Primary and Secondary Authorities

of LawBy: Brual, Arasula, Atienza, Biglete, Buhay, Ascalon,

Primary Authority can be:

MandatoryPersuasive

Primary Authority: MandatoryMandatory - refers to  cases, statutes, or

regulations that the court must follow because it is binding on the courts

Example:1. Constitution - 1987 Philippine Constitution

2. Statutes - R.A. no 386 (New Civil Code)

3. Administrative Regulation - DENR Administrative Order No. 2013 – 10

4. SC Cases- People vs Orita, GR. No. 88724 April 3, 1990

5. International Conventions/Treaties - 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic

Relations 6. Executive Order - E.O. No.1, February 28, 1986 7. Presidential Decrees - Presidential Decree NO. 2029 8. Municipal Laws and Ordinances - Ordinance No. 16 Series of 2010

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT CODE OF BATANGAS CITY (Environment Code of Batangas City)

Primary Authority: Persuasive

Persuasive - refers to cases, statutes, regulations, or secondary sources that the  court may follow but does not have to follow

Example: 9. Foreign Jurisprudence - People vs. Lee Kong, Stokes vs State does

not apply in the Intod vs CA case

10. Foreign Constitution - Bill of Rights under Article III of the

1987 Constitution is patterned after the United States’ Bill of Rights

Secondary Authority

Can only be Persuasive This category includes law review articles,

treatises, Restatements of the Law, legal encyclopedias and other similar items

Examples:

1. Dictionaries - Black’s Law Dictionary - Oxford Dictionary of Law

2. Legal Encyclopedias - Britannica Law Encyclopedia - The Philippine Law Encyclopedia by

CDAsia

3. Law Review Articles- Law Journals

4. Treatises - treatise of Bartolome C. Fernandez

Statutory Construction for State Auditors : a text (with selected decisions of the General Auditing Office and Commission on Audit as illustrations)/ Bartolome C. Fernandez.

Ordinance No. 16 Series of 2010AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE

ENVIRONMENT CODE OF BATANGAS CITY