CHAPTER 2: JURISDICTION AND CHOICE OF LAW

1. How does one deal with a problem in Conflict of Laws?

a. First, determine whether the court has jurisdiction over the case
i. No jurisdiction – the case should be dismissed on that
ground.
ii. Has jurisdiction – the court will determine whether it should
assume jurisdiction over the case or dismiss it on the
ground of forum non conveniens.
iii. Note: It is the law of the forum that determines whether
the court has jurisdiction or not over the case.
b. Once the court has determined its jurisdiction over the case, it
will next determine whether to apply the internal law of the
forum or the proper foreign law.
2. How does the court determine whether it has jurisdiction over
the case?
a. Jurisdiction over the subject-matter
i. Conferred by law and is defined as the power to hear and
determine cases of the general class to which proceedings
in question belong.
1. It cannot be conferred by consent of the parties or by
their voluntary submission.
2. Found in the constitution and the Judiciary
Reorganization Act.
3. Exists only in the abstract, it must be invoked by the
filing of the proper complaint or petition with the
court.
a. If complaint show prima facie a lack of
jurisdiction, the court must dismiss the case
outright. No preliminary hearing on the
evidence is needed
b. If the complaint or petition shows the presence
of jurisdiction, trial must be held.
4. The possible enforceability of its decision in foreign
states subject to the rights of said state.
b. Jurisdiction over the person
i. Is the competence or power of a court to render a
judgement that will bind the parties involved the plaintiff or
petitioner, and the defendant or respondent.
1. Jurisdiction over the plaintiff acquired – the moment
he invokes the power of the court by instituting the
action by the proper pleading.
 2. Jurisdiction over the defendant acquired – when he
enters his appearance or by the coercive power legal
process exerted by the court over him.

