THE

JUDICIAL
DEPARTMENT
 TheJudicial power shall be vested in one
Supreme Court and in such lower courts as
may be established by law.
 Judicial power includes the duty of the courts of
justice to settle actual controversies involving
rights which are legally demandable and
enforceable, and to determine whether or not
there has been a grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the
part of any branch or instrumentality of the
Government.
 Right to determine actual controversies arising
between adverse litigants, duly instituted in courts
of proper jurisdiction

 Power and duties of the courts of justice to

interpret and to apply the laws (including the
Constitution) to contests and disputes concerning
legally recognized rights or duties between the
State and private persons or individuals, or private
persons or individual litigants, in cases properly
brought before the judicial tribunals.

 Vested in one Supreme Court and other lower

courts
 Chief Justice
 14 Associate Justices
 Natural-born Filipino citizen
 At least 40 years of age
 Must have been 15 years or more a judge of a lower
court or engaged in the practice of law in the
Philippines
 A person of proven competence, integrity, probity,
independence
 May sit en banc or in divisions of 3, 5, 7
 Vacancy may be filled within 90 days from the
occurrence thereof
 Supreme Court’s power to declare a law,
treaty, international or executive agreement,
presidential decree, proclamation, order,
instruction, ordinance, or regulation
unconstitutional
1. Civil Service Commission (CSC)
2. Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
3. Commission on Audit (COA)
Creation is established in the
Constitution because of the
extraordinary importance of
their functions and the need to
insulate them from undesired
political interference
They are supreme within their own
sphere
What are the constitutional
safeguards to ensure the
independence of the
constitutional commissions?
1. They are constitutionally created and may
not be abolished by statute
2. Each is expressly described as
“independent”
3. Each is conferred certain powers and
functions which cannot be withdrawn or
reduced by statute
4. The chairmen and members cannot be
removed except by impeachment
5. The chairmen and members are given a
fairly long term of office of 7 years
6. The chairmen and members may not be
reappointed or appointed in an acting
capacity

7. The salaries of the chairmen and

members are fixed by law and may not be
decreased during their continuance in
office

8. The commissions enjoy fiscal autonomy

9. Each commission may promulgate its own
procedural rules, provided they do not diminish,
increase or modify substantive rights (though
subject to disapproval by the SC)

10. The chairmen and the members are subject to

certain disqualifications calculated to
strengthen their integrity

11. The commissions may appoint their own

officials and employees in accordance with Civil
Service Law