LET'S DIGEST (A GUIDE ON HOW

TO DIGEST A CASE)
LET'S DIGEST
(A GUIDE ON HOW TO DIGEST A CASE)

Hi guys! I'm here to tell you some tips on how

to properly digest a case. As a law student, we
are often asked by our professors as a
requirement to digest cases which are normally
assigned by your professors for the whole
semester. These cases contains the real life
application of the principles and theories that
are discussed in the law. Some cases are long
and some are short, some can reach up to 30
pages and some reach only 2 to 5 pages, it
depends on how critical the case is.

Now, some students have difficulty in digesting

these cases whether they are long or short.
Probably because of lack of experience in
digesting cases or probably this is a new
concept for you. Digesting a case is more like
a book summary, you read a novel or a story
then you summarize the story. Same thing with
case digest, you read the case and summarize
the whole case into something comprehensive for
a layman and of course for yourself.

Here are some tips I'd like to share with you

today. Some of these tips are supported by
different sources from other blogs on How to
Write a Case Digest. I'll be posting the links
of these sources in the end of this blog.
WHY SHOULD YOU DIGEST CASES?

The cases that will be assigned to you will be

a huge part of the discussions and recitations.
It's really hard to answer a question which you
do not know the answer, sometimes, you've read
the cases by heart and understand the doctrines
inside it but because there are tons of cases
to read you might find yourself mixing facts
and ruling up and that's bad too. You digest
cases in order for you to have guidelines and
overview regarding the case you've read. Digest
contains brief facts of the case, issue which
needs to be resolve in the case and the
decision and solution given by the court. You
cannot possibly memorize everything except if
you're a boy genius or someone who have a
photographic memory.

Some professors do not allow open books but

allow open written notes, without a copy of a
full text you're a goner and you'd probably mix
up the facts of the cases assigned. When you
have a written digest, you can follow the
discussion and probably even prepare for the
questions that might be asked by the professors
with the little life save you call, "Case
Digest".

Some professors, also require that you submit

your case digests either week, or by the end of
the semester. Don't do the digests, and it's
your loss. Some professors give considerations
for the effort given in the digest. Some
professors put an incomplete (INC) mark to
those who did not pass their cases or those who
have incomplete case digest. It may not be
possible for your professors to read all your
digests but it's worth the effort to impress
your professor with a complete and magnificent
case digest.

STEP 1: GET YOURSELF A FULL

TEXT COPY OF THE CASE.
Why? I'll tell you why. You want to appreciate
and understand a story? Read the book and watch
the movie after. As a general rule you DO NOT!
I repeat, YOU DO NOT read the digest first
before the full text of the case. That is a
mortal sin for professors if they found out
you've only read the case digest and not the
full text. It gives you that image of being
lazy, and that's a big problem with the capital
"P" in it. But as the saying goes, "if there's
a general rule, there's an exception" which is,
if you are hopeless already and you have to
finish the case before the end of the world
which is the class itself. But this is not
advisable some professors are tricky and try to
ask questions that are found in the full text
and most of the time are being overlooked by
the students (Such as the date, the justice who
penned the case, the names of the petitioner
and respondent, etc.). SO DO YOURSELF A FAVOR,
GET A FULL TEXT COPY OF THE CASE! You can get
the full text of the case either through the
internet or directly from your law library.

HERE'S A TIP:
 You can just leave the copy of the list of
cases to the librarian or the Xerox Copy
Person (XCP because I do not know how those
people are called.) and ask him/her kindly
if he/she could go look for the listed
cases there, if they are kind enough to
fetch the case for you then you're lucky,
and perhaps a tip would be nice to show
your appreciation. Make sure you give them
the case list 2 days or a day before you
need the copies of the full text. It's not
easy to xerox all those cases you know. If
not? Well, it's one hell of a long journey
for you looking at the SCRA one by one.
I prefer getting the full text of the case
directly from the library than the
internet. Why? You can see the rulings
directly at the first page of the SCRA,
it's already categorized according to a
particular topic of law related/included in
the case. It's much easier to digest.

STEP 2: DON'T JUST LOOK AT IT, READ IT!

You got the case? Good. Now, you read it. Have
this relationship with the case, you pay close
attention to the case and while you're at it
perhaps you might want to write some notes
regarding the case not so hard of a start isn't
it? Reading the case takes some time, but take
note of the important things just in case,
these are:
 Full names of the petitioner and the
respondent;
Date of the decision of case;
Important places in the case (specific
address, name of the boat, name of the
street, etc.)
Justice who penned the case;and
Other information that seem important to the
case.
These things are important specially in
Criminal Cases specially the time and place
where the crime was committed.

Now, some cases are interesting, criminal

cases, cases relating to annulment and the
likes. However, you'll have a problem with
cases that will not really spark your interest.
For me, cases relating to tax and corporations
are incomprehensible and boring, but you have
to read these cases no matter what. It's worth
the effort guys. If you can read fifty shades
of grey or the twilight saga then you can also
read those cases. Think that your life and
grade depend on it. Put humor in the cases,
something that will remind you of what is that
case all about.

STEP 3: NOW WRITE!

