All published opinions except Per Curiam decisions may be used as precedent in

future litigation.
Opinion of the Court - The official opinion, whether unanimous or by
majority vote
Majority opinion - Also called the "Opinion of the Court," this is the official
verdict in the case that represents the vote of the majority of justices
Plurality opinion - A concurring opinion joined by more justices than the
official Court opinion
Dissenting opinion - An opinion written by a justice who disagrees with the
majority
Dissenting in part - An opinion written by a justice who voted with the
majority on the decision, but disagrees with a portion of the reasoning in the
majority opinion, which he or she explains in writing
Unanimous opinion - An opinion authored by one justice, often (but not
always) the Chief Justice, and signed by all justices
Concurring opinion - An opinion that agrees with the decision but may
disagree with the some of the reasoning behind the Court opinion, or may
elaborate on a point made or introduce further relevant information
Concurring in part - Typically an opinion written by a justice who voted
against the majority, but agrees with a portion of the majority opinion, which
he or she explains in writing
Concurring in judgment - An opinion written by a justice who agrees with
the decision, but not with the reasoning used to reach the decision
Concurring in part and dissenting in part - An opinion written by a justice
who may have voted either way, but wants to explain which points are in
agreement and which are in disagreement.
Per Curiam opinion: The opinion is given by the full court, unsigned by the
Justices
Seriatim opinion: Each justice on the Court writes his or her own, separate
opinion; there is no majority opinion, only a majority verdict. This type of
opinion was more common in the 18th, and parts of the 19th, centuries


H. FORMS OF DECISIONS

I. CASE LAW MATERIALS

1. Decisions Proper

a. Decisions of the Supreme Court

The preparation for the publication of the decisions of the Supreme Court
and the Court of Appeals of the Philippines is entrusted to the respective
court reporter of each court.

When a decision is rendered by the Supreme Court, a written opinion or
memorandum exemplifying the ground and scope of the judgment of the
court shall be filed with the Clerk of Court and shall be recorded by him
in an opinion book. When the court shall deem a decision to be of
sufficient importance to necessitate publication, the Clerk shall furnished
a certified copy of the decision to the Reporter. The Reporter then
prepares and publishes with each reported decision a concise synopsis of
the facts necessary to a clear understanding of the case, stating the names
of counsel, together with the material points raised and determined,
citing each case, which shall be confined ,as near as possible to points
raised and determined, citing each case, which shall be confined, as near
as possible to points of law decided by the courts on the facts of the case
without necessity of reciting the facts.

(1.) Official Repositories of Decisions of the Supreme Court.

Appear in the three official publications, namely:

a.) Advance Sheets
b.) Official Gazette
c.) Philippine Reports
d.) Philippine Reports (Reprints)
e.) Jurisprudence Filipina

(2.) Unofficial Reporting Of Supreme Court Decisions

a.) Philippine Decisions
b.) Philippine Reports Annotated
c.) Philippine Reports Annotated (Central)
d.) Supreme Court Reports Annotated(SCRA)
e.) Supreme Court Decisions(SCD)
f.) Philippine Law and Jurisprudence (PHILAJUR)
g.) Supreme Court Unpublished Decisions (SCUD)
h.) Supreme Court Advance Decisions (SCAD)
i.) Supreme Court Excerpts (SCEX)
j.) Summary of Supreme Court Rulings
k.) Citations: Excerpts of Supreme Court Decisions
l.) Title Index to Supreme Court Decisions 1945-1978
m.) Supreme Court Decisions Title Indez,1982-1985
n.) The Sandiganbayan Reporter
o.) The PCCG Reporter


B.)DECISIONS OF THE COURT OF APPEALS

1.) Appellate Court Reports
2.) Advance Sheets
3.) Official Gazette
4.) Court of Appeals Reports
5.) Court of Appeals Reports Annotated

C.)DECISIONS OF THE SANDIGANBAYAN

The Sandiganbayan a collegiate trial court established by the
Constitution to try crimes by public officers, published the
Sandiganbayan Reports in 1980, which contained its decisions from
December 1979 to February 1980. However, this was not succeeded
by other volumes. This writer has compiled and published the
Sandiganbayan Reporter which contains all cases decided by the
Supreme Court involving the Sandiganbayan.

D.)DECISIONS OF THE COURT OF TAX APPEALS


E.)DECISIONS OF THE REGIONAL TRIAL COURTS

F.) DECISIONS OF THE METROPOLITAN TRIAL COURTS,
MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURTS AND MUNICIPAL CIRCUIT
TRIAL COURTS

2.) SUBORDINATE DECISIONS

a.) The Senate Electoral Tribunal and the House of Representatives
Electoral Tribunal
b.) Administrative Agencies Exercising Quasi- Judicial Powers

1.) Agencies with implied quasi-judicial powers

These are agencies mostly with investigative functions. In fact, all
agencies may be said to enjoy implied quasi-judicial powers. Just
to name a few examples:
a.) The Department of Foreign Affairs
b.) The Commission on Immigration and Deportation
c.) The Office of the President
d.) Secretary of Justice
e.) National Wages Council
f.) Philippine Patents Office
g.) Bureau of Land Transportation
h.) Civil Service Commission
i.) Professional Regulatory Comission
j.) Tanodbayan

a.) Department of Finance
b.) Department of Justice
c.) Department of Agriculture
d.) Department of Public Works and Highways
e.) Department of Labor and Employment
f.) Department of Health
g.) Department of Trade and Industry
h.) Department of Environment and Natural Resources
i.) Department of Transportation and Communication
j.) Others

c.)Publications of Administrative Agencies Exercising Quasi Judicial
Functions

Some Administrative agencies exercising quasi-judicial functions
have published their decisions, while others have not, to wit:

1.) Commission on Elections
2.) Civil Service Commission
3.) Commission on Audit
4.) National Labor Relations Commission
5.) Insurance Commission
6.) Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
7.) Deparment of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board
8.) Securities and Exchange Commission
9.) Bureau of Internal Revenue
10.) Intellectual Property Office
d.) Computerized Legal Research Services
Some of the decisions above-mentioned can be sourced from
computerized legal research services.
The LEX LIBRIS, produced by CD Asia, provides the following
databases:
1.) Laws (Philippine Edition), Vol. I
2.) Taxation (Phil. Edition), Vol. II
3.) Jurisprudence (The Philippine Supreme Court Reports), Vol.III
4.) Department of Justice (Opinions of the Supreme Court Reports),
Vol. IV
5.) Local Autonomy and Local Government, Vol.V
6.) Environment and Natural Resources, Vol. VI
7.) Labor and Social Legislation, Vol. VII
8.) Elections, Vol. VIII
9.) Trade Commerce and Industry, Vol. IX
10.)BangkoSentralngPilipinas, Vol. X
11.) Securities and Exchange Commission, Vol. XI

The PHILJUR also has databases on the decisions of the Philippines
Supreme Court. It contains a digitized compilation of the decisions
and resolutions of the Supreme Court. The 1
st
volume contains
decisions from 1901 to 1960. The second volume contains decisions
from 1961 to 1994. It is produced by Gigabytes Research Systems,
Inc.