Justice reform

Why did the European Chamber of the Philippines (ECCP) join the Judicial Reform Initiative, Inc. (JRI) as a member and why am I sitting in the Steering Committee of the JRI?

The judicial branch is one of the co-equal interdependent tripartite branches of Philippine government functioning under the doctrine of separation of powers and a system of checks and balances. Judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court and other lower courts as established by the 1987 Constitution and other laws.

The Philippine justice system operates in a complex network of the judiciary, relevant government institutions and agencies, and various offices for justice implementation. Ideally, the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, and the Office of the Ombudsman should work in close coordination and cooperation.

The espousal of justice, human rights, and the rule of law in the 1987 Constitution marked a watershed moment in Philippine history to reinstate judicial autonomy and develop an effective justice system underpinned by numerous institutional reforms. The most recent and major development is the Supreme Court’s adoption of the Action Program for Judicial Reform (2001–2006), which set out a comprehensive set of reform projects and activities aimed at enhancing judicial conditions and performance for a better delivery of judicial services.

Continuing and future reforms in the justice sector, however, face many limitations to the efficient performance of the country’s justice sector. A 2009 report of the Asian Development Bank identifies common challenges to the country’s justice system, which remain substantially relevant to date: lack of resources and fiscal autonomy, delays in justice administration, capacity to undertake reforms, human resources management, and equitable access to justice.

The local and foreign business community is united in pushing for judicial reforms in view of the basic principle that justice delayed is justice denied and for a number of other reasons including the culture of impunity in the country, the propensity of judgments decided with finality only to be reconsidered or reversed, the tendency of the executive branch to push administrative cases in the court system to gain time, and the destructive use of temporary restraining orders, among others.

Specific proposals aimed at developing the Philippine judicial system include the following: * The recent bills filed by the House Committee on Justice in relation to the enactment of a Whistleblower Act and strengthening the Witness Protection law should be passed by the 16th Congress without delays. * The salaries of prosecutors and members of the judiciary should be made more competitive by removing the DOJ, Office of the Ombudsman, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, and Supreme Court from the Government Salary Standardization Act. * The Supreme Court, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Commission on Audit should be enabled to receive a reasonable percentage from the national budget without having to “lobby” for their financial resource allocation with people that they are potentially investigating. * There should be an effective mechanism to aggressively investigate judges suspected of corruption and pursue legal and administrative actions once offense is established. * Responsive procedures for business disputes should be established. * Specialized courts for cases related to business and intellectual property rights should be created. * Consistency between local ordinances and national policies should be ensured. * The Supreme Court should consider expanding its use of amici curiae, providing information on the implications of decisions on the economy and business, before decisions are made. * All judicial vacancies must be filled expeditiously. * The competency of public lawyers and judges should be further improved through continuous trainings and capacity-building seminars. * An inventory of laws should be created with the aim to identify laws that have become redundant and have them eliminated.

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