Law Books in General
Legal bibliography
- The science that deals with the description and history of
books pertaining to law
- Includes details of authorship, editions and dates of
publication
- Embraces the usefulness of law books as authority and treats
of their publishers as well as of their appearance as printed
matter
Role of legal bibliography
- Main work of a lawyer: to propose solutions to legal
problems, acceptable to the court before whom the
problems have been laid
- Law as a norm of conduct spanning 7 decades + 3 centuries
of Spanish rule + colonial laws + multinational bases of our
legal system (Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Asian)
- Study of the ever-growing mass of legal principles assumes
such a proportion as would require prior knowledge of the
identity and classification of law books and of the methods
for their efficient use
- The knowledge of the law presupposes the knowledge of law
books  based on expediency, policy and necessity
Legal Bibliography and Research
- Legal research: the inquiry and investigation necessary to be
made by legislators, judges, lawyers and legal writers in the
performance of their functions; object: to establish
propositions concerning the law
- Legal bibliography: study of the tools and materials essential
to such inquiry and investigation, enabling the researcher to
acquire knowledge of the characteristics of law books, before
actually employing them for his purposes
- legRes is concerned with the method or system by which the
inquiry and investigation may be successfully accomplished,
involving the actual use of law books
Description and history of law books
- elements of legal bibliography
 Authorship – a law book may be written by either an individual
or individuals, public or private
o If the entity is public, the book is usually referred to as a
government publication
o A law book may also be a compilation of legal writings by one
or more authors, or prepared by a staff of writers under the
direction for editorship
 Edition – issues of a law book published, e.g., original or first
edition, and the subsequent editions, or known by the year of
publication
o If publication is designated as permanent, edition
supplements will be forthcoming to keep the work up to date
o Philippine edition of a book: a standard foreign publication
has been rewritten for usage under Philippine Law
o De luxe: an elaborate or costly copy of a treatise
o Paperback: inexpensive cover or printing of a book
 Publication
o Important: reputation as to experience and trustworthiness
of publisher
o Date of publication (or copyright year) – determines
usefulness of law books
o Place of publication: affects the authoritativeness of the
book, especially when it coincides with the applicable forum
of the law exposed
 Contents
o Preface: author’s brief explanation of why and how the book
was written
o Introduction: a preliminary statement to explain the subject
or design of the writing
o Table of contents: the scheme of treatment of the subject
o Table of statutes or cases reported or cited in the book
o Table of abbreviation
o Other tables, graphs and charts (stat)
o Footnotes
o Pictures
o Appendices
o Bibliographical listings
o Index
o Pocket parts of supplements
 Appearance – physical elements which influence the value of a
law book from the standpoint of visual readability, convenience
and wear and tear
o Type of book: bound or loose-leaf
o Cover: de luxe cloth or paperback binding
o Pages, number, size, quality of paper
o Typography: printed, varityped or mimeographed
Classifications of Law books
 By authority
o That which is or may be cited in support of an action or
conduct
o Law as a norm of action or conduct: we must refer to it as our
authority whenever an attempt is made to justify or seek the
legality of an action or conduct
o Reference is usually addressed to a court
o ALL law books are authority, though their influence may vary
and is dependent on whether the authority is primary or
secondary
o Primary authority: when legislation or court decisions are
involved; includes enactments of constitutional conventions
or assemblies, of national and legislative bodies, and of
administrative and judicial agencies; also, embraces decrees
of judicial, administrative and legislative tribunals
o Repository of the law – applied to certain treatises on the
law by such eminent jurists and law writers as Glanvill,
Bracton and Littleton; commentaries on the law (Hale, Coke,
Blackstone) possess almost the same weight and sanction of
judicial utterance, although their statements of the law have
been questioned and refuted at times  Philippines:
commentaries on the Rules of Court by CJ Manuel Moran
o Subdivided into mandatory authority and persuasive
authority
o Mandatory: when legislation is effective in the place where it
