Text of the provision
Art. 37. Juridical capacity, which is the fitness to be the subject of legal relations, is inherent in every natural person and is lost only through death. Capacity to act, which is the power to do acts with legal effect, is acquired and may be lost.
(n)
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
The Code distinguishes two capacities. Juridical capacity is the passive fitness to be the subject of rights and obligations — it is inherent in every person from birth and lost only at death. Capacity to act is the active power to do legally effective acts — it is acquired (typically on reaching majority) and can be lost or restricted (by insanity, civil interdiction, and the like). A newborn has juridical capacity but not yet capacity to act.
Related provisions
- Article 38 — restrictions on capacity to act.
- Article 39 — circumstances that modify or limit capacity to act.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.