Huwebes, Agosto 9, 2012

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

What is INTERNATIONAL LAW?

International law is a body of legal rules, regulations and accepted practices by which countries, organizations and people throughout the world interact with each other and with citizens of different countries. There are two basic categories of this type of law: public and private. Public international law deals with relationships between nations or between a nation and organizations or people from other countries. Private international law deals with disputes between citizens of different countries or businesses from different countries, especially when there is a question of which country's laws apply or where the dispute should be resolved. There are certain courts and bodies, such as the United Nations Security Council, that have the power to decide cases of international law.


 What are the sources of INTERNATIONAL LAW?

Sources of International Laws 

a) International conventions, whether general or particular;

b) International custom, as evidence of general practice accepted as law;


c) The general principles of law recognised by civilised nations;


d) Subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law such as judicial decisions and teachings of the most highly qualified publicists.


These sources will be analysed below.


A. International conventions


International treaties are contracts signed between states. They are legally binding and impose mutual obligations on the states that are party to any particular treaty (states parties). The main particularity of human rights treaties is that they impose obligations on states about the manner in which they treat all individuals within their jurisdiction. 


Even though the sources of international law are not hierarchical, treaties have some degree of primacy. More than forty major international conventions for the protection of human rights have been adopted. International human rights treaties bear various titles, including ‘covenant’, ‘convention’ and ‘protocol’; but what they share are the explicit indication of states parties to be bound by their terms. 


B. International custom 
Customary international law plays a crucial role in international human rights law. The Statute of the International Court of Justice refers to ‘general practice accepted as law’. In order to become international customary law, the ‘general practice’ needs to represent a broad consensus in terms of content and applicability, deriving from a sense that the practice is obligatory (opinio juris et necessitatis). Customary law is binding on all states (except those that may have objected to it during its formation), whether or not they have ratified any relevant treaty.  
One of the important features of customary international law is that customary law may, under certain circumstances, lead to universal jurisdiction or application, so that any national court may hear extra-territorial claims brought under international law. In addition, there also exists a class of customary international law, jus cogens, or peremptory norms of general international law, which are norms accepted and recognised by the international community of states as a whole as norms from which noderogation is permitted. Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) any treaty which conflicts with a peremptory norm is void. 
C. General principles of law 

In the application of both national and international law, general or guiding principles are used. In international law they have been defined as ‘logical propositions resulting from judicial reasoning on the basis of existing pieces of international law’.


At the international level, general principles of law occupy an important place in case-law regarding human rights. A clear example is the principle of proportionality, which is important for human rights supervisory mechanisms in assessing whether interference with a human right may be justified. Why are general principles used? No legislation is able to provide answers to every question and to every possible situation that arises. Therefore, rules of law or principles that enable decision-makers and members of the executive and judicial branches to decide on the issues before them are needed. General principles of law play two important roles: on the one hand, they provide guidelines for judges, in particular, in deciding in individual cases; on the other hand, they limit the discretionary power of judges and of members of the executive in their decisions in individual cases.


D. Subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law 


According to Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, judicial decisions and the teachings of the most qualified publicists are ‘subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law’. Therefore, they are not, strictly speaking, formal sources, but they are regarded as evidence of the state of the law. 


As for the judicial decisions, Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice is not confined to international decisions (such as the judgements of the International Court of Justice, the Inter-American Court, the European Court and the future African Court on Justice and Human Rights); decisions of national tribunals relating to human rights are also subsidiary sources of law. 


The writings of scholars contribute to the development and analysis of human rights law. Compared to the formal standard setting of international organs the impact is indirect. Nevertheless, influential contributions have been made by scholars and experts working in human rights fora, for instance, in the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, as well as by highly regarded NGOs, such as Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists.



What are the different schools of thought on INTERNATIONAL LAW?


There are at least three commonly acknowledged "schools" or approaches to treaty interpretation, which correspond to methods of construction of any legal text—including constitutions, statutes, and contracts. 




Textualist. The first school is textualism. All solid treaty interpretation begins with the words of a provision itself, as they are commonly understood. VCLT Article 31, in discussing treaty interpretation, calls for an examination of a text’s "ordinary meaning." Many treaties are drafted in two or more languages, and it is vital to ascertain not only which languages are "authentic," but also that there may be different shades of meanings of terms in different languages.




Intentionalist. Textualism can be a form of contextual reading of different provisions in a treaty text, in order to reach a sensible result. Already one can see a tension between the text of a treaty provision and the intent of the drafters. However, the second, intentionalist, approach to treaty interpretation has never been popular in international law. Indeed, the VCLT relegates sources shedding light on the intent of the drafters—including the negotiating history (known as travaux préparatoires, or travaux) of a provision—to a secondary role. They can be used only where the text is "ambiguous or obscure," or the plain meaning of the text leads to a "manifestly absurd or unreasonable" result.



