Political Law 1 Reviewer 1.

a) Political Law- is that branch of public law, which deals with the organization and operations of the governmental organs of the State and defines the relations of the State with the inhabitants of its territory. b) Constitutional law- is the study of the structure and the power of the Government of the RP. c) The constitution- is the basic and paramount law to which all persons, including the highest official of the land, must defer. No act shall be valid, however noble its intentions, if it conflicts with the constitution. d) State- is a community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently occupying a fixed territory, and possessed of an independent government organized for political ends to which the great body of inhabitants render habitual obedience. e) Nation- according to Hackworth, this term is evidenced by its etymology to be born indicates a relation of birth or origin and implies a common race, usually characterized by community of language and customs. f) Government-is the agency is instrumentality through which the will of the state is formulated, expressed and realized. g) AdministrationA function: execution, in nonjudicial matters, of the law or will

of the State as expressed by competent authority. An organization: That group of persons in holding the reins of government for the time being. h) Sovereignty- is the supreme and uncontrollable power inherent in a State by which the State is governed. i) Doctrine of parens patriae Parens patriae is the task of the government to act as guardian of the rights of the people. This prerogative of parens patriae is inherent in the supreme power of every state, whether that power is lodged in a royal person or in the legislature j) The doctrine of State immunitythe constitution declares, rather superfluously, that the State may not be sued without its consent, this provision merely a recognition of the sovereign character of the State and an express affirmation of the unwritten rule insulating it from the jurisdiction of the courts of justice. Basis: To avoid impairment of its dignity; there can be no legal right against the authority which makes then law on which the right depends; the demands and inconveniences of litigation will divert the time and resources of the State from more oppressing matters demanding its attention, to the prejudice of the public welfare. k) Doctrine of Separation of Powers - Ordains that the three branches

of government has exclusive cognizance of and is supreme in matters falling within its own constitutionality allocated sphere. - Intended to prevent the concentration of authority in one person or group of persons that might lead to an irreversible error or abuse in its exercise to the detriment of our republican institutions. l) Doctrine of Incorporation every state by reason of its membership in the family of nations, bound by generally accepted principles of international law, which are considered to be automatically part of its own laws. m) Doctrine of TransformationGenerally accepted principles of international law are localized through legislation. n) Doctrine of the power of judicial review - judicial power includes the duty of the courts of justice to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable and to determine whether or not there has been GAD amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the branch or the part of any branch/ instrumentality of the Government. o) Pacta sunt servanda (Latin for "agreements must be kept"), a basic principle of civil law and of international law. In its most common sense, the principle refers to private

contracts, stressing that contained clauses are law between the parties, and implies that non-fulfilment of respective obligations is a breach of the pact. The general principle of correct behaviour in commercial praxis and implies the bona fide is a requirement for the efficacy of the whole system, so the eventual disorder is sometimes punished by the law of some systems even without any direct penalty incurred by any of the parties. With reference to international agreements, "every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith." Pacta sunt servanda is based on good faith. This entitles states to require that obligations be respected and to rely upon the obligations being respected. This good faith basis of treaties implies that a party to the treaty cannot invoke provisions of its municipal (domestic) law as justification for a failure to perform. The only limit to pacta sunt servanda is the peremptory norms of general international law, called jus cogens (compelling law). The legal principle clausula rebus sic stantibus, part of customary international law, also allows for treaty obligations to be unfulfilled due to a compelling change in

circumstances. p) Facial Challenge - is a challenge that claims a law is unconstitutional on its face, as opposed to a law that is applied in a particular situation unconstitutionally. q) The Archipelagic DoctrineThe Archipelagic Doctrine: Bodies of water within the baseline, regardless of breadth, form part of the archipelago and are considered as internal waters. r) Classification of governments: 1. De jure - one established by the authority of the legitimate sovereign 2. De facto - one established in defiance of the legitimate sovereign 2. Interpretation and Construction of the Constitution: a) Verba Legis b) Ratio legis et anima c) Ut magis valeat quam pereat 3. Article 1, Sec 1 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. 4. 3 Kinds of De Facto Government De facto proper: a. That government that gets possession and control of b. or usurps by force or by the voice of majority c. the rightful legal government d. and maintains itself against the will of the latter. Government of paramount force: a. That which is established and maintained by military forces b. who invade and occupy a territory of the enemy c. in the course of war. That established as an independent government by the inhabitants of a country who rise in insurrection against the parent state. 5. Justiciable and Political questions Justiciable question: is one that can be decided by courts like issues arising out of obligations and contracts, and violations of laws, etc. The courts have jurisdiction over these things, meaning they can hold a trial and issue judgments. An issue is a political question when it does not deal with the interpretation of a law and its application to a case, but with the

very wisdom of the law itself. 6. Role of the Judiciary Determines whether the constitutional distribution of powers among the several branches of government is respected and observed but this does not mean that it is superior to other departments. What it is upholding is not its supremacy but the supremacy of the Constitution. 7. The principle of nondelegation of powers Potestas delegata non delegari potest what has been delegated cannot be further delegated. 8. Permissible Delegation a) Tariff powers to the president b) Emergency Powers to the Pres. c) People at Large d) Local Governments e) Administrative bodies 9. Two test of valid delegation a) Completeness test b) Sufficient standard test 10. 4 conditions of the vesture of Emergency Powers a) there must be a war or national emergency b) must be for a limited period only c) subject to restrictions as the congress may prescribe d) exercised to carry out a national policy as the Congress may prescribe