Codals

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW (VOL. I & II)

This compilation reproduces core treaty provisions commonly cited in Philippine Bar review for public international law.

Volume I

Foundations, sources, jurisdiction, and treaty law.

Charter of the United Nations

Article 1

The Purposes of the United Nations are:

1. To maintain international peace and security, and to that end, to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.
2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace.
3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.
4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

Article 2

The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act in accordance with the following Principles:

1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.
2. All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.
3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
5. All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shall refrain from giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking preventive or enforcement action.
6. The Organization shall ensure that states which are not Members of the United Nations act in accordance with these Principles so far as may be necessary for the maintenance of international peace and security.
7. Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the Members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under Chapter VII.

Article 24

1. In order to ensure prompt and effective action by the United Nations, its Members confer on the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and agree that in carrying out its duties under this responsibility the Security Council acts on their behalf.
2. In discharging these duties the Security Council shall act in accordance with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations. The specific powers granted to the Security Council for the discharge of these duties are laid down in Chapters VI, VII, VIII, and XII.
3. The Security Council shall submit annual and, when necessary, special reports to the General Assembly for its consideration.

Article 25

The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.

Article 33

1. The parties to any dispute, the continuance of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, shall, first of all, seek a solution by negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own choice.
2. The Security Council shall, when it deems necessary, call upon the parties to settle their dispute by such means.

Statute of the International Court of Justice

Article 1

The International Court of Justice established by the Charter of the United Nations as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations shall be constituted and shall function in accordance with the provisions of the present Statute.

Article 34

1. Only states may be parties in cases before the Court.
2. The Court, subject to and in conformity with its Rules, may request of public international organizations information relevant to cases before it, and shall receive such information presented by such organizations on their own initiative.
3. Whenever the construction of the constituent instrument of a public international organization or of an international convention adopted thereunder is in question in a case, the Registrar shall so notify the public international organization concerned and shall communicate to it copies of all the written proceedings.

Article 36

1. The jurisdiction of the Court comprises all cases which the parties refer to it and all matters specially provided for in the Charter of the United Nations or in treaties and conventions in force.
2. The states parties to the present Statute may at any time declare that they recognize as compulsory ipso facto and without special agreement, in relation to any other state accepting the same obligation, the jurisdiction of the Court in all legal disputes concerning:

Declarations may be made unconditionally, on condition of reciprocity, or for a certain time. If a dispute arises as to whether the Court has jurisdiction, the matter shall be settled by the decision of the Court.

Article 38

The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply:

This provision shall not prejudice the power of the Court to decide a case ex aequo et bono if the parties agree thereto.

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969)

Article 2

For the purposes of the present Convention:

Article 26

Pacta sunt servanda. Every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith.

Article 27

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 to Article 46.

Article 31

A treaty shall be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to its terms in their context and in the light of its object and purpose.

The context includes the text, including its preamble and annexes, together with agreements and instruments made in connection with the conclusion of the treaty. Together with the context, there shall also be taken into account subsequent agreements, subsequent practice, and any relevant rules of international law applicable in the relations between the parties.

Article 32

Recourse may be had to supplementary means of interpretation, including the preparatory work of the treaty and the circumstances of its conclusion, in order to confirm the meaning resulting from Article 31, or to determine the meaning when the interpretation according to Article 31 leaves the meaning ambiguous or obscure or leads to a manifestly absurd or unreasonable result.

Article 53

A treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts with a peremptory norm of general international law (jus cogens). A peremptory norm is one accepted and recognized by the international community of States as a whole as a norm from which no derogation is permitted and which can be modified only by a subsequent norm of the same character.

Article 54

The termination of a treaty or the withdrawal of a party may take place in conformity with the provisions of the treaty or at any time by consent of all the parties after consultation with the other contracting States.

Article 62

A fundamental change of circumstances may not be invoked as a ground for terminating or withdrawing from a treaty unless the existence of those circumstances constituted an essential basis of consent and the effect of the change is radically to transform the extent of obligations still to be performed.

