Article 1459: Requisites on Object of the Contract of Sale

Article 1459. The thing must be licit and the vendor must have a right to transfer the ownership thereof at the time it is delivered.


Requisites for the object of the Contract of Sale

The thing or the object of the contract of sale must be determinate or capable of being determinate. It also needs to be licit or lawful, that is, it should not be contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order, and public policy. Third, it should not be impossible. The object of the contract must be within the commerce of men, which means that it is legal and its ownership is transferable.

Rights that are transmissible or personal may also be the object of the contract of sale. Examples of this is the right of usufruct.

It should be noted that services (or obligations to do) cannot be the object of a contract of sale, even if they can be the object of a contract. (Contract for a piece of work)


Licit vs. Illicit things

Article 1459 of the Philippine Civil Code requires that the object of the contract of sale must be licit or lawful. Illicit things are therefore things that are unlawful or illegal. Things can be illicit per se or per accidens. 

Per se is a Latin phrase which means "in itself". Things that are illicit or illegal per se are things that are inherently unlawful. An example of this is the selling of rotten food for consumption, since it may be the cause of food poisoning.

Per accidens is a Latin phrase which means "by chance". Things that are illicit per accidens then are things that are illegal because of a provision that declares it unlawful. An example of this would be the selling of jueteng tickets.


Right to transfer ownership

One can only sell what he owns. In order for the sale to be valid, the vendor must be the owner of the object  of the contract of sale (or authorized by the owner to sell the object) in order to transfer the ownership of the thing being sold.

It should be noted however that if at the time of delivery the right to transfer the ownership exists, then the contract is valid. This means that it is not necessary that the seller has the ownership of the object of the contract of sale during the formation or perfection of the contract for as long as the ownership exists during the time of delivery.

This is of course to give way for future goods or goods that depend on contingency to be the object of the contract of sale.