HOW TO DIGEST A CASE

A case digest or a case brief is a written summary of the case. A case

sometimes involves several issues. Digesting the same would help the
student in separating one issue from another and understanding how the
Court resolved the issues in the case. The student does not need to discuss
all the issues decided in the case in his case digest. He only needs to focus
on the relevant issue or the issue related to the subject that he is
taking. A case digest may also serve as a useful study aid for class
discussions and exams. A student who has a case digest does not need to go
back to the case in order to remember what he has read.
1. Be aware of the specifics of the case or the syllabus concerned. In
one case alone, there could be multiple topics i.e. Political Law, Remedial
Law, Civil Law and there could be as many sub-topics i.e. for Political Law
there could be Police Power and Eminent Domain. Knowing these can
properly guide you with the theme of your digests. But usually, you will not
have a hard time with this because once cases are assigned; your professor
would have specified these in his handouts.
2. Read the full text of the case. And when I say read, dont just breeze
through it. Try to understand it the first time. This will save you time because
if you understood it on the first reading, you wont have to keep going back
just to read it all over again. Highlighting important texts of the case which
are related to the topic youre on will help you have a coherent grasp of the
case.
3. Now after reading the case in full, youre now ready to write your case
digest. In a formal case digest, there are five parts which are:
Caption This is just the title of the case. It can be as plain as People vs
Juan de la Cruz or detailed to include the SCRA number, GR number,
ponente and the date.
Facts This portion is supposed to answer the Who, What, When, How,
Why stuff of the case. There is no need to include all the facts. Just include
those that are relevant to the subject.
Issues This is the legal conflict or the legal controversy sought to be
resolved by the Supreme Court. Include only those that are relevant. Issues
are usually framed in the form of questions that are answerable by "yes" or
"no," for example, "Is the contract void?" Sometimes, students frame the
question by starting it with the word "whether," for example, "Whether the
contract is void" or "Whether or not the contract is void." The answer to the
question has to be answered in the ruling.
Ruling This is the decision or jurisprudence laid down by the court. This
usually starts with a "yes" or a "no." This is the answer to the question/s
involving the issue. After the categorical yes/no answer, the reason for the
decision will be explained.