Text of the provision

Art. 2235. A stipulation whereby exemplary damages are renounced in advance shall be null and void.

Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full; verified verbatim against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings and the Official Gazette, all three of which agree word for word.

What this article means

The final article of the Exemplary Damages chapter, immediately before the Title on Concurrence and Preference of Credits begins. Because exemplary damages exist to punish and deter outrageous conduct rather than simply to compensate a victim, the law will not let a wrongdoer neutralize that deterrent by contract in advance: any stipulation renouncing exemplary damages before the wrong occurs is null and void. A party may of course decline to pursue exemplary damages after the fact, or settle a claim that already includes them — what this article forbids is signing the right away beforehand.

Related provisions

Cases interpreting this article

Note. The text of the provision above is reproduced in full from the official enactment (Republic Act No. 386), verified against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings. The annotation and commentary around it are the work of Vivas & Nobles Law Office and are general legal information, not legal advice. How a provision applies to a particular situation depends on facts that only a lawyer reviewing your case can assess.