Public International Law (PIL) Internal sovereignty – refers to the power of

the state to direct its domestic affairs.

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE STATE
External sovereignty – signifies the freedom of
A. Right of Existence, Integrity and Self- the state to control its own foreign affairs. It is
Preservation (Self Defense) referred to as independence.

Modes of acquiring territories: Essential attributes of Sovereignty are:

1. Discovery and Occupation - Only terra 1. Perpetuity or permanence – so long as the

nullius or stateless territory could be acquired State continues to exist;
by discovery and occupation.
2. Exclusiveness or impenetrability- generally
2. Prescription – Two important elements: all persons sojourning in the state are subject
Continuous, public and adverse possession to the exclusive jurisdiction of the said State.
plus lapse of a reasonable period of time.
3. Inalienability – State ceases to be sovereign
3. Cession – effected either voluntarily or from the moment it alienate such sovereignty.
involuntarily.
4. Unity – authority is indivisible: try to divide
4. Accretion – is a process of attaching or authority and the result will be inevitable
incorporating something to what an owner of chaos.
territory already has: the process maybe
natural one (cause by natural forces as the 5. Comprehensiveness – sovereignty deals
current of river or the action of the sea) or an with all persons and all property within the
artificial one (such as by the act of the State in territory.
reclaiming part of the sea in so called
reclamation projects). Note: The State’s sovereignty and
independence cannot be considered absolute,
** Right to self-defense is expressly certain restrictions enter into the picture: 1.
recognized by the UN Charter. Article 51 Limitations imposed by the international
thereof provides that “Nothing in the present scheme of things; and 2. Limitation imposed
Charter shall impair the inherent right of by treaty stipulations (see: principle of auto-
Individual or Collective self-defense if any limitation Tanada vs Angara May 2, 1997)
armed attack occurs against a member of the
United Nations, until the Security Council has Note: Independence cannot be regarded as
taken the measures necessary for the importing absolute freedom. Like the liberty of
maintenance of international peace and individual who must submit to limitations, it is
security. also subject to limitations. A state may not
employ force or even the threat of force in its
Note: The presence of an armed attack to relations with other states because this is
justify the exercise of the right of self-defense prohibited by Article 2 of the Charter of the
under this article suggest that forcible United Nations. It may not refuse to observe
measures may be taken by a state only in the treaties in good faith in accordance with the
face of necessity of self-defense instant, maxim pacta sunt servanda. The principle of
overwhelming and leaving no choice of means mare liberum will prevent it from arrogating to
and no moment for deliberation. itself the exclusive use of the open seas to the
detriment of other states.
B. Right of Sovereignty and Independence
Intervention – an act by which a state
Sovereignty is the supreme power inherent in interferes with the domestic or foreign affairs
a state to absolutely control a definite territory. of another state through the employment of
Independence, on the other hand, is a force or threat of force.
freedom from external control in the conduct of
external and internal affairs.
Note: Instances when the use of force or Act of State doctrine is not a principle of
intervention is allowed under the Charter of the international law. Failure to apply the doctrine
United Nation: 1. when it is exercised as an does not constitute a breach of international
obligation, BUT neither does international law
act of self-defense, 2. when it is decreed by
forbid the application of the rule. Under both
the Security Council as a preventive or Public International Law and Transnational
enforcement action for the maintenance of Law, a person who feels aggrieved by the acts
international peace and security, 3. When of a foreign sovereign can ask his own
such action is agreed upon in a treaty, 4. government to espouse his cause through
Payment of contractual obligations, 5. diplomatic channels. Once the State decides
Protection of the rights of aliens, and 6. Other to espouse the claim, the case ceases to be a
private cause (The Holy See vs Hon. Rosario
grounds such as justice, humanity, religion,
GR No. 101949 December 01, 1994)
national prestige, legitimacy, economic
interest, and balance of power.
D. Right of property and jurisdiction
C. Right of Equality
To exist, a State must have property, i.e.,
In Article 2 of the Charter of the United domain; there are three kinds of domain: the
Nations, it is announced that “The territorial domain, the maritime or fluvial
Organization is based on the principle of the domain, and the aerial domain.
sovereign equality of all its Members.” The
principle is more fully fleshed out in the The National Territory
provision of the Montevideo Convention of
1933 that “states are judicially equal, enjoy the The national territory comprises the
same rights, and have equal capacity in their Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and
exercises. By equality we mean legal equality waters embraced therein, and all other
not political equality. territories over which the Philippines has
sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its
Important Consequences of the Legal Equality terrestrial, fluvial and aerial domains, including
of States its territorial sea, the sea-bed, the subsoil, the
insular shelves, and other submarine areas.
1. Each state has a right to vote – but to one The waters around, between, and connecting
vote only – in all questions which can be the islands of the archipelago, regardless of
settled only by consent. their breadth and dimensions, form part of the
internal waters of the Philippines (Section 1,
2. The weights of the votes are usually equal
Article 1, 1987 Constitution)
3. The rule of par in parem not habet imperium
Territorial Domain – includes properties of
– no state can claim jurisdiction over another.
public dominion as well as properties of private
4. The courts of one State do not, as a rule, ownership. Properties of public dominion
question the validity or legality of the official include those for public use, those for public
acts of another sovereign State, so long as service and those for the development of the
those rules take effect within the sphere of the national wealth.
latter’s own jurisdiction.
Maritime or Fluvial Domain – consists of
5. Equality can be retained only if there is rivers, lakes, bays, gulfs, straits, and canals.
dignity: thus, by virtue of legal equality, a State Theoretically, there are two kinds of waters:
has the corollary right to its reputation, good
1. The internal or inland waters (these are
name and dignity.
completely within the territory)
Note: Act of State Doctrine is the doctrine that 2. The external or territorial or maritime
a State should not inquire into the legal validity waters (these are those found within the
of the public acts (legislative, executive, maritime or territorial zone, along the
judicial) of another State (or foreign sovereign coastline)
powers) done within the territory of the latter.
The Subsoil and the Aerial Domain – The
space below a State’s territory belongs to the
State: in principle, this ownership may even
extend to the center of the earth. The
sovereignty over the air space remains with
the subjacent State, it is subject to the
servitude or easement of innocent passage for
foreign civil aircraft.

Right of Jurisdiction consists of:

1. its territorial jurisdiction (which is its

authority over persons and properties within
the territorial boundaries); and

2. its personal jurisdiction (which in this sense

is its authority over its nationals who are now
in foreign territory)

Principle of Exterritoriality – is the fiction in

international law by virtue of which certain
foreign persons and their things are exempted
from the jurisdiction of a State on the theory
that they form an extension of the territory of
their own State.

Archipelagic Doctrine – see Magallona vs

Ermita GR No. 187167 August 16, 2011

E. The Right of Legation or of Diplomatic

Intercourse

The exercise of the right of legation is one of

the most effective ways of facilitating and
promoting intercourse among states.
Diplomatic relations are normally conducted
through the head of the state, the foreign
secretary or minister and the members of the
diplomatic service.