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JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT
SEC. 1.
The judicial 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.
SEC. 2.
The Congress shall have the power to define, prescribe, and
apportion the jurisdiction of various courts but may not
deprive the Supreme Court of its jurisdiction over cases
enumerated in Section 5 hereof.
No law shall be passed reorganizing the Judiciary when it
undermines the security of tenure of its Members.
SEC. 3.
The Judiciary shall enjoy fiscal autonomy. Appropriations
for the Judiciary may not be reduced by the legislature
below the amount appropriated for the previous year and,
after approval, shall be automatically and regularly
released.
SEC. 4.
(1) The Supreme Court shall be composed of a Chief Justice
and fourteen Associate Justices. It may sit en banc or, in
its discretion, in divisions of three, five, or seven
Members. Any vacancy shall be filled within ninety days from
the occurrence thereof.
(2) All cases involving the constitutionality of a treaty,
international or executive agreement, which shall be heard
by the Supreme Court en banc, and all other cases which
under the Rules of Court are required to be heard en banc,
including those involving the constitutionality,
application, or operation of presidential decrees,
proclamations, orders, instructions, ordinances, and other
regulations, shall be decided with the concurrence of a
majority of the Members who actually took part in the
deliberations on the issues in the case and voted thereon.
(3) Cases or matters heard by a division shall be decided or
resolved with the concurrence of a majority of the Members
who actually took part in the deliberations on the issues in
the case and voted thereon, and in no case, without the
concurrence of at least three of such Members. When the
required number is not obtained, the case shall be decided
en banc; Provided, that no doctrine or principle of law laid
down by the court in a decision rendered en banc or in
division may be modified or reversed except by the court
sitting en banc.
SEC. 5.
The Supreme Court shall have the following powers:
(1) Exercise original jurisdiction over cases affecting
ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and over
petitions for certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo
warranto, and habeas corpus.
(2) Review, revise, modify , or affirm on appeal on
certiorari, as the law or the Rules of Court may provide,
final judgments and orders of lower courts in:
(a) All cases in which the constitutionality or validity of
any treaty, international or executive agreement, law,
presidential decree, proclamation, order, instruction,
ordinance, or regulation is in question.
(b) All cases involving the legality of any tax, impost,
assessment, or toll, or any penalty imposed in relation
thereto.
(c) All cases in which the jurisdiction of any lower court
is in issue.
(d) All criminal cases in which the penalty imposed is
reclusion perpetua or higher.
(e) All cases in which only an error or question of law is
involved.
(3) Assign temporarily judges of lower courts to other
stations as public interest may require. Such temporary
assignment shall not exceed six months without the consent
of the judge concerned.
(4) Order a change of venue or place of trial to avoid a
miscarriage of justice.
(5) Promulgate rules concerning the protection and
enforcement of constitutional rights, pleading, practice,
and procedure in all courts, the admission to the practice
of law, the Integrated Bar, and legal assistance to the
underprivileged. Such rules shall provide a simplified and
inexpensive procedure for the speedy disposition of cases,
shall be uniform for all courts of the same grade, and shall
not diminish, increase, or modify substantive rights. Rules
of procedure of special courts and quasi-judicial bodies
shall remain effective unless disapproved by the Supreme
Court.
(6) Appoint all officials and employees of the judiciary in
accordance with the Civil Service Law.
SEC. 6.
The Supreme Court shall have the administrative supervision
over all courts and the personnel thereof.
SEC. 7.
(1) No person shall be appointed Member of the Supreme Court
or any lower collegiate court unless he is a natural-born
citizen of the Philippines. A Member of the Supreme Court
must be at least forty years of age and, must have been for
fifteen years or more a judge of a lower court or engaged in
the practice of law in the Philippines.
(2) The Congress shall prescribe the qualifications of
judges of lower courts, but no person may be appointed judge
thereof unless he is a citizen of the Philippines and a
member of the Philippine Bar.
(3) A Member of the Judiciary must be a person of proven
competence, integrity, probity, and independence.
SEC. 8.
(1) A Judicial and Bar Council is hereby created under the
supervision of the Supreme Court composed of the Chief
Justice as ex officio Chairman, the Secretary of Justice,
and a representative of the Congress as ex officio Members,
a representative of the Integrated Bar, a professor of law,
a retired Member of the Supreme Court, and a representative
of the private sector.
(2) The regular Members of the Council shall be appointed by
the President for a term of four years with the consent of
the Commission on Appointments. Of the Members first
appointed, the representative of the Integrated Bar shall
serve for four years, the professor of law for three years,
the retired Justice for two years, and the representative of
the private sector for one year.
(3) The Clerk of the Supreme Court shall be the Secretary ex
officio of the Council and shall keep a record of its
proceedings.
(4) The regular Members of the Council shall receive such
emoluments as may be determined by the Supreme Court. The
Supreme Court shall provide in its annual budget the
appropriations for the Council.
(5) The Council shall have the principal function of
recommending appointees to the Judiciary. It may exercise
such other functions and duties as the Supreme Court may
assign to it.
SEC. 9.
The Members of the Supreme Court and judges of lower courts
shall be appointed by the President from a list of at least
three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council for
every vacancy. Such appointments need no confirmation.
For the lower courts, the President shall issue the
appointments within ninety days from the submission of the
list.
SEC. 10.
The salary of the Chief Justice and of the Associate
Justices of the Supreme Court, and of judges of lower courts
shall be fixed by law. During their continuance in office,
their salary shall not be decreased.
SEC. 11.
The Members of the Supreme Court and judges of lower courts
shall hold office during good behavior until they reached
the age of seventy years or become incapacitated to
discharge the duties of their office. The Supreme Court en
banc shall have the power to discipline judges of lower
courts, or order their dismissal 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.
SEC. 12.
The Members of the Supreme Court and of other courts
established by law shall not be designated to any agency
performing quasi-judicial or administrative functions.
SEC. 13.
The conclusions of the Supreme Court in any case submitted
to it for decision en banc or in division shall be reached
in consultation before the case is assigned to a Member for
the writing of the opinion of the Court. A certification to
this effect signed by the Chief Justice shall be issued and
a copy thereof attached to the record of the case and served
upon the parties. Any Member who took no part, or dissented,
or abstained from a decision or resolution must state the
reason therefor. The same requirements shall be observed by
all lower collegiate courts.
SEC. 14.
No decision shall be rendered by any court without
expressing therein clearly and distinctly the facts and the
law on which it is based.
No petition for review or motion for reconsideration of a
decision of the court shall be refused due course or denied
without stating the legal basis there of.
SEC. 15.
(1) All cases or matters filed after the effectivity of this
Constitution must be decided or resolved within twenty-four
months from date of submission for the Supreme Court, and,
unless reduced by the Supreme Court, twelve months for all
lower collegiate courts, and three months for all other
lower courts.
(2) A case or matter shall be deemed submitted for decision
or resolution upon the filing of the last pending, brief, or
memorandum required by the Rules of Court or by the court
itself.
(3) Upon the expiration of the corresponding period, a
certification to this effect signed by the Chief Justice or
the presiding judge shall forthwith be issued and a copy
thereof attached to the record of the case or matter, and
served upon the parties. The certification shall state why a
decision or resolution has not been rendered or issued
within said period.
(4) Despite the expiration of the applicable mandatory
period, the court, without prejudice to such responsibility
as may have been incurred in consequence thereof, shall
decide or resolve the case or matter submitted thereto for
determination, without further delay.
SEC. 16.
The Supreme Court shall, within thirty days from the opening
of each regular session of the Congress, submit to the
President and the Congress an annual report on the
operations and activities of the Judiciary. |
