2. A. Identify the roles and responsibilities of the
Philippine Judiciary.
B. Discuss how the Judiciary exercises its power
A. Evaluate the performance of the Philippine Judiciary.
LESSON OBJECTIVES:
3. Judicial Branch
Article VIII Section I of 1987 Philippine Constitution stated that the
Judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such lower courts
as may be established by law. As the third branch of the Philippine Government,
its main role and function is to evaluate laws. It holds the power to settle
controversies involving rights that are legally demandable and enforceable. This
branch determines whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part and instrumentality of the
government. It is made up of a Supreme Court and lower courts. The judicial
branch interprets the meaning of laws, applies laws to individual cases, and
decides if laws violate the Constitution.
4.
5. The Philippine Judiciary branch is comprised of regular courts
tasked to administer justice—two review courts and two trial courts
as follows:
Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
Regional Trial Courts
Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, Municipal
Circuit Trial Courts, and Municipal Trial Courts in Cities.
6. Aside from these 4 regular courts, the Judicial branch has also what it is called
special courts. Special courts are bodies within the judicial branch of government
that generally address only one area of law or have specifically defined powers.
These are the (1) Sandiganbayan, (2) Court of tax Appeals, (3) Shari’a District
Courts, and (4) Shari’a Circuit Courts.
Shari’a Court has the power similar to the regular courts, but the subjects over
whom judicial powers are exercised are limited to Muslim Filipinos. While Court of
Tax Appeals which retains exclusive appellate jurisdiction to review by appeal not
only civil tax cases but also those that are criminal in nature. Lasty, Sandiganbayan
is a special court that has jurisdiction over civil cases (including graft, corruption, and
other offenses) committed by public officers and employees and those in
government-owned or government-controlled corporations.
7. Supreme Court
According to the 1987 Constitution, Article VIII, Section 5, the Supreme Court exercises the
following powers:
• Exercise jurisdiction over cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, and over petitions for certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto, and
habeas corpus.
• Review, revise, reverse, modify, or affirm, on appeal or certiorari, as the law or the
Rules of Court may provide, final judgments and orders of the lower courts in:
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;
All cases involving the legality of any tax, impost, assessment, or toll, or any
penalty imposed in relation thereto;
All cases in which the jurisdiction of any lower court is in issue;
All criminal cases in which the penalty imposed is reclusion perpetua or higher;
All cases in which only an error or question of law is involved;
8. Assign temporarily judges of lower courts to other stations as public interest may
require. Such temporary assignments shall not exceed six months without the
consent of the judge concerned. Order a change of venue or place of trial to
avoid a miscarriage of justice.
1. 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 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.
2. Appoint all officials and employees of the Judiciary in accordance with the Civil
Service Law (Sec. 5 , id.).
9. Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals is the second highest tribunal in the country, which was established
on February 1, 1936 by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 3. The current form of the Court of
Appeals was constituted through Batas Pambansa Blg. 129, as amended by Executive Order
No. 33, s. 1986, Republic Act No. 7902, and Republic Act No. 8246.
The jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals are as follows:
1. Original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus, prohibition, certiorari, habeas corpus, and
quo warranto, and auxiliary writs or processes, whether or not in aid of its appellate
jurisdiction;
2. Exclusive original jurisdiction over actions for annulment of judgements of Regional Trial
Courts; and
3. Exclusive appellate jurisdiction over all final judgements, resolutions, orders or awards of
Regional Trial Courts and quasi-judicial agencies, instrumentalities, boards or commission.
10. The Court of Appeals shall also have the power to try cases and conduct
hearings, receive evidence and perform acts necessary to resolve factual issues
raised in cases falling within its original and appellate jurisdiction, including the
power to grant and conduct new trials or proceedings.
The Court of Appeals is composed of one presiding justice and 68 associate
justices, all of which are appointed by the President from a shortlist submitted by
the Judicial and Bar Council. The associate justices shall have precedence
according to the dates (or order, in case of similar appointment dates) of their
respective appointments. The qualifications for the justices of the Supreme Court
also apply to members of the Court of Appeals.
11. Regional Trial Courts
Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 or commonly known as “The Judiciary
Reorganization Act of 1980” reiterates the powers and functions of Regional
Trial Courts from Section 19 to Section 24 that states as follow:
Section 19. Jurisdiction in civil cases. — Regional Trial Courts shall exercise
exclusive original jurisdiction:
(1) In all civil actions in which the subject of the litigation is incapable of
pecuniary estimation;
12. (2) In all civil actions which involve the title to, or possession of, real property, or
any interest therein, except actions for forcible entry into and unlawful detainer of
lands or buildings, original jurisdiction over which is conferred upon Metropolitan
Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts;
(3) In all actions in admiralty and maritime jurisdiction where he demand or claim
exceeds twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00);
(4) In all matters of probate, both testate and intestate, where the gross value of
the estate exceeds twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00);
13. (5) In all actions involving the contract of marriage and marital relations;
(6) In all cases not within the exclusive jurisdiction of any court, tribunal,
person or body exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions;
(7) In all civil actions and special proceedings falling within the exclusive
original jurisdiction of a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and of
the Courts of Agrarian Relations as now provided by law; and
(8) In all other cases in which the demand, exclusive of interest and
costs or the value of the property in controversy, amounts to more than
twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00).
