Immediate Preparation for

Marriage
Marriage as a state of life
From The Revised Code of Canon Law (1983) and
The Family Code of the Philippines (1987)

Topic Outline
I. Canon Law and Civil Law
II. Marriage according to Code of Canon
Law (1983)
III. Marriage according to The Family Code
of the Philippines (1987)

I. The Canon Law and

the Civil Law

Law
Civil law

There are
different
kinds of law

Natural law
Canon law

Divine law

Law
Civil law

Civil law is founded

upon natural law
Natural law
Natural law
is a
participation
in divine
law, but is
naturally
known

Canon law

Divine law

Church law is rooted in

an understanding of
divine law and the
historical situation of the
Church.

Divine Law
Divine Law is that which
is enacted by God and
made known to man
through revelation. We
distinguish between the
Old Law, contained in the
Pentateuch, and the New
Law, which was revealed
by Jesus Christ and is
contained in the New
Testament.

Canon Law
Canon law (Church
law) is the body of
laws and regulations
made by or adopted
by ecclesiastical
authority, for the
government of the
Christian organization
and its members.

Civil Law

Civil law: man made law. Can be just or unjust, depending upon how it
squares with natural law. I.e., one must be 18 in order to vote, 19 in order
to drink, one must drive on the right side of the road, etc.

Natural Law
Cicero writes of the natural law: True law is
right reason in agreement with Nature...it is of
universal application, unchanging and
everlasting.... we need not look outside
ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it.
And there will not be different laws at Rome
and at Athens, or different laws now and in
the future, but one eternal and unchangeable
law will be valid for all nations and for all
times, and there will be one master and one
rule, that is, God, over us all, for He is the
author of this law, its promulgator, and its
enforcing judge.

Civil and Natural Law

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his Letter from the
Birmingham Jail: Now what is the difference
between the two? How does one determine when a
law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code
that squares with the moral law or the law of God.
An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with
the moral law. To put it in the terms of Saint Thomas
Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not
rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifts
human personality is just. Any law that degrades
human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes
are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and
damages the personality. It gives the segregator a
false sense of superiority, and the segregated a
false sense of inferiority.

Natural Law
First principle of speculative reason:

Nothing can both be and not be at the same time and in the
same respect.
First principle of practical reason:

Good is to be done, evil is to be avoided

The Good

The good: that which all things desire. All

things desire their own perfection, that is, their
own complete flourishing.
Human beings have natural inclinations or
desires (to be distinguished from acquired
desires, and/or perverted desires).

Apparent goods

Apparent goods appear to be

perfective of the human
person, but they are
destructive of the human
person.
I.e., a poison apple,
associating with criminals, an
adulterous relationship, living
a life of total leisure without
ever working, etc.

True goods

True goods are truly perfective of the

human person. Self-control, honest
friendships, healthy foods, etc.

Society

Family

(others)

God

Religion
Integrity

Sociability/the common good

Marriage/family

Friendship

Goods of the
Will

Goods of the Will

Marriage/family

Man is inclined to marry, to give himself

completely to another, to belong to another
exclusively and permanently in one flesh
union that is open to the begetting of new
life. Both husband and wife will to beget
human life because goodness is effusive,
and their unique conjugal relationship is
good.

II. The Revised Code of

Canon Law (1983)
Definition of Marriage

Introduction:
Matrimony comes from the Latin word mater:
To bring out the significant role that mother plays in the
generation and education of children.

Gaudium et Spes (#48-50) and New Code of Canon

Law refer to marriage with the following concepts:
1.Intima communitas vitae et amoris
2.Consortium (partnership)
3.Foedus et Contractus
4.Sacramentum

CONTRACTUS (Contract)
It is a form of covenant.
It is an agreement by
w/c one or more
persons obliges
oneself or themselves
towards another
person/s either to give
something or to
perform a certain

CONTRACTUS (Contract)
12th Century, reference to Contractual
Theory of marriage.
In the 1917 Code (1081-1082), such
theory became controversial since it was
difficult to defend the indissolubility of
marriage based on the free choice of the
spouses.

CONTRACTUS (Contract)
In the Second Vatican Council, the theory was
not well regarded by the Council fathers:
It fails to embrace the sacramental reality of
marriage.
It is offensive to the Oriental Churches which
considers marriage as covenant established by
the Creator and ordered by His laws, by which a
man and woman by an irrevocable personal
consent established themselves as a partnership
of the whole of lifein the image of an indefectible
union with Christ with the Church, are united by
God... (Canon 776).

CONTRACTUS (Contract)
The 1983 Code has not totally rejected
the theory:
1.It uses it as a juridical term.
2.However, marriage is a contractus sui
generis

Marriage is analogous to a
contract
based on the following elements:
1.Capacity of the parties
2.Subject of the contract
3.Consent of the parties
4.Obligations to fulfil the contract

1.Capacity of the parties:

a. Natural:
1.Physical
2.Psychological

b. Juridical - capacity relative to law:

1.Iure habiles (1057, 1; 1058)
2.Freedom from impediments (1073)
3.One is not declared incapable (10; 1095)

2. Subject of the contract, which

must be suitable:
a. Physically/morally able and possible
(deceased, same sex)
b. There is well-founded hope that it will
work.
c. It has essential properties within reach
of the parties.

3. Consent (most important):

a. Personally given
b. The efficient cause and constitutive
element of marriage.
c. The spirit and soul of the contract.
d. It must be bilateral, free act of two wills:
1.Truthful (not simulated)
2.Responsible, deliberate and free act
3.Externally manifested according to legitimate
form.
4.Mutual

4. Obligations to fulfil the contract

binding both parties:
a. Juridical - requirement to use judicial
process.
b. Moral creates right and duties based on
justice:
1.Legal: for the common good
2.Distributive: according to proper means,
merits and needs
3.Commutative: ordered to a proper goal
between persons.

