Political Law; The State may be sued if it consents, either expressly or impliedly. The rule, in any case, is not really absolute for it does not say that the state may not be sued under any circumstance. On the contrary, as correctly phrased, the doctrine only conveys, ‘the state may not be sued without its consent;’ it’s clear import then is that the State may at times be sued. The State’s consent may be given either expressly or impliedly. Express consent may be made through a general law or a special law. x x x Implied consent, on the other hand, is conceded when the State itself commences litigation, thus opening itself to a counterclaim or when it enters into a contract. In this situation, the government is deemed to have descended to the level of the other contracting party and to have divested itself of its sovereign immunity. This rule, x x x is not, however, without qualification. Not all contracts entered into by the government operate as a waiver of its non-suability; distinction must still be made between one which is executed in the exercise of its sovereign function and another which is done in its proprietary capacity.
As a general rule, a state may not be sued. However, if it consents, either expressly or impliedly, then it be the subject of a suit. There is express consent when a law, either special or general, so provides. On the other hand, there is implied consent when the state “enters into a contract or it itself commences litigation.” However, it must be clarified that when a state enters into a contract, it does not automatically mean that it has waived its non-suability. The State “will be deemed to have impliedly waived its non-suability [only] if it has entered into a contract in its proprietary or private capacity. [However,] when the contract involves its sovereign or governmental capacity[,] xx x no such waiver may be implied. ”Statutory provisions waiving [s]tate immunity are construed in strictissimi juris. For, waiver of immunity is in derogation of sovereignty.”
