A LARGE number of legal scholars, eminent personalities and students of international law attended the inaugural national conference of the Philippine Society of International Law (PSIL) at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, Quezon City, on September 7.
Conducted in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)-Office of Legal Affairs and the UP Law Center, the conference drew scholars and paper presenters from law schools, law centers, law firms and legal practitioners across the country, as well as from Australia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore
With the theme, “The Philippines and the Dynamics of International Law in a Time of Transition,” the conference examined issues in a number of discussion panels ranging from human rights, territorial disputes, regional maritime security, international trade law, as well as armed conflict and terrorism, to environmental law and sustainable development, Asean law, enforcement of foreign judgment and Philippine reception of international law.
Challenges, transitions, contradictions
IN welcoming the participants, who numbered about 130, PSIL President and Prof. Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan highlighted that international law is facing a host of challenges as it intersects with domestic law in the Philippines.
Aguiling-Pangalanganemphasized that in this time of transition, contradictory directions in constitutional and political orders redirect the development or application of the basic principles, procedures and institutions of international law—from the domestic to the regional levels.
Meanwhile, PSIL Vice President and Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs J. Eduardo Malaya cited as a promising sign the increasing number of Filipino lawyers with training and practice in international law, particularly in human rights, environmental law, commercial arbitration and the law of the sea.
Malaya, likewise, observed of the high quality of the papers presented at the conference, which is reflective of the vitality of international law as field of study in the Philippines.
He, however, noted that the international law community in the Philippines requires rebuilding in terms of the number of practitioners and the depth of expertise, if viewed in light of the increasingly complex challenges the country faces in a dynamic Southeast Asian region.
“The revival of the PSIL and the conduct of its national conference are significant steps toward the growth of the international law community and the increased collaborative work among its members,” the assistant secretary said.
Legal luminaries
THE national conference also celebrated the significant contributions and enduring legacy of Prof. Merlin M. Magallona, former dean of the UP College of Law, a prolific law author and a pillar of the international law community.
International Criminal Court Judge and a member of PSIL’s advisory council Raul C. Pangalangan delivered the keynote address of the conference. He noted a fundamental dilemma for Filipinos: “Some feel that they need to turn away from nationalism to stay true to international law; but in the end, international law is not unnationalistic. Treaty law and customary law dictate that States can empower each other, and that international law can go hand in hand with national law.”
UP College of Law Dean Fides Cordero-Tan welcomed the participants to the conference. Participants included Associate Justice Francis H. Jardeleza of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Associate Justice (ret.) Adolfo S. Azcuna of the Philippine Judicial Academy and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Civilian Security Jose Luis G. Montales.
Officials from the Office of the Solicitor General and the DFA, as well as faculty members and students of UP College of Law, Lyceum Philippines University College of Law, Ateneo Human Rights Center, San Beda University Graduate School of Law, University of Santo Tomas Graduate School of Law, Far Eastern University Institute of Law, University of Asia and the Pacific School of Law and Governance, University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos and Silliman University College of Law also graced the event.
There were also paper presentors and moderators from the National University of Singapore-Center for International Law, Islamic University of Indonesia, University of Sydney, Multimedia University (Malaysia), University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law, Oxford University and the Gonzaga University School of Law (Washington State).
The PSIL was founded in 1961 by legal luminaries led by the late Justice Florentino Feliciano and is the Philippine chapter of the Asian Society of International Law, the region’s most prestigious professional and academic organization for international law. The PSIL was revived in 2016 with Prof. Harry L. Roque Jr., the current Presidential Spokesman, as president.
The national conference, which was coorganized with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, was also the preparatory event to the Asian Society of International Law’s seventh Biennial Conference, which will be hosted by PSIL, the DFA and UP Law Center/College of Law in Manila from August 22 to 24, 2019.
Image credits: Clark Galang