Observations:
1.Marriage is a contract only in its juridical
aspect, thus it must be complemented by
covenant and sacrament.
2.Marriage is a contractus sui generis:
a. Public not private contract.
b. Unconditional
c. Several elements do not depend on the will of
the parties.

Observations:
3.Marriage bond is a social institution
consisting of system of norms which are
permanent (1134-1140).
4.Covenant and contract are not totally
opposed; covenant must at least contain all
the components of a contract; otherwise, it
will never be a covenant.
5.Family Code, Art. 1 special contract, unlike
in Civil Code it was mere contract.

Difference between Special and Mere

Contract:
SPECIAL CONTRACT:
1. Law on Marriage
2. Inviolable social institution
3. Not subject to stipulation
4. Legal capacity required
5. Two parties: Male-Female
6. Terminated by
death/annulment

MERE CONTRACT:
1. Law on contracts (NCC, IV)
2. Not inviolable
3. Subject to stipulation

4. Minors (18 below) with

guardian
5. Two or more, gender
immaterial

6. Term expiration, mutual

agreement, fulfilment of
conditions, etc.

III. The Family Code of the

Philippines (1987)

Definition of Marriage according

to the Civil Law

The Family Code of the

Philippines (1987)
The Family Code of 1987, which was intended
to supplant Book I of the Civil Code
concerning persons and family relations.

covers fields of significant public interest,

especially the law on marriage. The definition and
requisites for marriage, as well as the grounds for
its annulment, are found in the Family Code.
the law on conjugal property relations, the rules on
establishing filiation, and the governing provisions
on support, parental authority, and adoption.

I. Marriage, Family & the

Philippine Constitution

Marriage is:
foundation of the family

basis of society

SEMPER PRAESUMITUR PRO

MATRIMONIO

(The presumption is always in favor of

the validity of marriage)

I. Marriage, Family & the Phil

Constitution
Constitutional Policy

protection of the family as a basic

social institution

I. Marriage, Family & the Phil

Constitution
Article II, Sec. 12 of the
1987 Constitution:
SECTION 12. The State recognizes
the sanctity of family life and shall
protect and strengthen the family
as a basic autonomous social
institution.

I. Marriage, Family & the Phil

Constitution
Article XV, Sec. 1 of the 1987
Constitution
SECTION 1. The State recognizes
the Filipino family as the
foundation of the nation.
Accordingly, it shall strengthen its
solidarity and actively promote its
total development.

Importance of the family to the

State
1. A basic social institution:
although the individual is obviously the
primary cell in the body politic, as he is in all
other human organizations, it is the family
which provides the basic unit of the State.

Importance of the family to the

State
2. The communitys first socializing agency:
The family is, in fact, the communitys first
socializing agency and the source of its
strength and stability.

Ex. HB

37 (Anti-Divorce and Unlawful

Dissolution of Marriage Act of 2013)
Introduced by Cong. Macelino R. Teodoro

I. Marriage, Family & the Phil

Constitution
Article XV, Sec. 2 of the 1987
Constitution:
SECTION 2. Marriage, as an
inviolable social institution, is the
foundation of the family and shall
be protected by the State.

Article XV, Sec. 2 of the 1987

Constitution:
Marriage
- It may refer to the ceremony or act
by which a man and woman become
husband and wife or to the state of
being married.
- Marriage is both a contract and a
status.

Two Aspects of Marriage:

As a contract (a special contract)

1.

Only man and woman

Permanent
Rights and duties of parties are fixed by
the law and not subject to stipulation
Breach of the marital contract does not
give rise to an action for damages.

Two Aspects of Marriage:

As a status

1.

No longer just a contract but an

inviolable social institution foundation
of the family
Nature, consequences and incidents are
governed by law and not subject to
stipulation
Carries : (1) realm of personal rights and
obligations of spouses. (2) realm of
property relations.

Article 1 of the Family Code (the Code) lays down

the basic premise of our laws on marriage

Marriage is a (1)special contract of

(2)permanent union between (3)a man
and a woman entered into in
(4)accordance with law for the
establishment of (5)conjugal and family
life. It is the foundation of the family
and an inviolable social institution
whose nature, consequences, and
incidents are governed by law and not
subject to stipulation, except that
marriage settlements may fix the
property relations during the marriage
within the limits provided by this Code.

II. Marriage, a Special Contract

Article I of the Family Code
of the Philippines

ARTICLE 1. Marriage is a special

contract of permanent union
between a man and a woman
entered into in accordance with
law for the establishment of
conjugal and family life.

II. Marriage, a Special Contract

Marriage

Special
Contract

regulated and controlled

by the State, NOT by the
will of the parties

Marriage is a very special contract in that:

The parties must be male and female. Actually , the

Supreme Court has already stated that in a marriage
contract, there are, in fact, 3 parties: the man, the
woman and the State, considering that the State
provides for the duties, privileges and restrictions
which are deemed written into every marriage
contract.
Stat
e

Man

Woman

Marriage is a very special contract in that:

Unlike ordinary contracts which may be terminated or

rescinded by the parties upon mutual agreement, the
marital bonds can only be severed by death, or upon
a court declaration of nullity or annulment;

Marriage is a very special contract in that:

The rights and obligation

of the parties are not
subject to stipulation by the
parties and are fixed by
law; and
Breach of the marital
contract does not give rise
to an action for damages.