Constitution Law 1

Question 1

Constitution (Comprehensive)

Answer 1

That body of rules and maxims in accordance with which the powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised. (Cooley)

Question 2

Constitution (American Sense)

Answer 2

A constitution is a written instrument by which:

(1) the fundamental powers of government are established, limited, and defined and
(2) these powers are distributed among several departments, for their more safe and useful exercise, for the benefit of the body politic. (Justice Miller quoted by Bernas)

Question 3

Constitution (brief)

Answer 3

It is the supreme written law of the land.

Question 4

Constitution (Marcos v. Manglapus)

Answer 4

It is a social contract.

Question 5

Constitution (Dean Bautista)

Answer 5

It is a social contract between the government and the people, the governing and the governed.

It reflects majoritarian values but defends minoritarian rights.

Question 6

Constitution (Bernas, Commentary)

Answer 6

It is a municipal law.

It is binding only within the territorial limits of the sovereignty promulgating the constitution.

Question 7

Rigid constitution

Answer 7

It is one that can be amended only by a formal and usually difficult process

Question 8

Flexible constitution

Answer 8

It is one that can be changed by ordinary legislation.

Question 9

Written constitution

Answer 9

It is one whose precepts are embodied in one document or set of documents.

Question 10

Unwritten constitution

Answer 10

It consists of rules which have not been integrated into a single, concrete form but are scattered in various sources, such as statues of a fundamental character, judicial decisions, commentaries of publicists, customs and traditions, and certain common law principles.

Question 11

Enacted constitution

Answer 11

An enacted or conventional constitution is enacted, formally struck off at a definitive time and place following a conscious or deliberate effort taken by a constituent body or ruler

Question 12

Evolved constitution

Answer 12

It is the result of political evolution, not inaugurated at any specific time but changing by accretion rather than by systematic method.

Question 13

Normative constitution

Answer 13

It is a classification of the constitution which adjusts to norms.

Question 14

Nominal constitution

Answer 14

It is a classification of the constitution which is not yet fully operational.

Question 15

Semantic constitution

Answer 15

It is a fundamental law enforced to formalize and legalize the perpetuation of power.

Question 16

Constitutional Law (Bernas, commentary)

Answer 16

It is a body of rules resulting from the interpretation by a high court of cases in which the validity, in relation to the constitutional instrument, of some act of government has been challenged.

Question 17

Constitutional Law (Sinco, Phil Political Law)

Answer 17

It is a term used to designate the law embodied in the constitution and the legal principles growing out of the interpretation and application made by courts of the constitution in specific cases.

Question 18

Constitutional Law (Cruz, Constitutional Law)

Answer 18

It is the study of the maintenance of the proper balance between authority represented by the three inherent powers of the State and liberty as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

Question 19

Constitutional Law (Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Constitutional Law)

Answer 19

It consist not only of the constitution, but also of the cases decided by the Supreme Court on constitutional grounds, i.e., every case where the ratio decidendi is based on a constitutional provision.

Question 20

English type of the Constitutional Law

Answer 20

It is characterized by the absence of written constitution.

Question 21

European continental type of the Constitutional Law

Answer 21

It is a type of Constitutional Law wherein a written constitution exist which gives the court no power to
declare ineffective statutes repugnant to it.

Question 22

Territorial Sea (as defined by UNCLOS, 1982)

Answer 22

It is a belt of coastal waters extending at most 12 nautical miles (22.2 km; 13.8 mi) from the baseline (usually the mean low-water mark) of a coastal state.

Question 23

UNCLOS

Answer 23

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

It has the desire to settle, in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation, all issues relating to the law of the sea and aware of the historic significance of this Convention as an important contribution to the maintenance of peace, justice and progress for all peoples of the world.

Question 24

Contiguous Zone

Answer 24

It is a band of water extending from the outer edge of the territorial sea to up to 24 nautical miles (44.4 km; 27.6 mi) from the baseline, within which a state can exert limited control for the purpose of preventing or punishing “infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea”.

Question 25

Exclusive Economic Zone

Answer 25

It extends from the outer limit of the territorial sea to a maximum of 200 nautical miles (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) from the territorial sea baseline, thus it includes the contiguous zone.