Ay PIL Reviewer

1. National Territory, Archipelagic Doctrine

The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands
and waters embraced therein, and all other territories over which the
Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial
and aerial domains, including its territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the
insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around, between, and
connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and
dimensions, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.

It is defined as all waters, around between and connecting different islands

belonging to the Philippine Archipelago, irrespective of their width or
dimension, are necessary appurtenances of its land territory, forming an
integral part of the national or inland waters, subject to the exclusive
sovereignty of the Philippines. It is found in the 2nd sentence of Article 1 of
the 1987 Constitution.

It emphasizes the unity of the land and waters by defining an archipelago as

group of islands surrounded by waters or a body of waters studded with
islands.

2. Right of Legation

Also known as Diplomatic Relations, this refers of a State to send and receive
diplomatic missions, which enables states to carry on friendly intercourse.
Diplomatic relations and diplomatic missions are separately established by
mutual consent.

It is not a natural or inherent right, but exists only by common consent.

However, there is no legal liability is incurred by the State for refusing to send
or receive diplomatic representatives.

The right to send envoys or establish diplomatic mission is called active right
of legation, and the right to receive such envoys or mission is the passive right
of legation.
There are two agents of Diplomatic Intercourse:

1. Head of State: He is the embodiment of and represents the sovereignty of

the State, and enjoys the right to special protection for his physical safety and
the preservation of his honor and reputation. His quarters, archives, property
and means of transportation are inviolate under the principle of
extraterritoriality. He is immune from criminal and civil jurisdiction, except
when he himself is the plaintiff, and is not subject to tax or exchange or
currency restrictions.

2. The Foreign Office: The actual day-to-day conduct of foreign affairs is

usually entrusted to a Foreign Office, headed by a Secretary or a Minister,
who, in proper cases, may make binding declarations on behalf of his
government.

3. International Environmental Law

It is the branch of Public International Law comprising those substantive,

procedural, and institutional rules which have as their primary objective the
protection of the environment.

The protection of the environment is a vital part of contemporary human rights

doctrine, for it is a sine qua non for numerous human rights such as the right
to health, and the right to life itself.

It has five basic principles:

1. Common but Differentiated Responsibilities: States shall cooperate in a

spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and
. States have common but differentiated
responsibilities, the developed countries acknowledge the responsibility that
they bear in the international pursuit to sustainable development in view of
the pressures their societies place on the global environment and of the
technologies and financial resources they command.

2. Precautionary Principle: Where there are threats of serious or irreversible

damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for
postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.

When it is uncertain as to the consequence of the proposed activity to the

environment, doubts should be resolved on the side of caution by taking
measures to prevent or avoid environmental degradation.
3. Sustainable Development: It is development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs. No State has the right to use or permit the use of its territory in
such a manner as to cause injury by fumes in or to the territory of another or
the properties or persons therein, when the case is of serious consequence
and the injury is established by clear and convincing evidence.

4. Sic Utere Tuo Ut Alienum Non Laedas or the No Harm Principle: States have,
in accordance with the Charger of the UN and the principle of international
law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own
resources pursuant to their own environmental policies, and the responsibility
to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause
damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of
national jurisdiction.

5. Protection of the Environment During armed Conflict: Each State Party

undertakes not to engage in military or other hostile use of environmental
modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as
the means of destruction, damage or injury to any other Party State.

4. International Dispute Settlement

It is concerned with the techniques and institutions which are used to

solve international disputes between States and/or international
organizations. International disputes can be solved either by use of force,
coercion or by peaceful settlement. Techniques used for peaceful
settlement of international disputes are negotiation, injury, mediation,
conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or
arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own choice.

These disputes are no longer just primarily between States but also
between States and other parties like international organizations and other
non-State actors, and between these actors mutually. The Charter of the
UN plays major role, in particular, regarding disputes between States.

