SECRETARY OF JUSTICE v. HON. RALPH C.

LANTION
G.R. No. 139465, January 18, 2000

FACTS:
The Court is now called to decide whether to uphold a citizen's basic due process rights,
or the government's ironclad duties under a treaty.

On June 18, 1999, the Department of Justice received from the Department of Foreign
Affairs U.S. Note Verbale No. 0522 containing a request for the extradition of private
respondent Mark Jimenez to the United States. Attached to the Note Verbale were the
Grand Jury Indictment, the warrant of arrest issued by the U.S. District Court, Southern
District of Florida, and other supporting documents for said extradition.

Pending evaluation of the aforestated extradition documents, private respondent,

requested copies of the official extradition request from the U.S. Government, as well as
all documents and papers submitted therewith; and that he be given ample time to
comment on the request after he shall have received copies of the requested papers.

Petitioner, in a reply-letter denied the foregoing requests because according to it,

Evaluation by the Department of the aforementioned documents is not a preliminary
investigation nor akin to preliminary investigation of criminal cases. They merely
determine whether the procedures and requirements under the relevant law and treaty
have been complied with by the Requesting Government. The constitutionally
guaranteed rights of the accused in all criminal prosecutions are therefore not available.
Second, the formal request for extradition of the United States contains grand jury
information and documents obtained through grand jury process covered by strict
secrecy rules under United States law. And lastly, according to Article 26 of the Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties, to which the PH is a party provides that "[E]very
treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good
faith". Extradition is a tool of criminal law enforcement and to be effective, requests for
extradition or surrender of accused or convicted persons must be processed
expeditiously.

ISSUE:
In the event that private respondent is adjudged entitled to basic due process rights at
the evaluation stage of the extradition proceedings, would this entitlement constitute a
breach of the legal commitments and obligations of the Philippine Government under
the RP-US Extradition Treaty?

HELD:
The rule of pacta sunt servanda, one of the oldest and most fundamental maxims of
international law, requires the parties to a treaty to keep their agreement therein in good
faith. The observance of our country's legal duties under a treaty is also compelled by
Section 2, Article II of the Constitution which provides that "[t]he Philippines renounces
war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of
international law as part of the law of the land, and adheres to the policy of peace,
equality, justice, freedom, cooperation and amity with nations." Under the doctrine of
incorporation, rules of international law form part of the law of the and land no further
legislative action is needed to make such rules applicable in the domestic sphere.

The doctrine of incorporation is applied whenever municipal tribunals (or local courts)
are confronted with situations in which there appears to be a conflict between a rule of
international law and the provisions of the constitution or statute of the local state.
Efforts should first be exerted to harmonize them, so as to give effect to both since it is
to be presumed that municipal law was enacted with proper regard for the generally
accepted principles of international law in observance of the observance of the
Incorporation Clause in the above-cited constitutional provision. In a situation, however,
where the conflict is irreconcilable and a choice has to be made between a rule of
international law and municipal law, jurisprudence dictates that municipal law should be
upheld by the municipal courts for the reason that such courts are organs of municipal
law and are accordingly bound by it in all circumstances. The fact that international law
has been made part of the law of the land does not pertain to or imply the primacy of
international law over national or municipal law in the municipal sphere. The doctrine of
incorporation, as applied in most countries, decrees that rules of international law are
given equal standing with, but are not superior to, national legislative enactments.
Accordingly, the principle lex posterior derogat priori takes effect — a treaty may repeal
a statute and a statute may repeal a treaty. In states where the constitution is the
highest law of the land, such as the Republic of the Philippines, both statutes and
treaties may be invalidated if they are in conflict with the constitution.