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are:
1. Be aware of the specifics of the case or the syllabus concerned. In one case alone, there could be multiple
topics i.e. Political Law, Remedial Law, Civil Law and there could be as many sub-topics i.e. for Political Law
there could be Police Power and minent !omain. "nowin# these can properly #uide you with the $theme% of
your di#ests. &ut usually, you will not have a hard time with this because once cases are assi#ned' your
professor would have specified these in his handouts.
(. Read the full text of the case. )nd when I say read, don*t +ust bree,e throu#h it. -ry to understand it the
first time. -his will save you time because if you understood it on the first readin#, you won*t have to .eep
#oin# bac. +ust to read it all over a#ain. /i#hli#htin# important te0ts of the case which are related to the topic
you*re on will help you have a coherent #rasp of the case.
1. 2ow after readin# the case in full, you*re now ready to write your case digest. In a $formal% case di#est,
there are five parts which are:
Caption 3 -his is +ust the title of the case. It can be as plain as $People vs 4uan de la
Cru,% or detailed to include the 5CR) number, 6R number, ponente and the date.
7acts 3 -his portion is to supposed to answer the $8ho, 8hat, 8hen, /ow, 8hy% stuff
of the case.
Issues 3 -his is the le#al conflict or the le#al controversy sou#ht to be resolved by the
5upreme Court.
Rulin# 3 -his is the decision or +urisprudence laid down by the court.
Concurrin#9!issentin# :pinions 3 -hese are not always present in all cases and normally
they do not place any si#nificance to the current rulin# bein# discussed ;but they may
serve a si#nificant role in future 5upreme Court decisions especially when doctrines are
reversed or totally abandoned<. -hese opinions may also be an additional e0planation as
to how certain +ustices voted, the wisdom behind their votes, and as to how the decision is
reached. &e very wary because some professors would also as. =uestions pertainin# to
these opinions 3 especially when such opinions are adopted as the #eneral rule in some
future cases.
;I*ll discuss this part in more detail in an upcomin# article<.
>. Other things you may want to consider may include: how your professor conducts recitation, is your
professor more of a $facts% #uy or a $court rulin#% #uy' either way, you can custom ma.e your di#ests in a
way that will ma.e you remember the facts and the +urisprudence of the case. 5ome students prefer replacin#
the $characters% with letters li.e $?% and $@% but that may not sit well with other professors