MODULE 2

TOPIC: WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW

Ø GRADED RECITATION

Ø OUTLINE
o Read: Module 2 – Practice Training Materials developed by the
International Criminal Law Services (Part of the War Crimes Justice
Project funded by the European Union) – file uploaded in FB;
§ Introduction
§ What is Public International Law
§ What is International Criminal Law
§ Sources of International Criminal Law
• Overview of the five sources of International Criminal Law
o As compared to the sources of International Law (under
Art. 38, Statute of the International Court of Justice)
o Applicability to Philippine courts
- Sources of Philippine Criminal Law
- No common law crimes in the Philippines
- Treaties and laws of preferential applications
(under Article 2 of the Revised Penal Code)
o Applicability to ICC (under the Rome Statute)
- Rome Statute of the ICC – Read Article 21 (full
text uploaded in FB)
- ICC case - Al Bashir (uploaded in FB) – no
need to print, read only paragraphs 44, 128-132
- Sections 31 & 32 of the Vienna Convention on
the Law of the Treaties

SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW:

1. Treaty Law
o Bayan Muna vs. Romulo, GR 159618, Feb. 1, 2011
(TAKE NOTE OF ALL ISSUES);
o Pimentel vs. Romulo, GR 158088, July 6, 2005;
o Special Topic: Treaty vs. Executive Agreement –
§ Commissioner of Customs vs. Eastern Sea
Trading, GR L-14279, Oct. 31, 1961;
§ Bayan vs. Zamora, GR 138570, Oct. 10, 2000;
§ Lim vs. Exec. Sec., GR 151445, April 11, 2002;
§ Nicolas vs. Romulo, GR 175888, Feb 11, 2009;
§ Saguisag vs. Ochoa, GR 212426, Jan 12, 2016;
2. Customary International Law
o Pharmaceutical vs. Duque, GR 173034, Oct. 9, 2007;
o Razon vs. Tagitis, GR 182498, December 3, 2009;
o Mijares vs. Ranada, GR 139325, April 12, 2005;
o Llamanzares vs. Comelec, GR 221697, March 8, 2016;
o Sec. of Justice vs. Lantion, GR 139465, Jan. 18, 2000;
o LGBT Party vs. Comelec, GR 190582, April 8, 2010;

• Hierarchy between custom and treaty law, and JUS COGENS

o Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany vs.
Italy) before the International Court of Justice,
February 3, 2012 (uploaded in FB);

3. General principles of law

4. Judicial decisions (subsidiary source)
5. Learned writings (subsidiary source)

§ Principles and modes of interpretation of ICL

§ Relationship between IHL (International Humanitarian Law), HRL
(Human Rights Law) and ICL (International Criminal Law)