This ground may not be invoked if the treaty establishes a boundary or if the fundamental change is the result of a breach by the invoking party of an obligation under the treaty or another international obligation owed to another party.

Vienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties

Article 7

The Convention applies only in respect of a succession of States occurring after its entry into force, without prejudice to the application of rules to which the effects of a succession of States would be subject under international law independently of the Convention.

Article 11

A succession of States does not as such affect a boundary established by a treaty or obligations and rights established by a treaty and relating to the regime of a boundary.

Article 16

A newly independent State is not bound to maintain in force, or to become a party to, any treaty by reason only of the fact that at the date of the succession of States the treaty was in force in respect of the territory to which the succession relates.

Article 17

Subject to the Convention, a newly independent State may, by a notification of succession, establish its status as a party to any multilateral treaty that was in force in respect of the territory to which the succession of States relates.

This does not apply if the application of the treaty would be incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty or would radically change the conditions for its operation.

Article 34

When a part or parts of the territory of a State separate to form one or more States, treaties in force in respect of the entire territory of the predecessor State continue in force in respect of each successor State so formed, subject to contrary agreement or incompatibility with the object and purpose of the treaty.

Article 35

When, after separation of part of its territory, the predecessor State continues to exist, any treaty in force in respect of the predecessor State continues in force in respect of its remaining territory unless the States concerned otherwise agree, the treaty related only to the separated territory, or continued application would be incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty.

Volume II

Law of the sea, diplomatic and consular relations, human rights, and humanitarian law.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Article 2

The sovereignty of a coastal State extends, beyond its land territory and internal waters and, in the case of an archipelagic State, its archipelagic waters, to an adjacent belt of sea described as the territorial sea. This sovereignty extends to the air space over the territorial sea as well as to its bed and subsoil.

Article 3

Every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles, measured from baselines determined in accordance with the Convention.

Article 17

Subject to the Convention, ships of all States, whether coastal or land-locked, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea.

Article 33

In a contiguous zone, a coastal State may exercise the control necessary to prevent or punish infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration, or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea. The contiguous zone may not extend beyond 24 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

Article 55

The exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, subject to the specific legal regime established in the Convention, under which the rights and jurisdiction of the coastal State and the rights and freedoms of other States are governed by the relevant provisions of the Convention.

Article 56

In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal State has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing the natural resources of the waters superjacent to the seabed and of the seabed and its subsoil, and jurisdiction with regard to artificial islands, marine scientific research, and the protection and preservation of the marine environment.

Article 57

The exclusive economic zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.

Article 76

The continental shelf of a coastal State comprises the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin, or to 200 nautical miles from the baselines where the continental margin does not extend up to that distance.

Article 87

The high seas are open to all States. Freedom of the high seas includes, among other things, freedom of navigation, overflight, laying submarine cables and pipelines, constructing artificial islands and other installations permitted under international law, fishing, and scientific research, all to be exercised with due regard for the interests of other States.

Article 100

All States shall cooperate to the fullest possible extent in the repression of piracy on the high seas or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any State.

Article 121

1. An island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide.
2. Except as provided in paragraph 3, the territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf of an island are determined in accordance with the provisions applicable to other land territory.
3. Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.

Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

Article 1

For the purposes of the Convention, the terms "head of the mission", "members of the mission", "members of the diplomatic staff", and "diplomatic agent" carry the meanings assigned in the Convention.

Article 22

1. The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. Agents of the receiving State may not enter them except with the consent of the head of mission.
2. The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against intrusion, damage, disturbance of the peace of the mission, or impairment of its dignity.
3. The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon, and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment, or execution.

Article 24

The archives and documents of the mission shall be inviolable at any time and wherever they may be.

Article 27

The receiving State shall permit and protect free communication on the part of the mission for all official purposes. Official correspondence of the mission shall be inviolable. The diplomatic bag shall not be opened or detained.

Article 29

The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. The agent shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention, and the receiving State shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on the agent's person, freedom, or dignity.

Article 31

A diplomatic agent shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving State and, subject to stated exceptions, from its civil and administrative jurisdiction as well.