Don't just think bout them, ink them. Remember
that a case digest should be a page short only
as much as possible, you're not rewriting the
full text, you are summarizing it. Now there
are formalities which are to observed in
writing down your case digest, I will discuss
them step by step.
STEP 3.A: NAME OF THE CASE, GR. No.,
DATE and JUSTICE WHO PENNED THE CASE.

This is important. If the full text is entitled

"Maria Corazon de Jesus Victoria Trinidad vs.
Manuel Gabriel" or if the case have many
petitioners and respondents, the you can
shortcut it into (for my example) "Trinidad v.
Gabriel" Last name of the petitioner and last
name of respondent.

(based on an actual case. Note: I removed the name of petitioner and

respondent)

Then after the case title, under that, you put

the G.R Number of the case and the date of the
decision of the case beside it.

(based on an actual case. Note: I removed the name of petitioner and

respondent)

After writing those two, you write the surname

of the Justice who penned the decision.
 (based on an actual case. Note: I removed the name of petitioner and
respondent)

Your Case Caption should look like this (based

on my example earlier):

TRINIDAD v. GABRIEL
G.R. No. XXXXXXX, August 30, 1950
DE GUZMAN, J.:

STEP 3.B: FACTS

Facts are the brief story of the case. You

should write what happened in the case, who are
the petitioner and the respondents, what is the
decision of the Court of Appeals and Lower
Courts. Facts should be brief as possible. A
digest is a summary of the full text and not
another copy of the full text.
STEP 3.C: ISSUE

Issue for me, always starts with WHETHER OR NOT

followed by the issue that is related to your
topic. For example, the topic is warrant of
arrest and the issue in the case is the
validity of the warrant, then your issue should
be, WHETHER OR NOT the warrant is valid.

STEP 3.D: RULING/HELD

This is the decision of the SUPREME COURT. I

repeat, this is the DECISION OF THE SUPREME
COURT not the ruling of any lower court
regarding the issue you raised in your issue
portion. So, The ISSUE is the question, the
RULING is the answer.

You can use Ruling or Held, whatever is

comfortable for you. The point is, you or other
people should see the decision of the court
whether it is granted or dismissed and the
rationale for such decision. Decision should
answer the issue as i said earlier, if you put
a decision that does not answer your issue then
you have a problem discussing the case.

STEP 3.E: HOW IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

TRINIDAD v. GABRIEL
G.R. No. XXXXXXX, August 30, 1950
DE GUZMAN, J.:

FACTS:

ISSUE:

RULING:

STEP 3.F: SAMPLE DIGEST

BIRAOGO v. THE PHILIPPINE TRUTH COMMISSION OF

2010
G.R No. 192935. December 7, 2010
MENDOZA, J.:

FACT:
E.O No. 1 establishing the Philippine Truth
Commission (PTC) of 2010 was signed by
President Aquino. The said PTC is a mere branch
formed under the Office of the President tasked
to investigate reports of graft and corruption
committed by third-level public officers and
employees, their co-principals, accomplices and
accessories during the previous administration
and submit their findings
and recommendations to the President, Congress
and the Ombudsman. However, PTC is not a quasi-
judicial body, it cannot adjudicate, arbitrate,
resolve, settle or render awards in disputes
between parties. Its job is to investigate,
collect and asses evidences gathered and
make recommendations. It has subpoena powers
but it has no power to cite people in contempt
or even arrest. It cannot determine for such
facts if probable cause exist as to warrant the
filing of an information in our courts of law.

Petitioners contends the Constitutionality of

the E.O. on the grounds that.

It violates separation of powers as

it arrogates the power of Congress to
create a public office and appropriate
funds for its operation;
The provisions of Book III, Chapter 10,
Section 31 of the Administrative Code of
1987 cannot legitimize E.O. No. 1 because
the delegated authority of the President to
structurally reorganize the Office of the
President to achieve economy, simplicity,
and efficiency does not include the power
to create an entirely new office
was inexistent like the Truth Commission;
The E.O illegally amended the Constitution
when it made the Truth Commission and
vesting it the power duplicating and even
exceeding those of the Office of the
Ombudsman and the DOJ.
It violates the equal protection clause

ISSUE:
WHETHER OR NOT the said E.O is
unconstitutional.

RULING:
Yes, E.O No. 1 should be struck down as it is
violative of the equal protection clause. The
Chief Executives power to create the Ad hoc
Investigating Committee cannot be doubted.
Having been constitutionally granted full
control of the Executive Department, to which
respondents belong, the President has the
obligation to ensure that all executive
officials and employees faithfully comply with
the law. With AO 298 as mandate, the legality
of the investigation is sustained. Such
validity is not affected by the fact that the
investigating team and the PCAGC had the same
composition, or that the former used the
offices and facilities of the latter in
conducting the inquiry.

4. CONCLUSION

So That's all that you need to know with

regards to digesting cases. I hope these helps
and please let me know what you think about
digesting cases. We're also open for
other suggestions just leave it on the comments
section. THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR
DIGESTS!

5. REFERENCE
> LawFacilitate

> Diory's Diction

> Uber Digests