CHAPTER 5: KNOWING THE APPLICABLE LAW OR RULE

Knowing already the facts that are relevant to the legal dispute, will lead to searching the specific
laws or rules that are applied to the facts which will either help or burden the prosecution or
defending the side of the dispute.

Sources of Law or Rule

Statute Law

Consist of laws and rules enacted by duly constituted rule-making authorities like Congress (
Republic Acts and Batas Pambansa) , the President ( Presidential Decree and Executive Orders), the
Supreme Court ( Rules of Court), local government councils ( city of municipal ordinances) and
administrative regulatory agencies ( Implementing Rules and Regulation)

Case Law

Consists of decisions of courts and persons or agencies performing judicial functions. These decisions
interpret and apply statute law to specific situations. The rulings of these cases become legal
precedents that, when invariably affirmed and used, become part of the law itself.

Locating the right law and legal precendent in two steps:

1. Identify the general nature of the legal dispute involved.

2. Having familiar with the facts of the case, search for legal precedent that have more or less
parallel facts. Find the ruling in those parallel case whether for or against the side of the dispute, it
will help you to have more confidence in charting the course of the arguments of the case.

Apart from above sources of laws and rules, there are rules which are derive from wisdom of
common experiences and our jurisprudence is rich in these.

Facts Reexamined

Having discover the applicable laws and rules on the case, you may now have better position to
review the summary of the facts and add to it relevant facts that you may have omitted. You could
also subtract the irrelevant facts to the applicable laws or rules and precedents that you have found.