1. What is the concept of Remedial Law? - The concept of Remedial Law lies at the very core of procedural due process, which means a law which hears before it condemns, which proceeds upon inquiry and renders judgment only after trial, and contemplates an opportunity to be heard before judgment is rendered. Remedial Law is that branch of law which prescribes the method of enforcing rights or obtaining redress for their invasion. 2. How are remedial laws implemented in our system of government? - Remedial laws are implemented in our system of government through the pillars of the judicial system, including the prosecutor service, our courts of justice and quasi-judicial agencies. 3. Distinguish substantive law and procedural law. - Substantive law is the part of the law which creates, defines or regulates rights concerning life, liberty or property or the powers of agencies or instrumentalities for the administration of public affairs while Remedial Law prescribes the methods of enforcing those rights or obtaining redress for their invasion. - As applied to criminal law, substantive law is that which declares what acts are crimes and prescribes the punishment for committing them, as distinguished from remedial law which provides or regulates the steps by which one who commits a crime is to be punished. - Substantive law creates vested rights while procedural law does not create vested rights. - Substantive law is prospective in application while procedural law is retroactive in application. - Substantive law cannot be enacted by the Supreme Court while the Supreme Court is expressly empowered to promulgate procedural rules. 4. In an adoption case, the wife alone filed the petition without joining the husband. It was granted, but that was under the Child and Youth Welfare Code. When the Family Code took effect, they went to Court seeking for an annulment of the decree of adoption on the ground that under Article 185 of the Code, the husband and wife must jointly adopt. They contended that the law is remedial statute and must be retroactive. Decide. 5. In an adoption case, the wife alone filed the petition without joining the husband. It was granted, but that was under the Child and Youth Welfare Code. When the Family Code took effect, they went to Court seeking for an annulment of the decree of adoption on the ground that under Article 185 of the Code, the husband and wife must jointly adopt. They contended that the law is remedial statute and must be retroactive. Decide. a. Article 246 of the Family Code provides for retroactive effect of appropriate relevant provisions thereof, subject to the qualification that such retrospective application will not prejudice or impair vested or acquired rights in accordance with the Civil Code or other laws. b. A vested right is one whose existence, effectivity and extent does not depend upon events foreign to the will of the holder. The term expresses the concept of present fixed interest which in right reason and natural justice should be protected against arbitrary State action, or an innately just and imperative right which enlightened free society, sensitive to inherent and irrefragable individual rights, cannot deny. Vested rights include not only legal or equitable title to the enforcement of a demand, but also an exemption from new obligations created after the right has vested. c. Under the Child and Youth Welfare Code, the wife had the right to file a petition for adoption by herself, without joining her husband therein. When the wife filed her petition, she was exercising her explicit and unconditional right under said law. Upon her filing thereof, her right to file such petition alone and to have the same proceed to final adjudication, in accordance with the law in force at the time, was already vested and cannot be prejudiced or impaired by the enactment of a new law. d. When the wife filed her petition, the trial court acquired jurisdiction thereover in accordance with the governing law. Jurisdiction being a matter of substantive law, the established rule is that the jurisdiction of the court is determined by the statute in force at the time of the commencement of the action. We do not find in the present case such facts as would constitute it as an exception to the rule. - The contention is not correct. The wife’s right to file the petition by herself already vested upon her filing thereof and cannot be prejudiced or impaired by the enactment of new law. Page 1 of 69 2020 Question and Answers in Remedial Law The trial court acquired jurisdiction over the petition. Jurisdiction is determined by the statute in force at the time of the commencement of the action (Republic vs. CA, GR No. 92326, January 24, 1992), 6. How shall the Rules of Court be construed? - The Rules of Court should be liberally construed in order to promote their objective of securing a just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of every action and proceeding (Sec. 6, Rule 1). 7. State the Rule-Making Power of the Supreme Court. - Section 5 (5), Art. VIII of the Constitution provides that the Supreme Court shall have the power to promulgate rules concerning the protection and enforcement of constitutional rights, pleading, practice, and procedure in all courts, the admission to the practice of law, the Integrated Bar, and legal assistance to the underprivileged. Such rules shall provide a simplified and inexpensive procedure for the speedy disposition of cases, shall be uniform for all courts of the same grade, and shall not diminish, increase, or modify substantive rights. Rules of procedure of special courts and quasi-judicial bodies shall remain effective unless disapproved by the Supreme Court