 SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW -if a treaty provision simply repeats an existing norm, the

provision is obligatory on all states.

 Art. 38 of the ICJ Statute:

 CUSTOM
1. The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with
international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall -formed by a concurence of a state practice and opinio juris
apply:
-opinio juris- belief that a norm is accepted as law
(a) International convetions, whether general or particular,
-opinio juris sive necessitatis- belief that an action was carried
establishing rules expressly recognized by the contesting
out as a legal obligation
states;
-CUSTOMARY INTERNATIONAL LAW- is a practice consistently
(b) International custom, as evidence of a general practice
repeated by a significant number of states over time, and
accepted as law;
accepted by them as obligatory. Thus, consistent, general,
(c) General principle of law recognized by civilized nations; temporal, and supported by opinio juris

(d) Subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial decisions

and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LAW
the various nations, as a subsidiary means for the
determination of rules of law. -principles common to all national laws

-refer to the procedural and administrative rules which are

inherent in the concept of every legal system, and, therefore,
2. The provision shall not prejudice the power of the Court to
part of the law of every state.
decide a case ex aequo et bono (according to the right and
good), if the parties agree thereto.

 Treaties and custom depend upon the consent of states.
In case of conflict, resolution should be based on the maxims
governing norms arising from the same source.
These maxims are:
1. Lex posterior derogat priori- a later law repeals an earlier
law;
2. Lex posterior generalis non derogat priori speciali- a later
law, general in character, does not derogate from an earlier
law which is special in character;
3. Lex specialis derogat generali- a special law prevails over a
general law.
 JUDICIAL DECISIONS
-art. 59 “the decisions of the Court has no binding force
except between the parties and in respect of that particular
case”
--->a repudiation of the principle of “stare decisis et non
quieta movere” which means that courts should stand by
precendent, and should not disturb a settled point.”
 stare decisis- when the court has once laid down a
principle of law as applicable to a certain state of facts,
it will adhere to that principle, and apply it to the future
cases, where the facts are substantially the same;
regardless of whether the parties and the property are
the same.

- does not apply in international law, then international

 TREATIES
-no state can be bound by a treaty without its consent.
-a treaty governs the relationships of its parties among
themselves. Hence, a treaty does not apply to the
relationship between a state which is a party, and a state
which is not a party.
-a treaty provision can bind a state not part to the treaty, if
the provision articulates what is already customary
international law.
- if a treaty provision represents new law, it binds only states
parties.
courts have no obligation to follow previous decisions into
account, and they invariably do.
-art. 38 “jd as subsidiary means for the determination of the
rules of law” (means: can be appreciated as evidence of
customary law.)
 TREATY AND CUSTOM are of equal weight.
-issues of prevalence should be resolved by the application of
the general rules of statutory construction that a later law
repeals an earlier law; a later law, general in nature, does not
repeal an earlier law which is more special in nature; and a
special law prevails over a general law.

 INTRODUCTION
 PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW- the unique system of law
that continuously evolves from the process of
identifying normative conduct, which primarily governs
relations among states, and secondarily governs other
actors in the international system, such as international
organization and individuals acting as collectivities.
 JUS COGENS
-those rules and principles accepted and recognized by the
international community as a whole, as standards from which
no derogation is permitted, and which can only be modified
by subsequent norms or principles of general international
law having the same character.
- any treaty contrary to JC is null and void (vienna
convention)
 DOCTRINE OF AUTO-LIMITATION
-philippines adheres to principle of international law as a
limitation to the exercise of its sovereignty. It means that any
state may, by its consent, express or implied, submit to a
restriction of its sovereign rights.
 STATE AS PRIMARY ACTOR
-foundation of international law is the state
 DOCTRINE OF EQUALITY AMONG STATES
 CRITERIA FOR STATEHOOD
1. Permanent population;
2. Defined territory;
3. Government; and
4. Capacity to enter into relations with other states
 PCA RULING (PHILIPPINES V CHINA)
 NINE-DASH LINE
-also referred to as the “10-dash line” and the “11-dash line”
-the undefined, vaguely located, demarcation line used
initially by the govt of the Republic of CHINA and
subsequently also by the govt of peoples republic of China,
for their claims of the major part of the South China Sea. The
contested area in the South China Sea includes the Parace
Islands, (a) the Spratly Islands, (b) and various other areas
including the Pratas Islands, the Macclesfield Bank and the
Scaborough Shoul. Tha claim encompasses the area of
Chinese land reclamation known as the “great wall of sand.”
 holding: UNCLOS comprehensively governs the parties
respective rights to maritime areas in the south china
sea. Therefore, to the extent China’s nine-dash line is a
claim of historic rights to the waters of the south china
sea, it is invalid. Whatever historic rights China may
have had were extinguished when UNCLOS was adopted,
to the extent those rights were incompatible with
UNCLOS.
 There is no legal basis for China to claim historic rights
to waters in teh south china sea ( so to the extent that is
what the nine-dash line means, it is invalid)
 YES, scarborough shoal is a rock that generates no EEZ
or continental shelf
 YES, mischief Reef, second thomas shoal, and subi reef
are LTEs that do not generate territorial seas or EEZs,
and are subject to appropriation…. and are parth of the
Philippines EEZ and continental shelf
 NO, both gaven and mckennan reef are above water at
high tide; they generate territorial seas but no EEZ or
continental shelf
 YES, johnson reef, cuarterton reef, and fiery cross reef
are rocks that generate no EEZ or continental shelf
 YES, china has interfered with Philippine sovereign
rights to fishing and hydrocarbon exploration within its
EEZ
 YES, china failed to prevent Chinese fishermen from
fishing withing the Philipipines
 Yes, china violated the Philippines traditional fishing
rights at scarborough shoal
 Yes, china engaged in environmentally harmful fishing/
harvesting practices at SS and Second THomas shoal
 Appropriation claim is moot bec Mischief Reef is an LTE
not capable of appropriation
 China violated UNCLOS and other treaty provisions on
maritine safely
 Yes, although there was no jurisdiction over disputes
involving military activities, china has
aggravated/extended the disputes though recent
large-scale land reclamation and artificial island
construction in the Philippine EEZ
 IMPORTANT CASES: