Tomas Claudio Colleges

COLLEGE OF LAW

COURSE SYLLABUS : PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW (3 UNITS)

2021-2022 (1st Semester)

A study on the basic principles of international law and an overview of the legal principles governing
international relations based, among others, on the United Nations Charter, the doctrines of well-
known and recognized publicists, and the decisions of international tribunals and bodies.

Professor : Atty. Ronel U. Buenaventura, M.A.1

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The principal objective of the course is for the students to master the pertinent legal provisions,
general principles, concepts, and underlying philosophy of public international law.

I. THE NATURE OF PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW

II. SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

1. Paquete Habana (175 US 677 [1900])

2. Chorzow Factory Case (PCIJ, Ser. A, No. 9[1927])
3. Temple of Preah Vihear Case (Cambodia vs. Thailand), ICJ Reports, 15 June
1962
4. Tañada vs, Angara, 02 May 1997
5. Republic vs. Sandiganbayan, 21 July 2003
6. Pharmaceutical and Health Care vs. Duque, 09 October 2007
7. Department of Education v. RTKBC, 3 July 2019

III. SUBJECTS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

1. Holy See v. Judge Rosario, 01 December 1994

2. Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Department v.
NLRC, 14 February 1992
3. International Catholic Migration Commission vs. Calleja, 28 September 1990
4. Vinuya vs. Romulo, 28 April 2010

IV. THE STATE

1. PCGG v. Sandiganbayan, 14 August 2007

2. Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino, 376 US 398, 1964
3. Province of North Cotabato vs. GRP Peace Panel, 14 October 2008
4. Magallona v. Ermita, 16 August 2011
5. South China Sea Arbitration, Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility, 29
October 2015
6. Co Kim Cham v. Tan Key, 17 September 1945
7. Lawyers League for a Better Philippines vs. Aquino, 22 May 1986

V. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF STATES

1. US vs. Ruiz, 136 SCRA 487

2. US vs. Rodrigo, 182 SCRA 644
3. Jusmag vs. NLRC, 239 SCRA 224
4. Republic of Indonesia vs. Vinzon, 26 June 2003

1
Atty. Ronel U. Buenaventura is currently a Legal Officer of the Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat. Previously, he
served as Legal Officer of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and worked as Associate Solicitor of the Office of the Solicitor
General. He is also a member of the faculty of Tarlac State University School of Law and Bulacan State University College
of Law. He graduated Class Valedictorian and Magna Cum Laude from Bulacan State University College of Law Class of
2015 and ranked tenth (10th) in the 2015 Bar Examinations. He finished MA Philosophy and BA Psychology from the
University of the Philippines – Diliman in 2011 and 2009, respectively.
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 5. Liang vs. People, 28 January 2000 and 26 March 2001
6. Arigo vs. Swift, September 16, 2014

VI. TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

1. Saguisag vs. Ochoa, 12 January 2016

2. United States v. Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad, 40 US 518
(1841)
3. Fisheries Case, United Kingdom v. Iceland, ICJ Reports 1974
4. Commissioner of Customs vs. Eastern Sea Trading, 3 SCRA 351
5. USAFFE Veterans vs. Treasurer, 30 June 1959
6. Santos III vs. Northwest Orient Airlines, 210 SCRA 256
7. MIAA v. COA, 15 October 2019
8. Abaya vs. Ebdane, 14 February 2007
9. Laude v. Ginez, 24 November 2015
10. Nicolas v. Romulo, 11 February 2009
11. IPAP v. Executive Secretary, 19 July 2016
12. Bayan vs. Zamora, 10 October 2000
13. Cargill Philippines, Inc. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, September 9,
2020

VII. NATIONALITY AND STATELESSNESS

1. Poe-Llamanzares vs. COMELEC, 08 March 2016

2. Nottebohm Case, Liechtenstein v. Guatemala, 1955 ICJ 1
3. Frivaldo v. COMELEC, 23 June 1989
4. Wright v. Court of Appeals, 15 August 1994
5. Government of Hongkong vs. Olalia, 19 April 2007
6. Secretary of Justice vs. Lantion, 17 October 2000
7. Government of USA vs. Purganan, 389 SCRA 623
8. Rosas v. Montor, 14 October 2015

VIII. INTERNATIONAL DISPUTE

IX. THE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAWS AND THE INTERNATIONAL

CRIMINAL COURT

1. Hilado v. dela Costa, 30 April 1949

2. Liban v. Gordon, 15 July 2009 and 18 January 2011
3. Peralta v. Director of Prisons, 12 November 1945
4. Bayan Muna vs. Romulo, 01 February 2011

X. NEUTRALITY

XI. INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

1. Oposa vs. Factoran, 30 July 1993

2. MMDA vs. Concerned Residents of Manila Bay, 18 December 2008
3. International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications vs.
Greenpeace Southeast Asia, 08 December 2015 and 26 July 2016

REFERENCES

Public International Law Simplified by Cecilio D. Duka

Any updated book on public international law
Pertinent laws, treaties, and conventions
International decisions
Supreme Court decisions (additional cases will be assigned from time to time)

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CASE DIGEST

Assigned cases for the particular meeting must be digested and submitted to the class beadle who will
compile it and send it through email in ronel.uy.buenaventura@gmail.com before 5:00 p.m. of the day
before the class. Include all relevant doctrines and principles. Cases must be digested on your own;
collaboration with classmates will be treated as a form of intellectual dishonesty and will merit failing
grade.

Compilation of all case digests shall be submitted before the Final Exam.

TEACHING METHOD

Students are required to read, in advance and in full, the topics covered for the particular meeting.
Students are likewise required to master the provisions of the law. The course will be taught through
Socratic method – recitation.

ASSESSMENT AND GRADING

Unless the Office of the Dean prescribes a different assessment, the following shall be used to compute
the final grades.

Class Standing
Recitation / Quizzes / Assignment 15%
Attendance 5%
Case Digests 5%
Midterm Examination 35%
Final Examination 40%
100%

Note: Being tardy is equivalent to one absence.

The grading system shall follow the system provided by the Office of the Dean. Cheating or any form of
intellectual dishonesty warrants a failing grade and merits disciplinary sanctions. Except for mathematical
errors, no reconsideration of grades shall be allowed.

CONSULATION TIME

Upon prior appointment

Email: ronel.uy.buenaventura@gmail.com

“You’re talking about Rwanda or Bangladesh, or Cambodia, or the Philippines. They’ve got democracy
... But have you got a civilized life to lead? People want economic development first and foremost.
The leaders may talk something else. You take a poll of any people. What is it they want? The right to
write an editorial as you like? They want homes, medicine, jobs, schools.”
– Lee Kuan Yew

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