c. Jurisdiction over the res

i. Basis: the presence of the property within the territorial
jurisdiction of the forum, even thought the court may not
have personal jurisdiction over the persons whose interest
in the property are affected.
1. Reason: The purpose of the suit is not to impose a
personal liability on anyone but is to affect the
interests of all person in a thing. (Example: Land
registration cases and admiralty cases)
ii. This kind of jurisdiction is referred to as jurisdiction in rem,
as distinguished from jurisdiction in personam which binds
only parties and their successors-in-interest.
iii. Quasi in rem – the purposed is neither to impose a
personal liability or obligation upon anyone, nor to affect
the interest of all persons in a thing, but to affect the
interest of particular persons in a thing. The court may
render valid judgment when it has jurisdiction over the
particular persons whose interest are affected.
3. How may service summons be effected?
a. General Rule: By personal service or substituted service.
i. When is service by publication allowed?
1. If the action is in rem
2. If the action is quasin in rem or;
3. If the action involves the personal status of the
plaintiff.
ii. When may extraterritorial service of summons be
effected?
1. When the defendant does not reside and is not found in
the Philippines, and the action affects the personal status
of the plaintiff.
2. When the defendant does not reside and is not found in
the Philippines, and the action relates to or the subject of
which is, property within the Philippines (real or personal),
in which the defendant has a claim a lien or interest,
actual or contingent.
3. When the defendant is a non-resident, but the subject of
the action is property located in the Philippines, in which
the Philippines, in which the relief demanded consists,
 wholly or in part, in excluding the defendant from any
interest there in; and
4. When the property of a non-resident defendant has been
attached in the Philippines.
iii. How may extraterritorial service be effected?
1. Such service may by leave of court,
a. By personal service as under sec.6 rule 14
b. By publication but copy of the summons and
the order of the court must be sent by
registered mail to the defendant’s last known
address.
c. In any other manner that the court may deem
sufficient.
4. Mention other points to remember on the matter of
jurisdiction.
a. Once a plaintiff files and action before the Philippine court,
whether a citizen or a foreigner, resident or non-resident, he is
now subject to any counter claims, crossclaims, etc. that the
defendant may put up under Philippine law.
b. Defendant – he becomes subject to the court’s jurisdiction as to
all subsequent matters in the same suit. (Example: Appeals)
5. Explain why the court may refuse to exercise jurisdiction over
a case on the basis of the principle of forum non conveniens.
a. The evidence and the witnesses may not be readily available in
the forum.
b. The court dockets of the forum may already clogged so that to
permit additional cases would hamper the speedy administration
of justice.
c. The brief that the matter can be better tried and decided in
another jurisdiction, ether because the main aspect of the case
transpired there or the material witness have their residence
there;
d. To curb the evils of forum shopping
e. The forum has no particular interest in the case, the parties not
being citizens of the forum or are residents elsewhere; or the
subject matter of the case evolved somewhere else;
f. Other courts are open and the case may be better tried in said
courts;
g. The inadequacy of the local judicial machinery for effectuating
the right sough to be enforced by the plaintiff.
h. The difficulty of ascertaining the foreign law applicable.
6. After the court has acquired jurisdiction over a conflicts case
and has decided to assume that jurisdiction, when is it bound
to apply the internal or domestic law (lex fori)
a. When the law of the forum expressly so provides in its conflicts
rules;
b. When the proper foreign law has not been properly pleaded and
proved;
c. When the case involves any of the exceptions to the application
of the proper foreign law;
7. Examples of cases which require the application of Philippine
internal or domestic law (lex fori)
a. Whenever land involved in the suit is located in the Philippines,
Philippine law or the lex situs is applied.
b. Regarding the property relations of the spouses, Art. 80 of the
Family Code provides that in the absence of a contrary
stipulation in a marriage settlement, the property relations of the
spouses shall be governed by Philippines laws, regardless of the
place of the celebration of the marriage and their residence.
(Exception: When both spouses are aliens)
c. When a Filipino father with American children dies, his succession
shall be governed by Philippine law.
d. If a will executed by an alien abroad is revoked in our country the
revocation must comply with the formalities of Philippine law.
8. Explain why the foreign law cannot be applied if it has not
been pleaded and proved
a. When the proper foreign law has not been properly
pleaded and proved.
i. Reason: our courts cannot take judicial notice of foreign
laws.
b. In connection with the foregoing questions how is a
foreign law proved under our Rules of Court?
i. If law was written it may be proved by:
1. An official publication thereof
2. A copy of law attested by the officer having legal
custody of the record or by his deputy, accompanied
by a certificate of any Philippine embassy, consular
or foreign service officer in the foreign country where
the record is kept and authenticated by the seal of
his office.
ii. If law was unwritten, it may be proved by:
1. The oral testimony of expert witnesses, or
 2. By printed and published books of reports of
decisions of the country involved, if proved to be
commonly admitted in its courts.
iii. What is meant by the processual presumption of
law?
1. This rule means that when the proper foreign law has
not been properly proved, the court of the forum may
presume that said foreign law is the same as its local
or domestic law, which it can now apply.
9. How is foreign law that has been duly pleaded and proved to
be interpreted by our courts?
a. General Rule: should be given by our courts same
interpretation as that given by the foreign tribunals of the
country where the law comes from.
b. Exception: where somewhere in our laws, there is a statute
worded identically as the foreign law so that our courts cannot be
blamed if they disregard the foreign interpretation of said foreign
law and give it the same interpretation previously given by our
courts.
10. When a case involves any of the exceptions to the
application of a foreign law, the rule is that the foreign law
cannot be applied, and the courts should instead apply the
domestic or local law. What are these exceptions?
a. When the application of the foreign law would run counter to a
sound and established public policy of the forum.
b. When the foreign law is contrary to the almost universally
conceded principles of morality. (contra bonos mores)
c. When the foreign law involves procedural matters.
d. When the foreign law is penal in character
e. When the law is purely fiscal or administrative in nature
f. When the foreign law might work undeniable injustice to the
citizens or residents of the forum.
g. When the application of the foreign law would endanger the vital
interests of the State
h. When the case involves real or personal property located in our
country