One reason that travaux may be somewhat disfavored in international law is the concern that some countries might sign a treaty long after it was negotiated and signed. Should these newcomers be bound not only to the text, but also the informal understandings of the drafters? This would unduly privilege the interpretive positions of the original signatories. Likewise, use of negotiating history—including earlier drafts of a treaty, reports and commentaries, and diplomatic statements—can be selective and easily manipulated. Despite these cautions, use of travaux has become a constant feature of interpretive disputes over treaties.



Teleological. That leaves the third school of interpretation: seeking to effectuate the purpose of a treaty, rather than slavishly following the text or attempting to divine the intent of the drafters. Known in international law as a teleological approach, it can also be called purposivism. It is captured in the VCLT’s requirement that treaties be construed in light of their "object and purpose" and in view of "relevant rules of international law." The goal of this approach is to interpret a treaty in a way that gives scope to the fundamental reason or problem it was supposed to address. This approach is especially common with more "organic" or "constitutional" treaties, including those that establish international institutions (such as the United Nations Charter of 1945) or that fashion a "framework" for further international legislation.



There are limits to teleology in treaty construction, and interpreters cannot take the purpose of a treaty too far. For example, the International Court of Justice has flatly rejected the notion of "maximum effectiveness"— construing a treaty so as to give it the fullest effect. In a 1950 Advisory Opinion, the Court ruled that peace treaties concluded by eastern European states containing arbitration clauses could not be construed so as to give the UN Secretary General the power to appoint arbitrators, if the states themselves had refused to do so. 


Who are considered members of INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY?


MEMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY

  The membership in the International Society of Hypnosis (the International Society) shall consist of Members, Affiliate Members, and Honorary Members. .
The class of Affiliate Member is reserved for those who meet the standards of acceptability and have a serious interest in becoming colleagues but are unable to meet the dues requirement because of national restrictions upon currency exchange. When approved by the Credentials Committee they will be accepted as Affiliate Members, without dues.
Honorary Members shall be elected, upon special invitation and without application, by the Board of Directors, and shall be limited to distinguished scientific contributors to hypnosis. They shall have all the privileges of membership, but shall be free of the obligation to pay membership dues.
Individual applications will be accepted from nations in which one or more Constituent Societies exist only if the applicant is excluded from membership in a Constituent Society solely because of the profession to which he belongs. In such a case his application will be judged according to the standards of the International Society relative to his profession. Otherwise his application will be referred back to a Constituent Society to which he may be eligible. An individual applicant, if approved, will be admitted as a member upon the payment of dues.

What is DIPLOMACY?
Diplomacy (from Latin diploma, meaning an official document, which in turn derives from the Greek δίπλωμα, meaning a folded paper/document) is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations[1] through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, wareconomicsculture,environment and human rights. International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians. In an informal or social sense, diplomacy is the employment of tact to gain strategic advantage or to find mutually acceptable solutions to a common challenge, one set of tools being the phrasing of statements in a non-confrontational, or polite manner.
The scholarly discipline of diplomatics, dealing with the study of old documents, derives its name from the same source, but its modern meaning is quite distinct from the activity of diplomacy.
What are the DIPLOMATIC AGENTS?

                The convention splits the functions of diplomatic agents into six categories: representing the sending state; protecting the sending state's nationals within the receiving state; negotiating with the receiving state; notifying the sending state of conditions and developments within the receiving state; promoting friendly relations between the two states; and developing economic, cultural, and scientific relations between the two states.

What are the CONSULAR OFFICIALS of a STATE?

The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries. A consul is distinguished from an ambassador, the latter being a representative from one head of state to another. There can be only one ambassador from one country to another, representing the first country's head of state to that of the second, and his or her duties revolve around diplomatic relations between the two countries; however, there may be several consuls, one in each of several main cities, providing assistance with bureaucratic issues to both the citizens of the consul's own country travelling or living abroad and to the citizens of the country the consul resides in who wish to travel to or trade with the consul's country.

