State community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently occupying a fixed territory, and

possessed of an independent government organized for political ends to which the great body of
inhabitants render habitual obedience. / a politically organized sovereign community independent
of outside control bound by ties of nationhood, legally supreme within its territory, acting through a
government functioning under a regime of law.
The state is a legal concept, while a nation is only a racial or ethnic concept (ex. Arab
Nation- Iraq , Egypt, Saudi, Lebanon etc.) ( State of more than one nation USA)
Elements of a state (according to the MONTEVIDEO CONVENTION)
1.) People Inhabitants of the state , the number of which is capable for self sufficiency and
self-defense ; or both sexes for perpetuity
2.) Territory - A fixed portion of the surface of the earth inhabited by the people of the state
3.) Government Is the agency or instrumentality through which the will of the state is
formulated , expressed, and realized
Government of the Philippines The corporate governmental entity through which the
function of government are exercised throughout the Philippines , including save as the
contrary appears from the context, the various arms through which political authority is
made effective in the Philippines, whether pertaining to the autonomous regions, the
provincial, city , municipal , or barangay subdivisions or other form of local government
Constituent Function Compulsory because it is constitutive of the society
Ministrant Function undertaken to advance the general interest of the society , it is merely
optional
Note : SC noted that the distinction between the two function had become blurred and
obsolete
De Jure Government Has rightful title but no power or control either because the same
has been withdrawn from it or because it has not yet actually entered exercised into
exercise thereof
De Facto Government Actually exercises power or control but without legal title
- De facto proper Government that gets possession and control of or usurps by force of
by the voice of majority the rightful legal government and maintains itself against the
will of the latter
- De facto government of paramount force Established and maintained by military force
who invade and occupy a territory of the enemy in the course of war.
- Independent government established by the inhabitants of the country who rise in
insurrection against the parent state.
Parens patriae The government as guardian of the rights of people may initiate legal
actions for and in behalf of particular individuals
4.) Sovereignty Supreme and uncontrollable power inherent in a State by which a State is
governed.
Kinds of sovereignty LEGAL the power to issue commands (CONGRESS IS THE LEGAL
SOVEREIGN)
Political the power behind the legal sovereign or the sum total of all the influences which
lie behind the law
Internal power to control its domestic affairs
External power to direct its relations with other States
Charactereistic of sovereigns Permanent, exclusive, comprehensive , absolute, indivisible,
inalienable and imprescriptable.
PRINCIPLES OF SOVEREIGNTY
Imperium the states authority to govern as embraced in the concept of sovereignty, includes
passing laws, governing a territory, maintaining peace and order over it and defending it against
foreign invasion,

Dominium capacity of the state to own or acquire property
Political Lawis that branch of public law which deals with the organization and operations of the
governmental organs of the State and defines the relations of the State with the inhabitants of its
territory
EFFECT OF BELLIGERENT OCCUPATION- NO CHANGE IN SOVEREIGNTY,HOWEVER POLITICAL LAWS,
EXCEPT THOSE OF TREASON ARE MERELY SUSPENDED; MUNICIPAL LAWS REMAIN IN FORCE UNLESS
CHANGED BY THE BELLIGENERENT OCCUPANT
WHAT MAY BE SUSPENDED IS THE EXERCISE OF THE RIGHTS OF SOVEREIGNTY, WITH THE CONTROL
AND GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORY OCCUPIED BY THE ENEMY PASSES TEMPORARILY TO THE
OCCUPANT
PRINCIPLE OF JUS POSTLIMINIUM AT THE END OF THE OCCUPATION, WHEN THE OCCUPANT IS
OUSTED FROM THE TERROTORY, THE POLITAL LAWS WHICH HAD BEEN SUSPENDED DURING THE
OCCUPATION SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE AGAIN
EFFECTS OF CHANGE OF SOVEREIGNTY POLITICAL LAWS OF THE FORMER SOVEREIGN, WHETHER
COMPATIBLE OR NOT WITH THOSE OF THE NEW SOVEREIGN, ARE AUTOMATICALLY ABROGATED
UNLESS THEY ARE EXPRESSLY RENACTED BY THE AFFIRMATIVE ACT OF THE NEW SOVEREIGN.
MUNICIPAL LAWS REMAIN IN FORCE.