BASIC CONCEPTS

0. DEFINITION

· Restatement, Sec. 101

§ 101 International Law Defined

International law, as used in this Restatement, consists of rules and principles of general application dealing
with the conduct of states and of international organizations and with their relations inter se, as well as with
some of their relations with persons, whether natural or juridical.

1. SOURCES

1.1. ICJ Statute, Art. 38(1)

Article 38

1. The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are submitted
to it, shall apply:

a. international conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the
contesting states;

b. international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law;

c. the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations;

d. subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified
publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.

1.2. Restatement, Sec. 102

§ 102 Sources of International Law

(1) A rule of international law is one that has been accepted as such by the international community of states

(a) in the form of customary law;

(b) by international agreement; or

(c) by derivation from general principles common to the major legal systems of the world.

(2) Customary international law results from a general and consistent practice of states followed by them from
a sense of legal obligation.
(3) International agreements create law for the states parties thereto and may lead to the creation of customary
international law when such agreements are intended for adherence by states generally and are in fact widely
accepted.

(4) General principles common to the major legal systems, even if not incorporated or reflected in customary
law or international agreement, may be invoked as supplementary rules of international law where appropriate.

2. SUBJECTS

2.1. States – Montevideo Convention, Art. 1 (Qualifications of a State)

The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualification: (a) a permanent
population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

2.2. International organizations – ILC Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations,
Art. 2(a)

Article 2 - Use of terms

For the purposes of the present draft articles,

(a) “international organization” means an organization established by a treaty or other instrument governed by
international law and possessing its own international legal personality. International organizations may include
as members, in addition to States, other entities;

3. INTERNATIONAL LAW AND PHILIPPINE LAW

3.1. Constitutional supremacy clause – Constitution, Art. VIII, Sec. 5.2.a

Section 5. The Supreme Court shall have the following powers:

2. Review, revise, reverse, modify, or affirm on appeal or certiorari, as the law or the Rules of Court may
provide, final judgments and orders of lower courts in:

a.​ ​All
cases in which the constitutionality or validity of any treaty, international or executive agreement, law,
presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction, ordinance, or regulation is in question.
3.2. Incorporation clause – Constitution, Art. II, Sec. 2

Section 2. The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted
principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice,
freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations.

3.3. Treaty clause – Constitution, Art. VII, Sec. 21

Section 21. No treaty or international agreement shall be valid and effective unless concurred in by at least
two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.

UNCLOS
1. MARITIME ZONES

1.1. Internal Waters – Art. 8.1

Article 8 - Internal waters

1. Except as provided in Part IV, waters on the landward side of the baseline of the territorial sea form part of
the internal waters of the State.

1.2. Archipelagic Waters – Arts. 49.1 and 46(b)

Article 49 - Legal status of archipelagic waters, of the air space over archipelagic waters and of their bed and
subsoil

1. The sovereignty of an archipelagic State extends to the waters enclosed by the archipelagic baselines
drawn in accordance with article 47, described as archipelagic waters, regardless of their depth or distance
from the coast.

Article 46 - Use of terms

For the purposes of this Convention:

(b) "archipelago" means a group of islands, including parts of islands, interconnecting waters and other natural
features which are so closely interrelated that such islands, waters and other natural features form an intrinsic
geographical, economic and political entity, or which historically have been regarded as such.

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1.3. Territorial Sea – Art. 2.1

Article 2 - Legal status of the territorial sea, of the air space over the territorial sea and of its bed and subsoil

1. The sovereignty of a coastal State extends, beyond its land territory and internal waters and, in the case of
an archipelagic State, its archipelagic waters, to an adjacent belt of sea, described as the territorial sea.

1.4. Contiguous Zone – Art. 33.1

Article 33 - Contiguous zone

1. In a zone contiguous to its territorial sea, described as the contiguous zone, the coastal State may exercise
the control necessary to:
(a) prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its
territory or territorial sea;
(b) punish infringement of the above laws and regulations committed within its territory or territorial sea.

1.5. Exclusive Economic Zone – Art. 56.1

Article 56 - Rights, jurisdiction and duties of the coastal State in the exclusive economic zone

1. In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal State has:

(a) sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural
resources, whether living or non-living, of the waters superjacent to the seabed and of the seabed and
its subsoil, and with regard to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration of the zone,
such as the production of energy from the water, currents and winds;

(b) jurisdiction as provided for in the relevant provisions of this Convention with regard to:
(i) the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations and structures;
(ii) marine scientific research;
(iii) the protection and preservation of the marine environment;

(c) other rights and duties provided for in this Convention

1.6. Continental Shelf – Art. 76.1

Article 76 - Definition of the continental shelf

1. The continental shelf of a coastal State comprises the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that
extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the
continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the
territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental margin does not extend up to that distance

1.7. High Seas – Art. 86

Article 86 - Application of the provisions of this Part

The provisions of this Part apply to all parts of the sea that are not included in the exclusive economic zone, in
the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State, or in the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic State. This
article does not entail any abridgement of the freedoms enjoyed by all States in the exclusive economic zone in
accordance with article 58.

2. MARITIME BASELINES

2.1. Normal baselines – Art. 5

Except where otherwise provided in this Convention, the normal baseline for measuring the breadth of the
territorial sea is the low-water line along the coast as marked on large-scale charts officially recognized by the
coastal State.

2.2. Straight baselines – Art. 7.1

1. In localities where the coastline is deeply indented and cut into, or if there is a fringe of islands along the
coast in its immediate vicinity, the method of straight baselines joining appropriate points may be employed in
drawing the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

2.3. Archipelagic baselines – Art. 47.1

1. An archipelagic State may draw straight archipelagic baselines joining the outermost points of the outermost
islands and drying reefs of the archipelago provided that within such baselines are included the main islands
and an area in which the ratio of the area of the water to the area of the land, including atolls, is between 1 to 1
and 9 to 1.

3. MARITIME FEATURES

3.1. High-tide features: Rocks (Art. 121.3) and Islands (Art. 121.1)

121.3. Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive
economic zone or continental shelf.
1. An island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide

3.2. Low-tide elevations– Art. 13.1, first sentence

1. A low-tide elevation is a naturally formed area of land which is surrounded by and above water at low tide
but submerged at high tide.