has been enacted or promulgated, or when a decision is
rendered with finality by a superior court in the cases or in
another case with a similar set of facts, or by the same court
in another cases
o Persuasive: any other legislation or court decision
o Secondary authority: when primary authority is commented
on, criticized, explained or restated
 By character
o The nature of the subject treated in law books
o Concept of law as authority embraces legislation and court
decisions, and beyond their mere expositions, books about
them
Statute Law in general
Law and statute
 Statute (Latin: Statuere; to set up or establish)
 Synonymous with legislation and laws
 Actually associated with lex scripta – body of laws that has
been formally set up or established
 Defined as the written expression of the will of the legislative
branch of government, rendered authentic by certain
prescribed forms and solemnities
 Broad enough to include administrative and judicial offices
performing legislative functions
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Classification of Statute Laws
 Conventional legislation
o All enactments by national or local legislative bodies, or in
which they may have participated
 Subordinate legislation
o All rules and orders, issued pursuant to law, by administrative
and judicial agencies
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 External legislation – rules of general applicability , affecting
order and procedure in a community
 Internal Legislation – rules of restricted application, affecting
order and procedure among members of a legislative, judicial or
administrative office
 Eight Classes
o Constitution
 That body of rules and maxims in accordance with which
the powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised
 A fundamental law or basis of government, established by
the people, in their original sovereign capacity, to promote
their own happiness, and permanently to secure their
rights, property, independence and common welfare
 Written instrument by which the fundamental powers of
the government are established, limited, and defined, and
by which those powers are distributed among the several
departments for their safe and useful exercise for the
benefit of the body politic
 Written constitution: most of its provisions are embodied
in a single formal written instrument
 A work of conscious are and the result of a deliberate
effort to lay down a body of fundamental principles under
which the government shall be organized and conducted
 Unwritten constitution: most but not all of the
prescriptions have never been reduced to writing and
formally embodied in a document or collection of
documents; consists largely of a mass of customs, usages
and judicial decisions, together with a smaller body of
statutory enactments of fundamental character
 Written constitution: essential parts
- Bill of Rights (Constitution of liberty) – sets forth the
fundamental civil and political rights of the citizens +
imposing limitations on the power of government as a
means of securing the employment of those rights
- Structure of Government (Constitution of Government)
– outlines the organization of government, enumerates
powers, lays down certain rules pertaining to
administration and defining the electorate
- Mandatory clause (constitution of sovereignty) – points
out the mode of procedure in accordance with which
formal changes in the fundamental law may be brought
about
 Optional Parts:
- Preamble
- Declaration of principles
- Transitory clause
- Appended ordinances
 Constitution differs from a statute in that a statute must
provide the details of the subject of which it treats
whereas a constitution usually states general principles,
and builds the substantial foundation and general
framework of the law and government
o Treaties and other agreements
 Treaty: primarily an agreement or contract between two
or more nations or sovereigns, entered into by agents
appointed for that purpose, and duly sanctioned by the
supreme powers of the respective parties
 Classification: by nature and by parties
 By nature
- Executory: when subsequent legislative enactment by
Congress is required to perform an act stipulated in the
agreement
- Self-executing – by its terms, the treaty is full and
complete, requiring no further legislation for its
enforcement
 By parties
- Bipartite: when entered into by nations, each of
whom executes and delivers to the other a
counterpart, not necessarily bilateral
- May be multipartite as when the treaty binds each
signatory to perform several undertakings, and not
necessarily multilateral
 Executive Agreement : same effect as a treaty but with
less pomp or ceremony – entered into by the president or
head of executive department, under the powers of his
office, and in behalf of his country, with foreign countries.
