise

from law, contracts, quasicontracts, or criminal offenses.
They are known is Spanish legal
treatises as culpa aquiliana,
culpa extra-contractual or
cuasi-delitos. Reports of the
Code of Commission

Art. 19, 20, & 21 of the NCC

enlarge the concept of tortious
acts and embody in our law the
Anglo- American concept of tort.
They are catch-all provisions
that serve as basis for any
imaginable tort action.

Art. 1902 of the old Civil Code

covers the broad concept of torts
prior to the NCC.

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Art. 2176 of NCC covers quasidelicts, which as observed by the

SC in numerous cases includes
intentional acts.

Purposes of Tort Law

General purpose: Protect different
interests in the society,
specifically to:
provide a peaceful means for
adjusting the rights of parties
who might otherwise take the law
in their hands

The study of law of torts is

therefore a study of the extent to

which the law will shift from the
person affected to the shoulder of
him who caused the loss.(Wright,
Cases on Law on Torts, p.1)

Culpa aquiliana includes acts which

are criminal in character or in
violation of the penal law,
whether voluntary or negligent.

deter wrongful conduct

encourage socially responsible
behavior
restore the injured parties to
their original condition, insofar as
that law can do this, by
compensating them for their
injury.
Reduce the risks and burden of
living in the society and to
allocate them among the
members of the society

Although tort law is mainly

concerned with providing
compensation for personal injury
and property damage caused by
negligence, it also protects other
interests such as reputation,
personal freedom, enjoyment of
property, and commercial
interests.

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Fundamental principles:
These purposes of tort law are
sought to be achieved in the
pursuit of fundamental principles
upheld under the NCC.
EQUITY & JUSTICE
DEMOCRACY
RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY

EQUITY AND JUSTICE

the precepts of law are these, to
live honestly, not to injure others,
and to give each one his due.
Justice is a steady and
unceasing disposition to render
every man his due.

DEMOCRACY
the very foundations of human life
and happiness, cannot be
overlooked by an integral civil code.
Art. 32 provides for independent civil
actions for damages against any
public officer or employee, or any
private individual, who directly or
indirectly obstructs, defeats,
violates, or in any manner impedes
or impairs the civil rights and
liberties of another person.

EQUITY AND JUSTICE

NCC upholds the spirit that giveth
life rather than the letter that killeth
Art. 21 & 26 of NCC
justice and equity demand that
persons who may have damaged by
the wrongful or negligent act of
another are compensated.
Acting with justice involves the duty
to indemnify for damages caused
under Arts. 20,21,28,27; to indemnify
by reason of unjust enrichment under
Arts. 22 & 23; and to protect the
weaker party under Art. 24

EQUITY AND JUSTICE

equity is defined as justice
according to natural law and
right.
Justice outside legality
invoked in justifying the rule
regarding mitigation of liability if
the plaintiff was guilty of
contributory negligence

RESPECT FOR HUMAN

DIGNITY
Art. 26 and the provisions on moral
damages are included in order to
remedy
defects in old CC in so far as it did
not properly exalt human
personality.
The touchstone of every system
of laws, of the culture and
civilization of every country, is
how far it dignifies man.

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CAUSE OF ACTION
Elements
The traditional formula for the
elements necessary to such a cause
of action may be stated briefly as
follows:
1. A duty, or obligation, recognized
by law, requiring the person to
conform to a certain standard of
conduct, for the protection of others
against unreasonable risks.

Thus, the elements of an actionable

conduct are: 1) duty, 2) breach,
3) injury, and 4) proximate
causation. [Garcia v. Salvador, 2007]
To successfully prosecute an action
anchored on torts, three elements
must be present, viz:
(1) duty (2) breach (3) injury and
proximate causation. [Ocean

Builders v. Cubacub, 2011]

Plaintiff

Any person who had been injured by

reason of a tortious conduct can
sue the tortfeasor.
Plaintiff can be a natural person or
juridical person.
An unborn child is not entitled to
damages. But the bereaved parents
may be entitled to damages, on
damages inflicted directly upon
them. (Geluz vs. CA, 2 SCRA 802)

CAUSE OF ACTION
2. A failure on the person's part to
conform to the standard required:
a breach of duty.
3. A reasonably close causal
connection between the conduct
and the resulting injury.
4. Actual loss or damage resulting
to the interests of another.
[Prosser & Keeton]

The primary purpose of a TORT

ACTION is to provide
compensation to a person who
was injured by the tortious
conduct of the defendant.
Preventive remedy is available in
some cases.
Alternative compensation
schemes include insurance &
work employees compensation

Defendant
may be held liable even if he does
not know the identity of the
plaintiff at the time of the
accident.
Can either be a natural or juridical
being

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NEGLIGENCE
omission of that degree of
diligence which is required by the
nature of the obligation and
corresponding to the
circumstances of time, persons,
and place. (Art. 1173)

NEGLIGENCE
Kinds of Negligence:
culpa contractual (contractual

negligence)
culpa aquiliana (quasi-delict)
culpa criminal (criminal
negligence)

Civil liability arising from

quasi-delicts
The law governing civil liability for

quasi-delicts is found in Arts.

2176 to 2194 of the Civil Code,
Rep. Act. No. 386.

Art. 2176. Whoever by act or

omission
causes
damage
to
another, there being fault or
negligence, is obliged to pay for
the damage done. Such fault or
negligence, if there is no preexisting
contractual
relation
between the parties, is called a

quasi-delict and is governed by the

provision of this chapter.