5. Public International Law

It is a body of principles, norms and processes which regulate the

relations of States and other international persons, and governs their
conduct affecting the interests of the international community of States
as a whole.
 It is international in nature, it stems from treaties and
international conventions, customary international law, and general
principles of law. Public International Law focuses on subjects such as
States, International Organizations, and individuals.
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It also sets out legal obligation, responsibilities, and rights of one
State against another. This aspect is based on sovereign equality. In
other words, each State is a sovereign and each State is equal to, and
independent of, all other States. This means that when international law
regulates the relations between States, it applies equally to all States.

6. Municipal Law and International Law

International Law is also known as Public International Law and

Law of Nations. It is a collection of laws, norms, and principles that
are widely accepted in international relations, and it provides
normative guidelines and a common conceptual structure to direct
States in a variety of areas, including war, diplomacy, trade, and
human rights. It refers to a collection of laws that are widely
recognized and acknowledged as binding in international relations.
Many national legal systems accept international tradition, treaties,
and general principles of law as origins of international law. In the
theory, it exists only at the international level, not within domestic
legal f
international and municipal law as separate and autonomous
systems. No municipal rule can be used as an excuse for violating
international law, according to a concept accepted both in
international case laws and treaties.

Municipal Law, in contrast with International Law, is a sovereign

. It encompasses not only
national law but also federal, provincial, tribal, municipal, and local
law. It refers to the laws that regulate a specific city or nation, as
well as the political bodies that govern certain cities or countries. As
a result, municip
legislature or law-making body that is only applicable to that State.

a. Difference

International law is primarily concerned with state relations,

although it is not exclusively so. Municipal legislation regulates the
 interactions of individuals within the state as well as between
individuals and the state.

International law governs relations between members of the

States family of nations. Municipal law, on the other hand, governs
the relationship between individuals who are subject to the
jurisdiction of a particular state, as well as the relationships that
exist between this state and the individuals who are subject to it.

The law of the nation is a law that governs the relationship

between sovereign states rather than above them. Municipal law,
on the other hand, is the law of the sovereign over persons as
subjects.

International law is common will, its

objects are the states themselves, and its subject matter is
international affairs. Domestic law is
, its subjects are persons within the state, and its
subject matter is the relationship between individuals and
government.

b. Rules in case of conflict

As a general rule, a State cannot invoke its own national law

to resist an international claim or excuse itself from breach
of duty under international law.

A party may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as

justification for its failure to perform a treaty. This rule is
without prejudice.

However, a State may invoke the fact that its consent to be

bound by a treaty has been expressed in violation of a
provision of its internal law regarding competence to
conclude treaties as invalidating its consent if that violation
was manifest and concerned a rule of its internal law of
fundamental importance.

Furthermore, where there is a conflict between a municipal

law and any provisions of an international convention, which
has not been legislated or enacted, the provisions of
municipal law shall prevail.
7. Concepts

a. Rebuc sic stantibus

Otherwise known as Fundamental Change of Circumstances,

Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

Is a principle in customary international law providing that

where there has been a fundamental change of
circumstances since an agreement was concluded, a party
to that agreement may withdraw from or terminate it.
Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
is considered as a codification of customary international
law.

b. Doctrine of Self Help

The right of self-help or the right of the individual State to

execute sanctions against a State which violated its
interests was one of the attributes claimed by States to be
necessary for its sovereignty. Such concept has become
more pronounced in a decentralized legal system, which is
a legal system which does not have a central organ or power
monopoly to apply the law, instead, such an obligation is left
to the individual States.

It is an independent and self-directed taken by an injured

State against the transgressing State in order to gain
redress. Until the middle of the 20th century the right of self-
help was claimed by States as one of the essential attributes
of sovereignty. Since the establishment of the United
Nations, self-help with regard to use of force can only be
legal in so far as it forms part of a legitimate claim to self-
defense.

c. Retorsion

It is a lawful means of retaliation by one State against

another. It is usually provoked by an equally lawful, but
discourteous, act of the other State, such as trade
discrimination measures that single out foreign nationals or
by hostile propaganda produced through government-
controlled sources of information.
 It is a retaliatory measure, this act is performed by a State
against another in an unfriendly, discourteous or inequitable
manner. These acts are of similar nature as those taken by
the offending State. Such acts performed by the States are
permitted and are legal and justified under International
Law.

