Force is inescapable … there is no human existence without the reality of force.” The reality of force is something we should never forget when speaking of martial law. It is premised upon the principle that “the state has a right to defend itself” and rests on the proposition that “every state possesses the power of self-preservation.” Martial law has been characterized as “the public right of self-defense against a danger to the order or the existence of the state.”Ĭonsider this with the words of the scholar Karl Jaspers, “ We too easily forget the fundamental reality of force, although it is present to us daily, even though covertly. Under our Constitution, the President can impose martial law on the ground of “ invasion or rebellion, when public safety requires it.” Martial law, therefore, is to be invoked in those cases where the very existence of the State is threatened.
#PRESIDENT DECLARE MARTIAL LAW CODE#
Because although the rule of law limits the normal exercise of governmental power through a code of written law, under a regime of martial law the scope of that power’s exercise is not fixed and is not written down. We have retained it in every iteration of our Constitution.īut it is in many ways a power so inconsistent with our system of separate and balanced branches of government as to make its persistence striking. It is a power which we have bound together with the President’s military power. Our history has made us take as part of the natural legal order, as almost for granted, the President’s power to place the Philippines or any part of it under martial rule. This power is martial law or martial rule. Yet surviving within the very Constitution on which our faith in the rule of law is founded is a remarkable relic of power which seems to challenge the supremacy of law. It is a cornerstone of our constitutional system of government. This means being subject to constitutional principles and restraints that preclude the arbitrary exercise of power. The rule of law requires our public officers to act within the limits of their legal authority. This means a government of laws, not of men. We say that our Republic is governed by the rule of law. Ideas have a story.įor instance, consider the legal concept of martial rule. The development of ideas has a narrative too. But it is fascinating to also consider a history of ideas. When we speak of history, we still tend to think of a narrative of events.
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