Sabado, Hulyo 28, 2012

Women participation in politics and governance





Women participation in politics and governance




Leadership and Political Participation





The Philippine Constitution guarantees the fundamental equality of women and men before the law and recognizes the role of women in nation building. Further, Section 11 of the Magna Carta of Women (MCW) provides for the acceleration of women’s participation and equitable representation in decision-making and policy-making processes in government and private entities to fully realize their role as agents and beneficiaries of development.
Though developments for women in politics and decision making are promising, growth has been slow and the proportion of women and men in this area is still far from equal.The country may have had two women leaders, former Presidents Corazon C. Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who came into power through the EDSA I and EDSA II people’s revolt, however, men’s domination in the political arena remains apparent. The 2007 data from the Commission on Elections reveal a total of 2,881 women in national, provincial and municipal elected positions which translate to only 17 percent share of the total turnout, 83 percent of those elected were men.
In the recent years, the trend was that women occupy only less than one-third of third level positions in the government; more than one-third in government owned and controlled corporations; less than 20 percent in local government units; and more than one-third in the judiciary. Overall, the proportionate share is 1:2 in favor of men holding top posts in the government (Civil Service Commission,“Women’s Participation and Representation: A Major State Obligation Under the Magna Carta of Women. 2011).
Women are faced with numerous obstacles to partake a bigger role in politics and decision making. These obstacles include gender stereotyping, multiple burdens and lack of political education and support from political parties. To address these concerns and make women’s presence in the field of governance more apparent and cognizable, several measures need to be implemented. These measures include leadership and capability development programs for women, advocacy for shared responsibility in the home, and the full implementation of the temporary special measures of the MCW, as well as of other related laws and policies. It is deemed that through these undertakings, parity between males and females in political participation and representation shall be achieved. 





  • Preliminary report (as of February 2011) of the May 2010 automated national and local elections shows that around 18.4 percent of the elected posts are won by women candidates, slightly higher than the 17 percent turnout in 2007.
  • For the same election period, voter turnout, which is computed by dividing the total votes cast by the total number of registered voters, is higher for women than men. COMELEC figures as of August 2011 show that women voter turnout is 75.7 percent compared to men at 74.3 percent. The national figure is 75.0 percent.
  • In 2007 and 2004, voter turnouts for women were also higher than men and the national figures. Women voter turnout in 2007 was 73.3 percent while that of men was 72.8 percent and the national figure at 73.1 percent. In 2004, women voter turnout was 77.5 percent compared to men at 76.4 percent while the national figure was 76.9 percent.
  • In 2010 Senatorial election, there were 14 women who ran out of 61 candidates (23.0%), of which two entered the top 12 winning senators (16.7%). Women participation in the senatorial election in 2007 was lower at 10.8 percent (4 out of 37 senatorial candidates) with one woman elected (8.3%).
  • There are 48 women Representatives elected in the 15th Congress (2010 national election). They accounted for 21.6 percent of the total 222 Representatives as members of the Lower House. During the 14th Congress, 51 women had secured memberships in the House of Representatives which was lower at 21.2 percent of the total 240 seats.
  • A women's rights organization has secured party-list representation in Congress since 2004. Civil society/private sector organizations that carry the agenda of marginalized sectors vie for a limited number of seats in the House of Representatives.
  • In the 2007 national election, a total of 21 Party-list Representatives were given seats in the House of Congress, two represented a women's organization - Gabriela Women's Party (GWP) which also won in the 2004 national election.
  • Moreover, of the total 21 elected Party-list Representatives, 6 or 28.57 percent are women. This is higher than the 2004 figure which was only 17.39 percent (4 women out of 23 elected Party-list Representatives).
  • The participation of women in the judiciary is slightly increasing. In 2007, 32 percent of the total incumbent judges in the first and second level courts, including Shari'a courts, were women, although it increased to 33 percent in 2008; 33 percent in 2009; and 34 percent in 2010.
    Lady Judges in the 1st, and Level Courts of the Philippines including Shari'a Courts
  • In the Supreme Court, there were 3 women out of 15 justices in 2001; 4 out of 15 in 2002; 4 out of 14 in 2003; 5 out of 15 in 2004; and 5 out of 15 in 2007.
    Lady Justices in the Supreme court of the Philippines: 2001-2007
  • Statistics on women lawyers showed a decreasing trend of disparity from its male counterpart. In 2001, the percentage of women bar passers was 40.44 percent (512).
    Number of Women and Men bar Passers: 2001-2005
  • It decreased in 2002 at 39.04 percent (358) but increased in 2003, 2004, and 2005 at 43.68 percent (484), 46.31 percent (765), and 48.27 percent (724) respectively.
  • Women dominate the bureaucracy especially the technical or second-level. Based on the 2004 data of the Civil Service Commission, women make up the majority of the bureaucracy, accounting for 58.7 percent of the total 1.31 million government personnel.
  • As of February 2012, the percentage of women occupying CES positions (3rd level positions) is 46 percent which is higher than the 42 percent reported in February 2011.

