Text of the provision
Art. 1403. The following contracts are unenforceable, unless they are ratified:
(1) Those entered into in the name of another person by one who has been given no authority or legal representation, or who has acted beyond his powers;
(2) Those that do not comply with the Statute of Frauds as set forth in this number. In the following cases an agreement hereafter made shall be unenforceable by action, unless the same, or some note or memorandum, thereof, be in writing, and subscribed by the party charged, or by his agent; evidence, therefore, of the agreement cannot be received without the writing, or a secondary evidence of its contents: (a) An agreement that by its terms is not to be performed within a year from the making thereof; (b) A special promise to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of another; (c) An agreement made in consideration of marriage, other than a mutual promise to marry; (d) An agreement for the sale of goods, chattels or things in action, at a price not less than five hundred pesos, unless the buyer accept and receive part of such goods and chattels, or the evidences, or some of them, of such things in action or pay at the time some part of the purchase money; but when a sale is made by auction and entry is made by the auctioneer in his sales book, at the time of the sale, of the amount and kind of property sold, terms of sale, price, names of the purchasers and person on whose account the sale is made, it is a sufficient memorandum; (e) An agreement for the leasing for a longer period than one year, or for the sale of real property or of an interest therein; ( f ) A representation as to the credit of a third person.
(3) Those where both parties are incapable of giving consent to a contract.
Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full. The LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings differ here by a single word; the text above is the reading carried by two of the three sources, confirmed against the Official Gazette.
What this article means
Three classes of contract cannot be enforced in court unless ratified: those made without authority or beyond it; those failing the Statute of Frauds, which requires certain agreements to be in a signed writing; and those where both parties are legally incapable of giving consent. Note what this does not mean: the contract is not void, it is unenforceable — ratification can still save it.
Related provisions
- Article 1358 — What Must Be in a Public Document.
- Article 1641 — Barter Follows the Rules on Sales.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.