Hague ruling on West Philippine Sea

Carpio rallies lawyers to strengthen tribunal awards

Lian Buan

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Carpio rallies lawyers to strengthen tribunal awards

HONORARY DEGREE. UP Law confers upon retired justice Antonio Carpio an honorary Doctor of Laws degree during a ceremony on December 10, 2020.

Screenshot from TVUP livestream

In his acceptance of his honorary Doctor of Laws degree from UP, Justice Antonio Carpio says, 'The arbitral ruling is the law between...parties, but unless enforced, there is no justice'

In apparent reference to China, retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio rallied lawyers on Thursday, December 10, to find a way to make arbitral tribunal awards enforceable.

This was during the conferment of an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of the Philippines (UP) on Carpio at the revered Malcolm Hall of the UP College of Law.

“The arbitral ruling is the law between the parties, but unless enforced, there is no justice. As every lawyer worth his attache case knows, enforcement or execution of the judgment or award is the fruit and end of the suit, and the life of the law,” Carpio said.

Carpio’s speech recalled the beginnings of an advocacy to protect the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea, ending with a rousing call to come up with mechanisms to strengthen the  United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

He was referring to the historic tribunal ruling that invalidated China’s nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea, but which cannot be enforced as “there is no world policeman who can enforce arbitral rulings of UNCLOS tribunals.”

“In the next round of negotiations to update UNCLOS, the Philippines can propose a similar built-in enforcement mechanism. The privileges of the losing party, losing State, under UNCLOS, will automatically be suspended for failure to comply with a ruling within a given period,” said Carpio.

“Thus the losing State can have its deep sea mining permits suspended, its voting rights suspended, and its representation in UNCLOS committees – including the international tribunal for the law of the sea – suspended until it complies with the arbitral ruling,” Carpio added.

‘A tyrant’ and a ‘militant ever more’

Carpio, fondly called the “best chief justice we never had,” was affectionately called a “tyrant” by lawyer Stephanie Gomez Somera, with whom the justice published a collection of his decisions and opinions, “Carpio on the Constitution.”

“To those of us who were unfortunate enough to have worked with him, that excellence can be very intimidating, so in a sense, Tony Carpio is a bit of a tyrant,” Somera said through a virtual message.

“His excellence is a form of coercion, but by all means, Dr Carpio, intimidate us, bully us into being better versions of ourselves, if only to approximate the excellence of your work,” Somera added.

The ceremony was physically attended by Supreme Court Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, Rosmari Carandang, and retired Supreme Court justice Conchita Carpio Morales, all Carpio’s fellow-UP Law alumni.

UP Law Dean Fides Cordero Tan recalled how Carpio, as a college student, called “the people in government, the enthroned rascals.”

“He’s militant still, he’s militant ever more. He’s daring and he dared,” said Tan.

Carpio has joined as counsel, Morales and former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario, in an attempt to revive a suit against Xi Jinping before the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC previously dismissed this for lack of jurisdiction, but the powerhouse team said they will submit new facts. (PODCAST: Law of Duterte Land: Can we really bring Xi Jinping to the ICC?)

“In this historic battle to secure our EEZ, we must rely on the most powerful weapon invented by man – in the settlement of disputes among states, weapons that can immobilize armies, neutralize aircraft carriers, render irrelevant nuclear bombs, level the battlefield between small nations and superpowers, that weapon, the great equalizer, is the rule of law,” said Carpio in his speech. – Rappler.com

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Lian Buan

Lian Buan is a senior investigative reporter, and minder of Rappler's justice, human rights and crime cluster.