Linggo, Hulyo 22, 2012

Qualifications of candidates in local and national elections


Qualifications of candidates in local and national elections

Qualifications for Philippine Elective Office

The following is a simple list of the pertinent qualifications required for public elective positions in the Philippines:
Qualification for Philippine President and Vice-President:
1. natural born citizen of the Philippines
2. registered voter
3. able to read and write
4. at least 40 years of age on the day of election
5. resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding the election.
Qualifications for Philippine Senators:
1. natural born citizen of the Philippines
2. at least 35 years old on the day of the election
3. able to read and write
4. registered voter
5. resident of the Philippines for not less than 2 years immediately preceding the day of the election
Qualification for Philippine Congressmen (District Representative):
1. natural born citizen of the Philippines
2. on the day of the election at least 25 years old
3. able to read and write
4. registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected
5. resident thereof a period of not less than 1 year immediately preceding the day of the election.
Qualification for Philippine Party-List Representative (Sectoral representative):
1. natural born citizen of the Philippines
2. able to read and write
3. resident of the Philippines for a period not less than 1 year immediately preceeding the ay of the election
4. bona fide member of the sector he seeks to represent
5. on the day of the election is at least 25 years old BUT in case of youth sectoral representative, at least 25 years and not more than 25 years old at the day of the election
Qualifications for Philippine Local Officials:
1. citizen of the Philippines
2. on the day of election at least 23 years old for Governor, Vice-Governor, member of sangguniang panlalawigan, mayor, vice-mayor, sangguniang panglungsond in highly urbanized cities; while at least 21 years old for the said officials in component cities and municipalities; at least 18 years old for members of the sangguniang panglungsod, sangguniang bayan and sangguniang barangay and punong barangay; at least 15 years old and not more than 21 years of age for Sangguniang kabataan.
3. able to read and write FIlioini or any other local language or dialect
4. registered voter in the constituency in the locality
5. resident thereof for a period of not less than 1 year immediately preceding the day of the election

LOCAL QUALIFICATIONS:
 (a) An elective local official must be a citizen of the Philippines; 
a registered voter in the Barangay, municipality, city, or province or, in the case of a member of the 
Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Sangguniang Panlungsod, or Sanggunian bayan, the district where he 
intends to be elected; a resident therein for at least one (1) year immediately preceding the day of the election; and able to read and write Filipino or any other local language or dialect.  
(b) Candidates for the position of governor,  vice- governor or member of the Sangguniang 
Panlalawigan, or Mayor, vice-mayor or member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of highly 
urbanized cities must be at least twenty-three (23) years of age on election day. 
(c) Candidates for the position of Mayor or  vice-mayor of independent component cities, 
component cities, municipalities must be at least twenty-one (21) years of age on election 
day. 
(d) Candidates for the position of member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod or Sangguniang 
bayan must be at least eighteen (18) years of age on election day. 
(e) Candidates for the position of Punong Barangay or member of the Sangguniang Barangay 
must be at least eighteen (18) years of age on election day. 
(f)  Candidates for the Sangguniang kabataan must be at least fifteen (15) years of age but not 
more than twenty-one (21) years of age on election day. 


Qualifications of Congressional Candidates

Its election time once again and as usual, the same faces are running in the guise of  “public service”.  Even if the qualifications of certain candidates are to say the least, questionable, this has not stopped the thick skinned from running.  This is a country where running for an elected position has become a national pastime and where no clear cut policies have been drawn to curb the temerity of the unqualified to run for public office.  In this light, we shall now examine the qualifications required by law for Congress.
Qualifications for Senator are found under Section 3, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, to wit:
“No person shall be a Senator unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines and, on the day of the election, is at least thirty-five years of age, able to read and write, a registered voter, and a resident of the Philippines for not less than two years immediately preceding the day of the election.”
For the lower house of Congress, candidates must meet the requirements found under Section 6, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution, which states:
“No person shall be a Member of the House of Representatives unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines and, on the day of the election, is at least twenty-five years of age, able to read and write, and, except the party-list representatives, a registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected, and a resident thereof for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the election.”
As can be seen from the above provisions, the requirements for membership in both houses are identical save for the limitations on age and residency. Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. 
The party-list system was also included in the Constitution under Section 5 (2) of Article VI.  This provision states that:
The party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per centum of the total number of representatives including those under the party list. For three consecutive terms after the ratification of this Constitution, one-half of the seats allocated to party-list representatives shall be filled, as provided by law, by selection or election from the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and such other sectors as may be provided by law, except the religious sector.
The aim of the party list system was to recognize and give representation to the marginalized sectors of society. However, the spirit of the law has not been realized, most of the groups who have filed before the Comelec do not come from the marginalized sector.
Finally, any questions relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of any member of  the Senate and the House of Representatives shall be decided by the Electoral Tribunal of each house. Each Electoral Tribunal shall be composed of nine Members, three of whom shall be Justices of the Supreme Court to be designated by the Chief Justice, and the remaining six shall be Members of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the case may be, who shall be chosen on the basis of proportional representation from the political parties and the parties or organizations registered under the party-list system represented therein. The senior Justice in the Electoral Tribunal shall be its Chairman.