In Legal Terms
The Philippine Maritime Zones
December 4, 2021
THE United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (Unclos III) established maritime zones. Unclos III was supposed to serve as the constitution of the oceans for the nations of the world who are signatories to the Convention.
The ICC Deferral
November 27, 2021
EXCHANGE of Notes is an act, simply put, of exchanging agreements by the representatives of two or more States. In modern times, because of the internet, State Parties through their respective representatives, may enter into an agreement by the act of a proponent of sending a signed copy of the agreement to the other party through the internet and the other party may return it through the same route to the original sender with a signed attestation that the recipient’s government agrees to its terms and conditions and a statement that the signed reply is a confirmation of the agreement between the two State Parties.
Special Rapporteurs
November 20, 2021
IN order to determine the existence of human rights violations, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations oftentimes appoints experts called special rapporteurs. This is an expert assigned to examine, investigate and report on human rights violations being committed in a certain State. Aside from a special rapporteur for human rights violations, the UN may also appoint a rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, or other rapporteurs that the Human Rights Council may find necessary. As a special representative of an agency of the United Nations, he is entitled to certain treaty-based immunities.
The Plague Wars
November 13, 2021
MY best bet is that you did not know that it could happen to you — during your lifetime. I am referring to the pandemic, this worldwide plague. My second-best bet is that during the initial stage of the plague, you harbored the belief that the coronavirus that upended everything on this planet was manufactured by a facility in Wuhan, China. But you can never be sure, never be certain that what you think is true.
The Vatican City
November 6, 2021
THE Filipinos have always harbored the belief that for a marriage to be truly valid, it is not enough to have it solemnized by a judge, the marriage must be performed with rites prescribed by the Catholic Church. The origin of such a belief can be traced to political hostilities that existed between the Church of Rome and the Italian State that began in the 19th century. In fact, as late as 1929, marriages solemnized by the Catholic Church were not considered valid by the Italian State and in retaliation, the clergy spread the news that a church wedding is essential for the marriage to be valid, at least in the eyes of God.
The Schildbürger Story
October 30, 2021
THERE is a German tale, a thousand times retold, of the Schildbürgers who, according to legend, inhabited a village in the city of Helm.
Nobody really knows where Helm was located or if it was really a town in Germany, but everyone remembers the Schildbürgers and the things they did.
Statelessness
October 23, 2021
STATELESSNESS is a tragic circumstance. The direct result of being stateless is poverty since it would be difficult to obtain a decent job if one were stateless. State to state travel would be nearly impossible since a stateless person does not have a passport that would allow him to travel to other states.
Chess and Extradition
October 16, 2021
THE release of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who was facing extradition charges to the United States, and the success of the “Queen’s Gambit” in Netflix, has brought to mind the case of Bobby Fisher, the world chess champion during the Cold War period.
What is the International Law Commission?
October 9, 2021
AT University College London there is an auto-icon, or the body of a dead person, which has been preserved and displayed as though he were still alive. The man, Jeremy Bentham, died more than 189 years ago. The figure was fashioned from his actual skeleton (the head is a wax model because a setback in the preservation process had rendered the original unsuitable for display) and dressed in the clothes he wore during his lifetime. He is sitting upright with a cane, and for years his severed head lay between his feet before it was taken away for preservation and stored separately.