Quasi-Delict
covers not only those that are not
punished by law but also those
acts which are voluntary and
negligent

In order that liability under Art.2176

of the Civil Code will arise, the
following requisites must exist:
(a) act or omission constituting
fault or negligence
(b) There must be damage or
prejudice which must be proven
by the party claiming it;

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and
(c) There must be a direct causal
connection between the damage or
prejudice and the act or omission.
(d) absence of contractual relation
between plaintiff and defendant.
(no longer cited because an action

based on quasi-delict can be

maintained even if there is an
existing contractual relation
between the parties Air France
Case)

Delict
criminal negligence elements:
that material damages results
from the reckless imprudence
there is an inexcusable lack of
precaution on the part of the
offender, taking into consideration
his employment or occupation,
degree of intelligence, physical
condition, and other
circumstances

TORT VS CRIME
The civil action for a tort is
commenced and maintained by the
injured person himself, and its
purpose is to compensate him for the
damage he has suffered, at the
expense of the wrongdoer.
If he is successful, he receives a
judgment for a sum of money, which
he may enforce by collecting it from
the defendant.

Delict
criminal negligence; covered by
Art. 365 of RPC
elements:
offender does or fails to do an
act
that the doing or the failure to do
the act is voluntary
that it be without malice

Tort VS Crime
A tort is not the same thing as a crime
A crime is an offense against the public at
large, for which the state, as the
representative of the public, will bring
proceedings in the form of a criminal
prosecution.
The purpose of CRIMINAL proceeding is to
protect and vindicate the interests of
the public as a whole, by punishing the
offender or eliminating him from society,
either permanently or for a limited time,
by reforming him or teaching him not to
repeat the offense, and by deterring
others imitating him.

Liability under Art. 2176 may arise either from

fault or negligence. In other words,
liability may be incurred either by an act or
through an omission.
Fault requires the execution of a positive act
which causes damage to another, while
negligence consists in the omission to do
acts which result also in damage to another.
The act or omission must be without intent to
cause damage, because if there is intent to
cause damage, the act or omission becomes
a crime and civil liability for such act or
omission will be governed by the Revised
Penal Code in accordance with the provisions
of Art. 1161 of the Civil Code.

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The same act may be both a crime

against the state and a tort
against an individual. In such a
case, since the interests invaded
are not the same, and the objects
to be accomplished by the two
suits are different, there may be
both a civil tort action and a
criminal prosecution for the same
offense.

CULPA
ACQUILIANA

CRIMES

Includes all acts

which
any kind of fault or
negligence
intervenes
Liability of
employer is
direct and primary

Punishes only
those
covered by penal
laws
Liability of
employer is
subsidiary

TORT VS BREACH OF
CONTRACT
A tort consists in the violation of a
right given, or the omission to
perform a duty imposed by law;
while
in a breach of contract the right is
granted and the obligation is
assumed by agreement of the
parties.

CULPA
ACQUILIANA

CRIMES

Affects private
interest

Affects public
interest

CC merely repairs RPC punishes or

damages by
corrects
means of
criminal act
indemnification

Contract
governed by CC provisions on
Obligations and Contracts
particularly Arts. 1170-1174
by express provision Arts. 2178,
1172 to 1174 are applicable to
quasi-delict cases

TORT VS BREACH OF
CONTRACT
It if be found that the right or duty
was created independently of the
consent of the parties concerned,
the action is in tort;
if because of such consent, it is on
contract.

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However, the existence of a

contractual relation between the
parties does not necessarily imply that
all obligations that may arise between
them will be contractual.
The obligor may break the contract
under such conditions that the same
act which constitutes a breach of
contract would constitute a tort if no
contract existed between the parties,
in which case an action in tort will lie.
- The breach of contract may give rise to
a tort, as for example, one who
wrongfully induces a party to a
contract to break such contract will be
liable for interference of a contractual
relation.

AIR FRANCE VS CARRASCOSO

(1966)

- Recover damages from air-carrier

upon the ground of tort
- Although the relation between the
passenger and a carrier is
contractual both in origin and nature
. . . the act that breaks the contract
may also be a tort.
- Authority for the view that liability
from tort may exist even if there is a
contract

The fault referred to in Art. 2176 of

the New Civil Code is fault
substantive and independent which
in itself is a source of obligations.
This kind of fault is also known as
culpa extra-contractual or culpa

aquiliana.

Fault as an incident in the

performance of a pre-existing
contract is known as contractual
fault or culpa contractual.

CULPA
ACQUILIANA

BASIS

CULPA
CONTRACTUAL

Separate
source
of oligation
independent
of
contract
Substantive
and
independent

definition

Foundation
of
liability is
contract

Characteristic

Incident of
the
performance
of an
obligation

CULPA
CONTRACTUAL

CULPA
ACQUILIANA

BASIS

CULPA
CONTRACTUAL

CULPA
ACQUILIANA

BASIS

There may or
may
not be a
preexisting
contractual
relationship
Defendant's
negligent act
or
omission

Party
Relationship

Pre-existing
contractual
relation

Negligence
of the
defendant

What needs Existence of

to be
the
proven
contract and
its
breach

Source of
obligation

Breach of
contract

Proof of
diligence is
a valid
defense

Availability Proof of
of diligence diligence
is not a
defense

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IMPORTANT POINTS
A single act or omission can give
rise to 2 or more causes of action.

Limitation imposed by law is the

proscription against double
recovery provided under Art. 2177
of the NCC.

Whenever a contractual obligation

can be breached by a tort, it is
also possible that two persons are
liable for such breach even of
there is only one act or omission
that causes the injury.

Although an act can give rise to 2

causes of action, the plaintiff
cannot recover twice for the same
act or omission of the defendant.

Authorities support the

proposition that a quasi-delict or
"culpa aquiliana" is a separate

legal institution under the Civil

Code, with a substantivity all its
own, and individuality that is

entirely apart and independent

from a delict or crime. [Barredo v.

Garcia, 1942]

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