A case digest or a case brief is a written summary of the case. A case
sometimes involves several issues. Digesting the same would help the student in separating one issue from another and understanding how the Court resolved the issues in the case. The student does not need to discuss all the issues decided in the case in his case digest. He only needs to focus on the relevant issue or the issue related to the subject that he is taking. A case digest may also serve as a useful study aid for class discussions and exams. A student who has a case digest does not need to go back to the case in order to remember what he has read. 1. Be aware of the specifics of the case or the syllabus concerned. In one case alone, there could be multiple topics i.e. Political Law, Remedial Law, Civil Law and there could be as many sub-topics i.e. for Political Law there could be Police Power and Eminent Domain. Knowing these can properly guide you with the theme of your digests. But usually, you will not have a hard time with this because once cases are assigned; your professor would have specified these in his handouts. 2. Read the full text of the case. And when I say read, dont just breeze through it. Try to understand it the first time. This will save you time because if you understood it on the first reading, you wont have to keep going back just to read it all over again. Highlighting important texts of the case which are related to the topic youre on will help you have a coherent grasp of the case. 3. Now after reading the case in full, youre now ready to write your case digest. In a formal case digest, there are five parts which are: Caption This is just the title of the case. It can be as plain as People vs Juan de la Cruz or detailed to include the SCRA number, GR number, ponente and the date. Facts This portion is supposed to answer the Who, What, When, How, Why stuff of the case. There is no need to include all the facts. Just include those that are relevant to the subject. Issues This is the legal conflict or the legal controversy sought to be resolved by the Supreme Court. Include only those that are relevant. Issues are usually framed in the form of questions that are answerable by "yes" or "no," for example, "Is the contract void?" Sometimes, students frame the question by starting it with the word "whether," for example, "Whether the contract is void" or "Whether or not the contract is void." The answer to the question has to be answered in the ruling. Ruling This is the decision or jurisprudence laid down by the court. This usually starts with a "yes" or a "no." This is the answer to the question/s involving the issue. After the categorical yes/no answer, the reason for the decision will be explained.