PH Highlights Indispensability of International Law and Rule of Law in Inter-State Relations at DFA Forum with Hague Academy 

Philippine Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya gives his remarks at the forum. (DFA-OPD photo by Royce Vann Paul Pantua)

PASAY 29 February 2024 – The legal diplomacy initiatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippines Embassy in The Hague vis-a-vis engagements with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) was highlighted by Philippine Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya in his remarks at the forum “What Can We Expect from International Courts and Tribunals in a World of Sovereign States” featuring Professor Jean-Marc Thouvenin, Secretary General of the Hague Academy of International Law, on 23 February at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The legal diplomacy initiatives include (a) PH’s participation in the proceedings of the ICJ on the Advisory Opinion on the obligations of States with respect to climate change; (b) initiation and shepherding by the Philippine Embassy in the Hague and the Philippine Permanent Mission in New York, together with a Core Group, of the successful adoption by consensus of a U.N. General Assembly Resolution citing for the first time ever the “significant contribution of the PCA to peaceful settlement of disputes”; (c) the election of Ambassador Malaya as President of the PCA’s Administrative Council for term 2023-2024; (d) the participation of the four Filipino Members of the Court of the PCA, namely Judge Raul Pangalangan, Dean Sedfrey Candelaria, Dean Antonio Lavinia and Ambassador Malaya in the Congress of the Members of the Court of the PCA on 12-14 June, which is only the third time in the 125-year history of the PCA that such a gathering will take place; and (e) leadership of the DFA and the Philippine Embassy in the accessions to HCCH Conventions which has beneficial impact on Filipinos and Philippine businesses.

Underlying all of these initiatives, Ambassador Malaya said, was the Philippines’ firm belief in the indispensability of international law and the rule of law in relations among states. Elaborating on the meaning of the rule of law, he further stated:

“The phrase “rule of law” has been much talked about in recent years, but it has remained undefined. Professor William Bishop shed light on it as it applies to inter-state relations when he wrote“… without precise definition, I believe we could agree that the concept includes reliance on law as opposed to arbitrary power in international relations; the substitution of settlement by law for the settlement by force and the realization that law can and should be used as an instrumentality for the cooperative furtherance of social aims, in such fashion to preserve and promote the values of freedom and human dignity for individuals.”

Opening the forum was the Honorable Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo who reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to upholding rule of law through its “continuous proactive engagement with, and representation in, international legal organizations … and the international community, including The Hague Academy.”

Secretary General Thouvenin’s main presentation underscored the crucial role of international courts and tribunals in resolving conflicts between States and in providing advisory opinions on legal questions while recognizing the sovereignty of states.

Attended by the members of the diplomatic corps and the officers and staff members of the Department, media and the academe, the forum was organized in close collaboration with the DFA’s Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs and the Office of the United Nations and other International Organizations, at the sidelines of the two-week intensive course “Program for the Philippines'' organized by The Academy and the Philippine Judicial Academy from 19 February to 1 March in Tagaytay City. END

DFA personnel and members of the diplomatic corps participated in the lecture of Professor Thouvenin. (DFA-OPD photo by Royce Vann Paul Pantua)

For more information, visit https://www.thehaguepe.dfa.gov.ph or  https://www.facebook.com/PHinTheNetherlands/.