Text of the provision

Art. 2252. Changes made and new provisions and rules laid down by this Code which may prejudice or impair vested or acquired rights in accordance with the old legislation shall have no retroactive effect. For the determination of the applicable law in cases which are not specified elsewhere in this Code, the following articles shall be observed: (Pars. 1 and 2, Transitional Provisions).

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 official-text renderings.

What this article means

This begins the Code's transitional provisions, which govern the changeover from the Civil Code of 1889 to this Code, effective 30 August 1950 — they say which law applies to acts done before or after that date, not how present-day transactions are decided. Changes and new rules in this Code that would prejudice or impair vested or acquired rights under the old legislation have no retroactive effect, and the articles that follow supply the applicable law where the Code does not specify it elsewhere.

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.