Paraphrasing the words of technorati’s Matt:
“55 Million blogs…some of them may just be libelous.”
Courts are being asked to crack down on bloggers and websites, reads a USA Today article. In a legal first, David Milum became the first blogger in the United States to lose a libel suit. The libel case stemmed from an article posted by Milum in a blog, accusing his former lawyer of bribing judges on behalf of drug dealers. The article reads in part: Continue reading
The subject on sentencing law is not really important to the general public, but it’s included in this Forum for reference and discussion. Foreign jurisdictions have a more extensive online record and discussion on sentencing law (for instance, the sentencing project and the sentencing law and policy. Let’s do that here, still with the Plain Language Initiative in mind.
A sentence, in law, is the penalty imposed by the court in a criminal case against a person, known as the “accused”, who is found guilty of committing the crime charged. There is no law known as sentencing law in the Philippines. For our purposes, however, it refers to the collection of laws governing the determination and imposition of the proper penalty in a criminal case. This collection includes:
Continue readingToday, 2 October 2006, the Ombudsman absolved all respondents involved in the Mega Pacific controversy of all administrative and criminal liabilities. To recall, the Supreme Court threatened to cite the Ombudsman in contempt for its delay in determining the criminal liability, if any, of the public officials (COMELEC) involved in the bungled automation of the 2004 elections (Information Technology Foundation of the Philippines [ITF] vs. COMELEC, G.R. No. 159139 [2004]). The Ombudsman, in the person of the Honorable Ma. Merceditas N. Gutierrez, is now the subject of scathing public criticisms.
Continue readingThe explosive growth of the internet has long caught up with legal research. Back in law school, we had the Lex Libris and PhilJuris, which are electronic compilations of laws and jurisprudence. These convenient research tools, however, didn’t come cheap and must be installed in your computer.
This time, you could do legal research online or through the internet (as an aside, the Supreme Court issued the Rules on Electronic Evidence, which is applicable whenever electronic documents and electronic data messages are offered or used in evidence). Here are some tips:
Continue reading| Preamble | ||
| Article I. | National Territory | |
| Article II. | Declaration of Principles and State Policies | |
| Article III. | Bill of Rights | |
| Article IV. | Citizenship | |
| Article V. | Suffrage | |
| Article VI. | The Legislative Department | |
| Article VII. | The Executive Department | |
| Article VIII. | The Judicial Department | |
| Article IX. | Constitutional Commissions | |
| Article X. | Local Government | |
| Article XI. | Accountability of Public Officers | |
| Article XII. | National Economy and Patrimony | |
| Article XIII. | Social Justice and Human Rights | |
| Article XIV. | Education, Science & Technology, Arts, Culture & Sports | |
| Article XV. | The Family | |
| Article XVI. | General Provisions | |
| Article XVII. | Amendments and Revisions | |
| Article XVIII. | Transitory Provisions |
You thought you’ve found your perfect match. You thought your marriage is bound to last forever, or, at the very least, until the last breath. You’ve thought wrong, you say, and you now think of seeking legal remedy to end your marriage. Here are “steps” or suggestions in deciding whether to step out of the ring or not (for the court procedure, see Procedure in Annulment of Marriage and Declaration of Nullity of Marriage):
Continue readingYou may be aware that Republic Act No. 7877, also known as the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995, provides for criminal sanctions or penalties for acts constituting sexual harassment. You may not be aware, however, that the law also requires the employers or the head of the covered institutions to prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment and to provide for procedures for resolution, settlement or prosecution of acts of sexual harassment. They are required to:
Continue readingIs infidelity sufficient to deprive a mother of custody over her child? The law categorically provides that no child under seven years of age shall be separated from the mother, unless the court finds compelling reasons to order otherwise (Article 213, Family Code). In other words, the law presumes that the mother is the best custodian,which finds its reason in the basic need of a child for his mother’s loving care. Moreover, insofar as illegitimate children are concerned, they are under the parental authority of their mother (Article 176, Family Code).
Continue readingThe Subic Rape Case again puts the spotlight on the crime of rape. As comments on the merits of the case are not allowed, let us discuss the crime of rape. The salient points of the Anti-Rape Law of 1997 (Republic Act No. 8353) are discussed below.
Continue readingA name, according to the Supreme Court in a 2005 case, has two parts: (1) the given or proper name and (2) the surname or family name. The given or proper name is that which is given to the individual at birth or at baptism, to distinguish him from other individuals. The surname or family name is that which identifies the family to which he belongs and is continued from parent to child. Parents are free to select the given name of their child, but the law fixes the surname to which the child is entitled to use.
Continue reading