Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Law

Free Consent

Free Consent, as defined in Section 13, occurs when "two or more persons agree upon the same thing and in the same sense."

For example, if A agrees to sell his car to B, but A intends to sell his Maruti while B believes he is buying A's Honda, there is no consent because they haven't agreed on the same thing in the same sense. Consequently, there is no contract.

Section 14 states that consent is considered free when it is not caused or affected by the following:

• Coercion
• Undue Influence
• Fraud
• Misrepresentation
• Mistake

Coercion (Section 15)

Coercion involves using force or threats to compel a person to enter into a contract. The consent obtained under coercion is not free.

Undue Influence (Section 16)

Undue influence occurs when one party,...

Mercantile Companies

Classification of Companies

Companies can be classified as either civil or mercantile. Partnerships can be further categorized into the following types:

• Collective Company
• Limited Partnership (Comanditary Company)
• Limited Partnership by Shares
• Limited Liability Company
• Anonymous Company (Corporation)

Companies can also be classified based on whether they are person-based or stock-based.

Concept of Mercantile Company

Article 35 of the Civil Code (CC) states that legal persons include associations of private interest, whether civil, business, or industrial, to which the law grants legal personality independent of that of each member. According to Article 36 of the CC, these legal persons are governed by the provisions relating to the...

Types of Interest in Legal Claims

Interest in a legal matter can manifest in several ways:

• Personal Interest: When you are directly affected by the decision.
• Indirect Interest: For example, a neighbor affected by an expropriation order.
• Moral Interest.
• Material or Real Interest: When you are losing land or property.

In France, the concept of the "busy body" (someone without direct interest) is generally not permitted in legal challenges.

Evolving Citizen Participation

Courts now admit certain citizens or collectivities that do not possess a strictly personal interest in the claim:

• Example: An environmental issues group initiating a class action.
• Advantages: This results in only one claim and requires only one lawyer, leading to reduced costs.

Absence

History

• George Washington established a cabinet with four secretaries:
  • Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson
  • Secretary of the Treasury: Alexander Hamilton
  • Secretary of War: Henry Knox
  • Attorney General: Edmund Randolph

National Level

• President: Head of State and Government, Commander in Chief.
• Vice President: Also elected by the people, serves as President of the Senate.
• Cabinet: Composed of 15 secretaries and the Vice President. Examples include the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury. All members are nominated by the President.

Agencies

• Secretaries of departments do not have rule-making power.
• US Agencies, on the other hand, have rule-making power.

Types of Agencies

1. Dependent Agencies: President → Cabinet → Agencies dependent on the

Regulation of Commercial Transactions in Civil Law Countries

1. The Rhodian Law

   This law stipulated that losses incurred by a sea captain while attempting to save the ship and cargo from peril must be shared proportionately by all cargo owners and by the ship owner. This rule was applied throughout the Mediterranean.

2. Athens

   A capitalist would lend money for a marine trading expedition. The loan was secured by the ship and cargo, but repayment of the capital and payment of interest were conditional on the ship’s safe return. The interest rate, ranging from 24 to 36 percent, was considerably beyond normal rates, reflecting the highly speculative risks involved. This transaction later developed into marine insurance.

3. The Romans

   1. Civil Law and Foreign

Free and Legal Evaluation of Evidence

Free and legal evaluation is the mental activity by which the Judge decides which fact is true or false. The Judge shall interpret and then evaluate.

• Interpretation: To comprehend the meaning of evidentiary results. You can’t assess anything if you don’t understand the meaning of an evidentiary result; you need to understand in order to evaluate.
• Evaluation: Assuming the Judge has understood the objective meaning, to which rules should the Judge adhere, to decide if a fact is true or false?

The general rule is the free evaluation of the evidence; the Judge is free to choose the rule of logic.

Free evaluation is a system in which the Judge is left to choose among the rules of human criteria and reason. The...

Hypothec: Elements and Content

Elements of a Hypothec

• Subjective Elements: Hypothecor and Hypothecee

  Capacity: The constituent must be the owner of the immovable property and possess the right to dispose of it.

• Objective Elements

  The property must be free of any other charge and capable of guaranteeing any type of obligation.

• Formal Elements

  Requires a written agreement (specifying the obligation/sum of money covered), a notarial deed, and registration. Registration has a constitutive effect in Spain (SP), the UK, Germany (GER), and the Netherlands (Dutch).

Content of the Hypothec

The owner of the property (debtor) remains the possessor and can use (civiliter use), enjoy, dispose of, and even further burden the property. The hypothec itself can be modified....

Introduction

The most essential functions of a state are primarily two: waging war and administering justice. The administration of justice is classified into two parts: civil justice and criminal justice. The purpose of criminal justice is to punish the wrongdoer, who is punished by the state. On the question of whether the purpose of punishment is the desire to make men better or to protect society, certain theories have been given below.

Theories of Punishment

1. Deterrent Theory
2. Retributive Theory
3. Preventive Theory
4. Reformative Theory
5. Expiatory Theory

1. Deterrent Theory

"Deter" means to abstain from doing an act. The main objective of this theory is to deter (prevent) crimes. It serves as a warning to the offender not to repeat the crime in the future...

The new statute, known as the “Elgueta Statute” because it was settled in Elgueta, was shorter than the initial draft. The statute's implementation was limited to the area of the Basque Country under the control of the Republic and the Basque people: Biscay, the very west part of Gipuzkoa, and a small part of northern Alaba. It could not be implemented in the rest of the territory, despite being the official law, because it was under the control of the upraised military.

Basis in the 1931 Constitution

The statute emphasized its basis in the 1931 Constitution. This implied that the statute could not contradict the constitution. For example, there was no reference to Catholicism as the official religion, and all citizens were equal before...