Constitutional Law Flashcards
It is the fundamental law, which sets up a form of government and defines and delimits the powers thereof and those of the officers, reserving to the people themselves plenary sovereignty.
Purpose:
● It prescribes the permanent framework of a system of government
● It distributes to several departments and agencies of government their respective powers, functions and duties
● It sets down certain principles on which the government is founded
CONSTITUTION
2 KINDS OF CONSTITUTION:
● WRITTEN - formal document defining the nature of the constitutional settlement, the rules that govern the political system and the rights of citizens and government
● UNWRITTEN - not codified in a single written document. It has evolved from the customs and traditions of the people
It is a political entity with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, and a stable government to which people render obedience.
STATE
ELEMENTS OF THE STATE (4)
State is a community of persons. It is a human political institution. Without a population there can be no State.
People
ELEMENTS OF THE STATE (4)
Definite territory is its essential component. A State cannot exist in the air or at sea. It is essentially a territorial State. The size of the territory of a State can be big or small; nevertheless it has to be a definite, well-marked portion of territory.
Territory
ELEMENTS OF THE STATE (4)
is the organization or machinery or agency or magistracy of the State which makes, implements, enforces and adjudicates the laws of the state.
Government
ELEMENTS OF THE STATE (4)
it means the power of the State to order and regulate the activities of all the people, groups and institutions which are at work within its territory and complete independence of the State from external control.
Sovereignty
ESSENTIAL POWERS OF STATE
the power of the state to restrain and regulate liberty and property and enact laws to protect the people and promote their welfare.
Police Power
ESSENTIAL POWERS OF STATE
power of the state to take private property for public use after giving appropriate monetary compensation to the owner.
Eminent Domain
ESSENTIAL POWERS OF STATE
power of the state to impose burdens and charges upon persons, property and property rights to enable government to operate and perform its appropriate functions.
Power of Taxation
“We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society and establish a government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.”
PREAMBLE
- Scope of the National Territory of the Philippines
- The Philippine archipelago
- All other territories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction
- The territorial sea, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves and other submarine areas
ART. I - NATIONAL TERRITORY
Components of National Territory
● Terrestrial Domain
● Fluvial Domain
○ Internal or National Waters
○ Territorial Waters
○ Archipelagic Waters
○ Contiguous Zone
○ Exclusive Economic Zones
○ Continental Shelf
● Aerial Domain
○ Air Space
○ Outer Space
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES
Barred from provoking war against other state being one of the signatories of the Kellog-Briand Pact- a treaty that renounces war and also because of its membership to United Nations.
Renunciation of War
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES AND STATE POLICIES
International law became part of the law of the land and therefore it is enforceable as long as they are not contrary to the constitution or other statutes of the state.
● Civilian supremacy clause - no official, whether civilian or military, can claim any power that has not been given to him by law.
○ Civilian supremacy therefore is nothing more than supremacy of law.
● Mark of sovereignty clause - the soldier renounces political ambition because he finds nobility, and dignity and honor in being the guardian of the people and of the integrity of the national territory of a legitimate government.
Doctrine of Incorporation
● Free exercise of religion clause
● Non-establishment of religion clause
● No religious test clause
● No sectoral representative from religious sector
● No appropriation for religious purposes
● Religious denominations and sects cannot be registered as political parties
Manifestations of the Separation of church and state:
