MIRIAM LECTURES HEADS OF STATES, INTELLECTUALS ON INTERNATIONAL LAW AT DOHA FORUM

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, delivered a lecture on international law today at the prestigious Doha Forum in Qatar.

The Doha Forum, which is held annually, is considered as one of the most important assemblies of experts in international law and governance. This year, there are over 500 participants from various countries. Past speakers include Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations; Fredrick De Klerk, former president of South Africa and chairman of the Global Leadership Foundation; and US congresspersons Sheila Jackson, Dianne Watson, and Darrel E. Issa.

Aside from Santiago, this year's speakers include Matti Vanhanen, prime minister of the Republic of Finland; Jacques Chirac, former president of France; Alain Juppe, former prime minister of France; Claus Schwab, CEO of the World Economic Forum; and Lord David Howell, deputy leader of the UK House of Lords.

Santiago delivered her lecture to an audience composed of present and past heads of states, foreign ministers, intellectuals, academics, and representatives of international governmental organizations and civil society organizations from all over the world.

The senator, who was the Philippine nominee to the International Court of Justice in 2008, spoke on the evolution of international responsibility and the rule of law.

Santiago said that the concept of State responsibility has evolved beyond the scope of bilateral relations.

"The conduct of a State may be in contravention of its duty to another State, such as one created by a bilateral treaty. But over and above those relations strictly between them, an international obligation may involve vital interests by which the collective way of life of the great number of States is sustained. Then the relation of responsibility is cannot be contained by bilateralism any longer; it defines an expanded scope of responsibility that pertains more meaningfully to the relation between the State in wrongful act and the International Community of States as a whole," she said.

Santiago cited as an example of a vital interest to which all states can be held to have a legal interest in its protection is the environment.

"Following the declaration of the UN General Assembly, the Framework Convention on Climate Change begins with the proclamation of its more than 120 states parties that change in the Earth's climate and adverse effects are 'a common concern of humankind,' comprehending the 'totality of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere and their interactions,'" she said. "International responsibility embodied in obligations defined in the protection of global environment is of planetary proportion, addressed to real threats and crises of the Earth and therefore of the entire humankind."

Santiago is the head of the Philippine delegation to the forum. Accompanying her are Artemio Panganiban, retired Supreme Court chief justice; Miguel Valera, chair of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Commissioner Nenalyn Defensor of the Commission on Higher Education. The government of Qatar shouldered all the expenses of the delegation.