For example, if a State imposes restrictions on the entry of

citizens of a particular country in its territory, that country
may also impose similar restrictions, or if a State declares
persona non grata, an ambassador of another State, that
can declare similar in respect of the ambassador of the
former State. The method of implementing retorsion may
seem as an inappropriate wat but it is an effective tool of
Settlement of International Disputes.

d. Reprisal

Reprisal are retributive or punitive in nature. In case of any

disputes or issues are not resolved by Retorsion, the States
have the rights to resort to Reprisal. They are adopted by a
State to seek redress from another State for its illegal or
unjustified acts. The aim of reprisal is to punish the
recalcitrant State, and to compel the delinquent State to
discontinue the unlawful or wrongful act and compensate
the State wronged.

Reprisals are injurious or otherwise internationally illegal

acts of one State against another and are exceptionally
permitted for the purpose of compelling the latter to consent
to a satisfactory settlement of a dispute created by its own
international delinquency. The delinquent act could be the
violation of the dignity of a foreign State, its territorial
supremacy, or the non-compliance with treaty obligations.
Reprisals may be performed against anything and
everything that belongs to or is due to the delinquent State
or its citizens.
Difference Between Retorsion and Reprisal

Retorsion Reprisal
Reprisals are retributive or punitive in
Retortion is retaliatory in nature.
nature.
In reprisals, the action taken by the
In retorsion action taken by the
aggrieved state is not always true and
aggrieved state is apparently legal to
they may be contrary to international
which no objection can be taken.
law and illegal.
Retorsion is resorted against the
Reprisals is actuated by the illegal act
inequitable and unfriendly act of
of the delinquent state.
another state.
In retorsion there is no use of force. Reprisals generally involves the use of
It involves discourteous or force its legality is questionable under
inappropriate manner. International Law.

e. Neutralized States

Are States that is neutral towards belligerent in a specific

war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future
conflicts. It is a type of non-combatant status; neutral
nationals enjoy protection under the law of war from
belligerent actions to a greater extent than other non-
combatants such as enemy civilians and prisoners of war. A
neutral country, is a sovereign State which refrains from
joining either side of the conflict and adheres to the principle
of the Law of Neutrality under International Law.

f. Principle of State Community

The Principle of State Community aims to protect human

rights, fight against global terrorism, crisis management of
and response to environmental disasters and humanitarian
emergencies, or international negotiations.

On a legal perspective it focuses on the nature and extent

of the norms and principles that form the constitutional core
of international law. Such also promotes universalism.

It states that a group of States which not merely form a

system but a group if independent political communities, in
the sense that the behavior of each is a necessary factor in
 the calculations of the others, but also have established by
dialogue and consent common rules and institutions for the
conduct of their relations, and recognize their common
interest in maintaining these arrangements.

g. Belligerent Community

Belligerency in International Law is a State or organized

community at war and subject to and protected by the laws
of war. A State need not be politically independent to have
the status of a belligerent. A belligerent community is not
tantamount to an aggressor, it is an indication of the status
of two or more entities, generally sovereign States, being
engaged in war. A State of belligerency may also exist
between one or more sovereign States on one side and rebel
forces, if such rebel forces are recognized as belligerents. If
two or more States are given the status of belligerency, their
relations are to determined and to be governed by the laws
of war.

h. UNCLOS

Is an International Treaty that is concerned with the

territorial sea, and the contiguous zone, the continental
shelf, the high seas, fishing and conservation of living
resources on the high seas.

It is a legal order for the seas and oceans which will facilitate
international communication, and will promote the peaceful
uses of the seas and oceans, the equitable and efficient
utilization of their resources, the conservation of their living
resources, and the study, protection and preservation of the
marine environment.