Civil Code, Art. 21

Statute

Civil Code

Article

Art. 21

Topic

Acts contrary to morals, good customs or public policy (abuse of rights)

Year

1949

The provision

Key points

Article 21 is a cornerstone of the Civil Code's chapter on human relations. It provides that any person who wilfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.

The article fills gaps left by specific statutes: conduct may be technically lawful yet still actionable if it is wilful and offends morals, good customs, or public policy. It is the basis often invoked for awards of moral damages under Article 2219(10), and is read alongside Article 19 (the abuse-of-rights standard) and Article 20 (acts contrary to law).

Article 21 expands the abuse-of-rights framework of Article 19 to acts that are not necessarily a breach of any specific statute. Its elements, as applied by the courts, are an act that is legal, done wilfully, and contrary to morals, good customs, or public policy, causing loss or injury to another. A classic field of application is conduct in personal and commercial dealings that the positive law does not specifically penalize but that offends fair dealing, for which the remedy is compensation for the resulting damage.

Cases applying this article

• Gashem Shookat Baksh v. Court of Appeals G.R. No. 97336
• Joaquina Ventura v. Eusebio Bernabe G.R. No. L-26760

Related provisions

• Civil Code Art. 26
• Civil Code Art. 2217
• Civil Code Art. 2219
• Civil Code Art. 28

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