Pimentel V.

Executive Secretary

Facts:

Petitioners filed a petition for mandamus to compel the Office of the Executive secretary and DFA to
transmit the signed copy of Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to the senate of the
Philippines for its concurrence in accordance with section 21, article 7 of the 1987 constitution

Rome Statute established the International Criminal Court which shall have the power to exercise its
jurisdiction over persons for the most serious crimes of international concern xxx and shall be
complementary to the national criminal jurisdictions.

the theory of the petitioners that ratification of a treaty, under both domestic law and international law,
is a function of the Senate. Hence, it is the duty of the executive department to transmit the signed copy
of the Rome Statute to the Senate to allow it to exercise its discretion with respect to ratification of
treaties. Moreover, petitioners submit that the Philippines has a ministerial duty to ratify the Rome
Statute under treaty law and customary international law. Petitioners invoke the Vienna Convention on
the Law of Treaties enjoining the states to refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose
of a treaty when they have signed the treaty prior to ratification unless they have made their intention
clear not to become parties to the treaty.

Issue:

whether the Executive Secretary and the Department of Foreign Affairs have a ministerial duty to transmit
to the Senate the copy of the Rome Statute signed by a member of the Philippine Mission to the United
Nations even without the signature of the President.

Ruling:

No, the president, based on the 1987 Constitution, specifically Article VII Section 21 states that the
President as the head of state is the sole authority to negotiate it with comes to international relations
with the likes of treaties but with the limitation of requiring the concurrence of two-thirds of the senate
for the validity of the treaty.

The participation of the legislative department in treaty making process is deemed essential to provide a
check on the executive in the field of foreign relations.