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INTRODUCTION
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
I. INTRODUCTION
Being the protector of the rights of the public, the judiciary holds
paramount interest and plays a vital role in ensuring that the other branches and
functions and duties, are still upholding the supremacy of the Constitution of the
Isagani Cruz, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, once stated, “timid and
corrupt judges will sap the vigor of popular government; on the other hand, a free
characteristics, courts will lose the trust accorded to them by the people as the
courts should preserve a free society through the application of laws applied
without fear or favor, for the Philippines is a country governed of laws, and not of
men.
II. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
display the role of the judiciary in upholding and promoting good governance
state.
The study aims to aid law and non-law students, and other
governance to the public. Upon understanding such, the parties can then
A. Judicial Department
Brief History
were governed with unwritten laws. The laws were derived from customs,
who devoted their time in studying the customs, usages, and traditions of their
(audiencia) was established by King Philip II. The audiencia held judicial and
perform executive and administrative functions and had been restricted to the
On June 11, 1901, Act No. 136 entitled “An Act Providing for the
established the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands. It also created the
Courts of First Instance and Justices of the Peace Courts throughout the land.
consequence. Among these were the legality of the ratification of the 1973
then President Marcos, and the power to review the factual basis for a
declaration of Martial Law by the Chief Executive. The 1973 Constitution also
increased the number of the members of the Supreme Court from 11 to 15,
with a Chief Justice and 14 Associate Justices. The Justices of the Court
legislation. The lower courts, namely the Court of Appeals, Regional Trials
Trial Courts, Court of Tax Appeals, Sandiganbayan, the Shaira courts of the
Muslims, together with the Supreme Court, make up the judicial department
judicial power is still vested in one Supreme Court and in such lower courts as
by law.
the jurisdiction of the court to review cases which tackle “political questions”
questions was due to the fact that numerous mischief or evil committed during
the Marcos’ regime were hidden and blanketed by invoking the “political
question” doctrine, which put the cases beyond the jurisdiction of judicial
inquiry. However, not every abuse of discretion can be the subject of the
Court’s inquiry. It must be a “grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or
hostility.”
the court ruled that there is a grave abuse of discretion when an act is done
Judicial Inquiry
Judicial inquiry is one of the functions of the courts of justice – to test the
validity of the acts of the other branches in order to determine if the acts are still
in consonance with the Constitution. Nevertheless, when the courts are faced
with questions that are political in nature, it deals with such questions with great
1
Sinon v. Civil Service Commission, 215 SCRA 410, 416-17 (1992)
2
Infotech Foundation, et al. v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 159139, January 13, 2004
caution as abuse of such power may also impair the doctrine of separation of
in their own constitutional sphere. But, it was emphasized by the Supreme Court
that whenever they perform judicial inquiry over acts which are upon the
and not imposing their own supremacy over the other co-equal branch. In
unless there is compliance with what are known as the requisites of judicial
inquiry:
3
Pormento vs. Estrada and COMELEC, G.R. No. 191988, August 31, 2010
did not win the elections, and was not elected as the president.
guide the bench, the bar, and the public, and finally, if the case
ruled that the petitioners, all minors, had the legal standing to
moribund.
general law, the Court will decide only the latter 5. The court will
court may waive the compliance of the requisites mentioned above, for in such
5
Demetria vs. Alba, G.R. No. 71977, February 27, 1987
case, it is now the duty of the court to pass upon the constitutionality of the
It should be also noted that the lower courts are also possessed with the
review is exclusively granted to the Supreme Court. But, since majority vote of
lower courts must keep in mind, as cited in People vs. Vera6, “that a becoming
occupy in the interrelation and operation of the integrated judicial system of the
binding between the parties, but a declaration of the Supreme Court becomes a
Composition
Members. Any vacancy shall be filled within ninety days from the
occurrence thereof.”
6
People vs. Vera, 65 Phil. 56 (1937)
In the case of De Castro vs. Judicial and Bar Council 7, it was declared that
the president may provide appointments in the vacancy of the judiciary even if it
is within the two (2) months immediately before the next election and up to the
end of his term. The court ruled that if the framers of the Constitution intended to
extend the prohibition prescribed in Section 15, Article VII to the appointment of
members of the Supreme Court, it can easily do so. However, it is not the case.
