6. Code III: Liberative Prescription and Obligations Flashcards
Liberative Prescription
Prescription is generally defined as the effect of time on legal rights. Liberative prescription is the barring of an action because of the passage of time.
Liberative prescription commences to run from the day a cause of action arises.
Contractural Freedom to Modify Prescription
Parties to an obligation may not EXCLUDE prescription.
Parties to an obligation may LENGTHEN prescription by juridical act BEFORE prescription accrues if
(1) the extension does not exceed one year AND
(2) extension is express and in writing
Parties generally cannot make prescription more onerous.
Renunciation of Prescription
= abandonment of rights derived from the accrual of prescription
- renounced only AFTER it has accrued.
- commences to run anew from the time of renunciation.
Form Requirement for Renunciation of Prescription
There is no general form requirement for renunciation and therefore can be express or tacit.
BUT: writing is required when
- renouncing acquisitive prescription that has accrued in his favor OR
- has promised to pay a prescribed debt.
Prescription for Tort
1 year beginning on date of damage/ injury
Prescription for Revocatory Action
1 year from act or result
suit cannot be brought more than 3 years
Prescription for Money Lent/ Open Accounts/ Past Due Rent
3 years from date payment is EXIGIBLE
Prescription for Actions on Promissory Notes
5 years
- demand note = on date executed
- instrument subject to term = run on date stated in instrument
Prescription for Personal Actions
10 years
Actions Against Contractors or Architects
10 years
Delaying Prescription
- interruption
- suspension
Interruption of Prescription
If a prescription is interrupted, the time that has run is not counted and prescription commences to run anew from the last day of interruption.
Causes for Interruption of Prescription
(1) filing a suit in a court of competent jurisdiction and venue, where interruption is considered as never having occurred if the Plaintiff abandons, voluntarily dismisses or fails to prosecute; and
(2) interruption by acknowledgment, where prescription is interrupted when one acknowledges the right of the person against whom one has commenced to prescribe.
Suspension of Prescription
The period of suspension is not counted toward the accrual of prescription. Prescription commences to run again upon the termination of suspension.
PAUSES
When is Prescription Suspended
Prescription is suspended between:
(1) spouses during marriage;
(2) tutors and minors during tutorship;
(3) curators and interdicts during interdiction;
(4) caretakers and minors during minority; and
(5) parents and children during minority.
Contra non Valentum
exceptional circumstance where P is prevented from enforcing his right for reasons external to his own will
Peremption
Peremption is defined as a period of time fixed by law for the existence of a right.
Peremption’s Differences from Prescription
(1) peremption is generally immune from suspension and interruption;
(2) a natural obligation does not remain after peremption accrues;
(3) peremption can be supplied by the court
Obligations
Legal relationship between two or more persons.
An obligation exists when an obligor (debtor) owes a performance in favor of an obligee (creditor) and the performance or duty is legally enforceable.
Natural Obligations
a moral, but not judicially enforceable, duty to render performance
Real Obligations
A real right and real obligation describe the relationship between a person and a thing, whereas an obligation describes the relationship between two persons.
Effects of a Real Obligation
A real obligation is transferred to the person who acquires the thing to which the obligation is attached without any agreement to that effect. (Personal obligations, on the other hand, cannot be transferred without agreement.)
The obligor may free himself of the obligation by transferring the property to someone else.
Strictly Personal Obligation
- for obligor when = performance requires some special skill or qualification of the obligor OR is a K to perform personal servitudes
- for obligee when = performance is for obligee’s exclusive benefit
Heritable Obligation
default
= can step into the shoes of either obligee or obligor
Conditional Obligations
obligation whose occurrence depends on an uncertain event.
(If the event is certain to occur, it is not conditional.)
Conditions can be suspensive or resolutory.
Obligation Subject to Suspensive Condition
Obligation is not enforceable unless and until the uncertain event occurs
If the event does not occur, the obligation is never owed.