 Other international agreements
- Protocols: preliminary documents which record the
basic principles or points upon which the final treaty or
agreement will be based
- Notes: resumes of diplomatic conversations
- Memoranda: detailed definitions of points about which
differences of opinion might arise
- Declarations: signed statements of principles which the
states intend to observe in their relations to one
another
- conventions, congresses: bodies convened to discuss
important questions of interest to several states, or for
the purpose of settling questions of a controversy
- cartels: agreements entered into during war for the
exchange of prisoners and signed by generals and
admirals
- capitulations: agreements during war for the surrender
of armies and forts, entered into by commanders or
navies
o Statutes proper
 A term chosen to designate legislation enacted by general
legislatures in the ordinary course of lawmaking
 National/general as opposed to local legislatures
 Classified as: public and private
 Public: those which affect the public at large or which
potentially affect all persons or things within the
jurisdiction, either directly or indirectly
- Public general: those operative on all persons or things
within the jurisdiction, or upon all members of a class
- Public special: those addressed to particular persons or
things in such a way as to affect the public at large
- Public local: by their terms relate only to designed
geographical areas within the jurisdiction
 Affirmative statute v. Negative statute
 Classification statute: specifies persons or property subject
and not subject to a tax
 Curative statute: remedial act passed to cure defects and
to add to the means of enforcing existing obligations
 General: affects all the people, or all of a particular class
 Special: affects only particular individuals or things
 Reference statute: refers to other statutes and makes
them applicable to the subject for legislation
 Remedial statute: gives a party a mode of remedy for a
wrong where he had none or a different one before
 Retroactive Statute: operates on past acts and transactions
and changes their legal character and effect
 Resolutions
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 - Simple: an act of onle legislative chamber, requires no  Quasi-judicial tribunals (administrative agencies
further action by the other performing judicial functions) may also issue their own
- Concurrent: an act of one chamber concurred in by the rules of procedure
other o Legislative rules
- Joint: an act of both legislative chambers, voting  Rules of procedure promulgated by any legislative body to
separately govern the mode and manner of conducting the business
 Parts of the body and the intended for the orderly and proper
- Title: a short statement of the subject matter of the disposition of the matters before it
statute  Parliamentary law
- Preamble: explains why the statute was enacted; usually  NOT to be considered statutes proper nor have they the
preceded by “whereas” force of statutes outside the assembly hall that adopts
- Enacting clause: identifies the legislative body which them
enacted the statute and which declares the assumption
of responsibility by said body for its enactment
- Body: definition of terms, subject matter, administrative
provisions, processes by which the law is put into
operation, penalties for the violation
- Temporary provisions and schedules: supply rules that
are to govern during the period before the law comes
into effect
- Saving clauses, provisos, exceptions: exempt certain
persons or things from the operation of the statute
- Repealing clause: designates prior statutes rendered
inoperative
- Separability: preserves the rest of the statute if one or
more of its section be declared unconstitutional
- Clause of effectivity: time when the act shall commence
to have the force and operation of law
o Municipal charters
 Constitute laws under which an incorporated city or town
or other municipal corporation exercises its privileges,
performs its duties, and discharges its obligations,
including all matters in which it has a direct interest and a
right to regulate and control
 Of two main classes: those created by statute (legislative
charters: special or general) and those created and
adopted by the voters of a city or town by constitutional
authorization
o Municipal legislation
 Ordinances: prescribes a general, uniform and permanent
rule of conduct, binding not only upon inhabitants but also
on strangers coming within its territorial limits – legislate
- Title, enacting clause, body, repealing clause, effectivity
clause
 Resolutions: acts of the municipal council that deal with
matters of special and temporary character; ordinarily
approved with less formality – ministerial capacity
o Administrative rules and orders
 Norms of conduct promulgated by executive or
administrative authority to govern the relations among
themselves or between such authorities and private
individuals
 Regulations issued by administrative offices and agencies
as well as those orders and proclamations promulgated by
national and local electives
 Substantive: relates to organization and competence of
administrative authorities
 Procedural: indicates to the individual remedies for the
violation of rights
o Court rules
 Norms of conduct governing practice, pleading and
procedure before judicial tribunals
 Usually promulgated by courts themselves, although in
some jurisdictions legislatures may have concurrent power
to make them
 Forms: (a) set of regulations (b) code of procedure

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