Article 32

The immunity from jurisdiction of diplomatic agents and of persons enjoying immunity under Article 37 may be waived by the sending State. Waiver must always be express.

Article 39

Every person entitled to privileges and immunities shall enjoy them from the moment of entry into the territory of the receiving State on proceeding to take up post, or, if already in the territory, from the moment the appointment is notified. Immunities normally cease when functions come to an end, save for official acts performed in the exercise of functions.

Vienna Convention on Consular Relations

Article 1

For the purposes of the Convention, terms such as "consular post", "consular district", "head of consular post", "consular officer", and "consular employee" carry the meanings assigned in the Convention.

Article 5

Consular functions consist in protecting the interests of the sending State and its nationals, furthering commercial, economic, cultural, and scientific relations, issuing passports and visas, helping and assisting nationals, acting as notary and civil registrar in appropriate cases, safeguarding the interests of nationals in succession matters and other legal matters, and performing related functions permitted by international law.

Article 31

Consular premises shall be inviolable to the extent provided in the Convention. Authorities of the receiving State shall not enter the part used exclusively for consular work except with the required consent, and the receiving State has a special duty to protect the premises against intrusion, damage, disturbance, or impairment of dignity.

Article 35

The receiving State shall permit and protect freedom of communication on the part of the consular post for all official purposes. Official correspondence of the consular post shall be inviolable, and the consular bag shall neither be opened nor detained, subject to the special rule stated in the Convention.

Article 36

Consular officers shall be free to communicate with nationals of the sending State and to have access to them. If requested, the competent authorities of the receiving State shall, without delay, inform the consular post when a national is arrested, committed to prison, or otherwise detained, and the person concerned shall be informed without delay of these rights.

Article 43

Consular officers and consular employees shall not be amenable to the jurisdiction of the judicial or administrative authorities of the receiving State in respect of acts performed in the exercise of consular functions, subject to the exceptions stated in the Convention.

Article 55

Without prejudice to privileges and immunities, all persons enjoying them have a duty to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State and not to interfere in its internal affairs. Consular premises shall not be used in any manner incompatible with the exercise of consular functions.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Article 2

Each State Party undertakes to respect and ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the Covenant, without distinction of any kind, and to adopt such laws or measures as may be necessary to give effect to those rights. States Parties must ensure an effective remedy for violations.

Article 4

In time of public emergency threatening the life of the nation and officially proclaimed, a State Party may take measures derogating from its obligations only to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation and only if such measures are not inconsistent with its other obligations under international law and do not involve prohibited discrimination.

No derogation from Articles 6, 7, 8 paragraphs 1 and 2, 11, 15, 16, and 18 may be made under this provision.

Article 6

Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of life.

Article 7

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.

Article 9

Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention, and no one shall be deprived of liberty except on grounds and in accordance with procedure established by law.

Anyone arrested shall be informed of the reasons for arrest and of any charges, shall be brought promptly before a judge, and shall be entitled to challenge the lawfulness of detention before a court.

Article 14

All persons shall be equal before courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge or of rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal established by law.

Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law and to the minimum guarantees stated in the Covenant.

Article 19

Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression, including freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers.

The exercise of this right carries special duties and responsibilities and may be subject only to restrictions provided by law and necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others or for the protection of national security, public order, public health, or morals.

Article 25

Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without distinctions mentioned in Article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions, to take part in public affairs, to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections by universal and equal suffrage and secret ballot, and to have access on general terms of equality to public service.

Article 26

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without discrimination to the equal protection of the law. The law shall prohibit discrimination and guarantee equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.

Article 27

In States where ethnic, religious, or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.

Geneva Convention I and the 1949 Geneva Conventions

Common Article 3

In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:

An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.

Article 15

At all times, and particularly after an engagement, Parties to the conflict shall, without delay, take all possible measures to search for and collect the wounded and sick, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled.

Whenever circumstances permit, an armistice, suspension of fire, or local arrangements shall be made to permit removal, exchange, and transport of the wounded left on the battlefield and to permit the passage of medical and religious personnel and equipment.