In Legal Terms
Trust Me, I’m a Lawyer
May 7, 2022
IT is getting more and more difficult to lie these days. First, there is the judicial affidavit rule which requires litigants to submit the contents of one’s testimony before they take the stand. By doing this, a litigant may study the testimony of his opponent in advance so that he may contradict the lies that his opponent will surely foist (the lying party is always the other party, if lawyers are to be believed). Surprises are eliminated, unless one’s lawyer fails to prepare for the trial and begins to read the judicial affidavit at the exact time the case is called for trial.
Counterplay
April 30, 2022
IN chess, the white pieces usually win because being the first to make the move, it has the inherent advantage of taking the initiative.
During the game, if the black pieces can overcome the advantage of the white side, it can equalize the contest and it can now abandon its defensive attitude and take aggressive action. It can now go on counterplay.
Why We Need International Law
April 23, 2022
IT is said that there are three kinds of individuals in this world. The first is the moral person who knows what is right or wrong and chooses to do the right thing. The second is the immoral one who knows the difference between right and wrong but chooses the wrong side. The third is the amoral person who does not know the difference between right and wrong and lives beyond the boundaries of morality. The amoral individual is the most dangerous of all.
The Thucydides Trap
April 16, 2022
MY friend, Euston Quah, asked me to attend an important webinar. Winsemius Chair of Nanyang Technological University and fellow of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Euston is a master of understatement, and his words therefore underscored the necessity of my attendance.
Sierra Madre, The Forest, Amnesty, and Pardon
April 9, 2022
IMMEDIATELY after taking the 1985 bar examinations, I hied up to the mountains of the Sierra Madre to wait out the bar examination results. I lived alone in a farm, used the squawking of hornbills to determine the time of day and hiked in the mountains that served as sanctuaries for revolutionaries and resistance fighters, hiding places for assorted heroes and scoundrels.
Mercenaries
April 2, 2022
MERCENARIES fight for money not for freedom, not for love of country nor for anything that makes death worthwhile or magical. Mercenaries fight for nothing more than personal gain. Coming from the Latin word mercenarius, a mercenary is someone who will do anything for money.
People of the Philippines vs Vladimir Putin
March 26, 2022
IT may sound out of place for a professor of international law to write about the possibility of Russian President Vladimir Putin facing charges and being tried here in the Philippines for the crime of aggression and war crimes. I am not trying to be funny, but President Putin could very well be charged here in our country for crimes in violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
Ukraine and War Crimes
March 19, 2022
IN Ukraine, in a place called Zaporizhzhia, the Russians targeted a nuclear plant, which is said to be Europe‘s largest. Earmarking for destruction the Zaporizhzhia plant is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions to which Russia and Ukraine are signatories. Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions have been categorized as war crimes.
President Putin and the International Crime of Aggresson
March 12, 2022
PEOPLE have called me up to ask about a remark made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be held accountable for war crimes. I think, more to the point is that President Putin should be held accountable not only for war crimes but also for the crime of aggression when he ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine and the Security Council
March 5, 2022
A FEW days ago, I received an email from Catherine Amirfar, president of the American Society of International Law, regarding the situation in Ukraine. She condemned the acts of aggression committed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Citing Article 1(1) of the UN Charter, she affirmed that one of the fundamental purposes of the United Nations is “the suppression of acts of aggression.” She also cited Article 2(4) of the Charter which requires UN member states to “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State.” Amirfar then urged all UN member states to condemn the actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.