Hence, the prohibition does not cover appointments to the Supreme Court.
Article 8, Section 9 provides that the Members of the Supreme Court and
judges of lower courts shall be appointed by the President from a list of at least
three nominations from the Judicial and Bar Council, the body tasked to screen
The appointees will hold office during good behavior until the age of seventy (70)
the Supreme Court who has exclusive power to discipline judges of lower courts.
Court and any lower collegiate court. One must be a natural-born citizen of the
Philippines, and for the member of the Supreme Court, must be at least forty-
years of age and must have been a judge of a lower court or engaged in the
practice of law in the Philippines for at least fifteen (15) years. These
7
De Castro vs. Judicial and Bar Council, G.R. No. 191002, March 17, 2010
legislative act. However, for the judges of the lower courts, the Congress may
prescribed through the enactment of a law for the minimum qualifications needed
citizen of the Philippines and a member of the Philippine Bar. It should be noted
that while Members of the Supreme Court and other lower collegiate courts are
required to be natural-born citizens, the applicants for the lower courts only need
The Judicial and Bar Council was created by the 1987 Constitution with
the selection of the appointees to the Supreme Court are “de-politicize” by only
limiting the prerogative of the President, having the appointing power, to select
appointees from the nominations of the Council. The Council is composed of the
of the Integrated Bar, a professor of law, a retired Member of the Supreme Court,
and a representative of the private sector. The regular members shall have a
term of four (4) years, and their appointment is subject to the confirmation of the
Commission on Appointments.
to hear the following cases en banc: 1.) all cases involving the constitutionality of
a treaty, international or executive agreement, or law; 2.) all cases which under
the Rules of Court may be required to be heard en banc; 3.) all cases involving
heard by a division when the required majority in the division is not obtained; 5.)
law previously laid down either en banc or in division; 6.) administrative cases
the Supreme Court may hear it in division. Currently, the Supreme Court has five
When the Supreme Court sits en banc, cases are decided by a vote of a
majority of the members who actually took part in the deliberations on the issues
in the case and voted thereon. Since the quorum of the Supreme Court is eight
(8), five (5) votes are enough to decide on a case. Consequently, all members of
the Supreme Court are accorded with one (1) vote. Hence, in deciding cases, no
one is deemed to be superior above everyone else, not even the Chief Justice.
Section 6 are auxiliary administrative powers. It should be noted that one of the
safeguards of the independence of the judiciary is that the Supreme Court may
not be deprived of its minimum original or appellate jurisdiction, and that the latter
detained.
as the law or the rules of court may provide, final judgments and
question.
b. All cases involving the legality of any tax, impost,
related thereto.
court is in issue.
is involved.
Court:
limitations on this power are that the rules must be uniform for
all courts of the same grade and that the rules must not
B. Good Governance
granted by the state. The main source of these rights is the 1987 Constitution.
In the Constitution, a tribunal body was also expressly established, named as the
Supreme Court of the Philippines, as the final arbiter of cases which involves
rights which are legally demandable and enforceable. The Supreme Court,
together with the lower courts established by law, are the protectors and
government is far from perfection. Despite the guidelines, principles, and rules
immemorial, in narrowing the economic and social gap between the rich and the
poor, for various reasons such as corruption, self-interest, and abuse of power.
Although there are laws that aim to aid the government to provide good
important to accomplish such goal. This is where the judicial department’s role in
Constitution; that the government holds the law above everything else.
governance, the gap created by the failure of political practice is filled. Through
judicial branch exercises its authority as the protector of the rule of law. It
performing their functions not beyond their authority. By doing such, the judiciary
ensures that executive and legislative powers are consistently monitored, and the
political, civil, and economic rights of the people are maintained and protected.
principle of checks and balances enables the courts of justice to do so, for its
purpose is not to exert dominance and control over the other branches, but to
provide for a precedence that would inculcate in the minds of the leaders of the
Philippines that the Constitution is the source of the supreme power. For only
when the spirit of the law is strictly interpreted and implemented and its
independence is free from the glare of political motives can the courts perform its
purest function: to protect the sovereignty from injustice, no matter what the cost
is.
REFERENCES:
Cruz, I. (2014). Philippine Political Law. 927 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City: