Intl law expert warns SC: Sanctioning UP law profs 'dangerous'

A foreign author and international law expert, whose work was allegedly plagiarized by a Philippine Supreme Court (SC) justice, has spoken up against the court's threat to sanction faculty members of the University of the Philippines College of Law. Christian Tams, a law professor at the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom, said silencing its dissenters — the UP law professors — will be a dangerous move on the part of the SC amid an "ongoing process of conflict escalation." Tams expressed his opinion in an entry posted on the European Journal on International Law blog dated November 9, 2010. Tams urged the court to withdraw its October 20, 2010 order that asked the professors to explain or "show cause" why they should not be punished for speaking against the alleged plagiarism committed by Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo. The court has already cleared Del Castillo from accusations that portions of his ruling on World War II comfort women were plagiarized. Tams explained that the court's withdrawal of the order on the UP law professors can diffuse the conflict, which he said, may tarnish the image of the SC and the UP law institution. "It seems to me that the disciplinary order of [20] October marks such a dangerous step," said Tams said. "One can only hope that Philippine lawyers – coming, after all, from a country with a great legal tradition – will be able to show the self-restraint and, perhaps, wisdom required to refrain from the pouring further oil into the flames," he said. "What is needed is some de-escalation, some conflict management. The Supreme Court might pave the way for such de-escalation by recalling the disciplinary order of [20] October," he added. Tams wrote "Enforcing Erga Omnes Obligations in International Law," one of the three foreign works that Del Castillo is accused of including in his ruling without proper attribution. The two other sources were "Breaking the Silence on Rape as an International Crime" by Mark Ellis and "A Fiduciary of Theory of Jus Cogens" by Evan Criddle and Evan Fox-Decent. Criddle and Fox-Decent have earlier come to the UP law professors' defense. "Professor Criddle and I believe that it is not the place of a court to sanction individuals or institutions that have been critical of it. The idea that a law school or its members cannot express an opinion on a case is contrary to the best practices of law schools everywhere, and an affront to free expression," they said. –VVP, GMANews.TV