Define and Explain

a. Common carrier

b. Corporation

c. Negotiable Instrument

d. Doctrine of piercing the veil of corporate fiction

ANSWER 1:

Article 1732 of the Civil Code provides that: “Common carriers are persons, corporations, firms or associations engaged in the business of carrying or transporting passengers or goods or both by land, water or air, for compensation offering their services to the public.

It has been defined as “one that holds itself out as ready to engage in the transportation of goods for hire as a public employment and not as a casual occupation. Art. 1732 of the Civil Code avoids any distinction between a person or an enterprise offering transportation on regular and occasional, episodic and unscheduled basis. Neither does the law distinguish between a carrier offering its services for the general public, that is, the general community or population and one who offers business only from a narrow segment of the general population

ANSWER 2:

A corporation is an artificial being created by operation of law, having the right of succession and the powers, attributes and properties expressly authorized by law or incident to its existence.

ANSWER 3:

It is a written contract for the payment of money which is intended as a substitute for money and passes from one person to another as money in such a manner as to give a holder in due course the right to hold the instrument free from defenses available to prior parties. The instrument must comply with Section 1 of the Negotiable Instruments Law (NIL) to be considered negotiable.

ANSWER 4:

The doctrine that a corporation is a legal entity distinct from the persons composing it. It is a theory introduced for the purposes of convenience and to serve the ends of justice. But when the veil of corporate fiction is used as a shiedl to perpetuate fraud, to defeat public convenience, justify wrong or defend crime, this fiction shall be disregarded and the individuals composing it will be treated identically. This is a judicial function.