Secondary Authorities by Jan Christopher Elmido

SECONDARY AUTHORITIES DEFINED:
• A secondary authority is an authority purporting to explain the meaning or applicability of the actual verbatim texts of primary authorities such as constitutions, statutes, case law, administrative regulations, executive orders, treaties, or similar legal instruments.
• Publications which are not primary authority but which discuss or analyze legal doctrine are considered secondary authorities.
• Its main purpose is to lead or explain Primary authorities.

DISTINGUISHED FROM PRIMARY AUTHORITIES:
• PRIMARY AUTHORITIES BINDING TO THE COURT; a court must rely on primary authorities on reaching a decision such as enacted laws or decisions of a higher court that addressed the same or a similar legal question and facts. ( MANDATORY or BINDING AUTHORITY)
• On the other hand, SECONDARY AUTHORITIES is not bound to be followed or considered BUT may be considered (OPTIONAL) when reaching a decision (PERSUASIVE AUTHORITY)

KINDS OF SECONDARY AUTHORITIES:

A. ANNOTATED STATUTORY COMPILATION/ TEXTBOOKS
• Expositions by legal writers on statutory law and case law pertaining to a particular subject and published in book form. It embodies a range of publications, including multi-volumes works, textbooks, and shorter monographs.
• EXAMPLES:
1. The Civil Code of the Philippines Annotated by Edgardo L. Paras
2. The Law on Obligations and Contracts by Hector S. De Leon Sr.
B. CASE DIGEST
• Digest of cases are compilations of paragraphs containing summaries of points in cases, grouped under appropriate headings.
• Each paragraph is complete in itself when it has concisely and accurately stated the point decided with reference to precise facts.
• EXAMPLES:
– SCRA Quick-Index Digest.
– Compendium of Philippine Jurisprudence by Celso L. Magsino.
C. COLLECTION OF ESSAYS AND ARTICLES
. EXAMPLE: The Crisis of Our Constitutional System by J. Laurel.
D. PERIODICAL ARTICLES, INCLUDING ARTICLES IN JOURNALS
. EXAMPLE: Philippine Law Journal
E. NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
F. LETTERS, SPEECHES AND INTERVIEWS
G. ENCYCLOPEDIAS
H. LOOSELEAF SERVICES
I. BOOK REVIEWS