14. Section 20. Jurisdiction in criminal cases. — Regional Trial Courts shall exercise
exclusive original jurisdiction in all criminal cases not within the exclusive jurisdiction
of any court, tribunal or body, except those now falling under the exclusive and
concurrent jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan which shall hereafter be exclusively
taken cognizance of by the latter.
Section 21. Original jurisdiction in other cases. — Regional Trial Courts shall exercise
original jurisdiction:
(1) In the issuance of writs of certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, quo warranto,
habeas corpus and injunction which may be enforced in any part of their
respective regions; and
(2) In actions affecting ambassadors and other public ministers and consuls.
15. Section 22. Appellate jurisdiction. — Regional Trial Courts shall exercise appellate
jurisdiction over all cases decided by Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial
Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts in their respective territorial jurisdictions.
Such cases shall be decided on the basis of the entire record of the proceedings
had in the court of origin and such memoranda and/or briefs as may be submitted
by the parties or required by the Regional Trial Courts. The decision of the
Regional Trial Courts in such cases shall be appealable by petition for review to
the Intermediate Appellate Court which may give it due course only when the
petition shows prima facie that the lower court has committed an error of fact or
law that will warrant a reversal or modification of the decision or judgment sought
to be reviewed.
16. Section 23. Special jurisdiction to try special cases. — The Supreme Court
may designate certain branches of the Regional Trial Courts to handle
exclusively criminal cases, juvenile and domestic relations cases, agrarian
cases, urban land reform cases which do not fall under the jurisdiction of
quasi-judicial bodies and agencies, and/or such other special cases as the
Supreme Court may determine in the interest of a speedy and efficient
administration of justice.
Section 24. Special Rules of Procedure. — Whenever a Regional Trial Court
takes cognizance of juvenile and domestic relation cases and/or agrarian
cases, the special rules of procedure applicable under present laws to such
cases shall continue to be applied, unless subsequently amended by law or by
rules of court promulgated by the Supreme Court.
17. Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, Municipal Circuit Trial
Courts, and Municipal Trial Courts in Cities.
Power and functions of Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts,
Municipal Circuit Trial Courts, and Municipal Trial Courts in Cities are thoroughly
explained from Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 Sections 32 to 37 as stated below.
Section 32. Jurisdiction of Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts and
Municipal Circuit Trial Courts in criminal cases. — Except in cases falling within the
exclusive original jurisdiction of Regional Trial Courts and of the Sandiganbayan,
the Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial
Courts shall exercise:
18. (1) Exclusive original jurisdiction over all violations of city or municipal
ordinances committed within their respective territorial jurisdiction; and
(2) Exclusive original jurisdiction over all offenses punishable with
imprisonment of not exceeding four years and two months, or a fine of not
more than four thousand pesos, or both such fine and imprisonment,
regardless of other imposable accessory or other penalties, including the civil
liability arising from such offenses or predicated thereon, irrespective of kind,
nature, value, or amount thereof: Provided, however, That in offenses involving
damage to property through criminal negligence they shall have exclusive
original jurisdiction where the imposable fine does not exceed twenty thousand
pesos.
19. Section 33. Jurisdiction of Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Circuit
Trial Courts in civil cases. — Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal
Circuit Trial Courts shall exercise:
(1) Exclusive original jurisdiction over civil actions and probate proceedings, testate and
intestate, including the grant of provisional remedies in proper cases, where the demand
does not exceed twenty thousand pesos exclusive of interest and costs but inclusive of
damages of whatever kind, the amount of which must be specifically alleged: Provided,
That where there are several claims or causes of action between the same or different
parties, embodied in the same complaint, the amount of the demand shall be the totality of
the claims in all the causes of action irrespective of whether the causes of action arose out
of the same or different transactions; and
(2) Exclusive original jurisdiction over cases of forcible entry and unlawful detainer:
Provided, That when, in such cases, the defendant raises the question of ownership in his
pleadings and the question of possession cannot be resolved without deciding the issue of
ownership, the issue of ownership shall be resolved only to determine the issue of
possession.
20. Section 34. Delegated jurisdiction in cadastral and land registration cases. —
Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts
may be assigned by the Supreme Court to hear and determine cadastral or land
registration cases covering lots where there is no controversy or opposition, or
contested lots the value of which does not exceed twenty thousand pesos, such
value to be ascertained by the affidavit of the claimant or by agreement of the
respective claimants if there are more than one, or from the corresponding tax
declaration of the real property. Their decisions in these cases shall be appealable
in the same manner as decisions of the Regional Trial Courts.
Section 35. Special jurisdiction in certain cases. — In the absence of all the
Regional Trial Judges in a province or city, any Metropolitan Trial Judge, Municipal
Trial Judge, Municipal Circuit Trial Judge may hear and decide petitions for a writ of
habeas corpus or applications for bail in criminal cases in the province or city where
the absent Regional Trial Judges sit.
21. Section 36. Summary procedures in special cases. — In Metropolitan Trial Courts
and Municipal Trial Courts with at least two branches, the Supreme Court may
designate one or more branches thereof to try exclusively forcible entry and
unlawful detainer cases, those involving violations of traffic laws, rules and
regulations, violations of the rental law, and such other cases requiring summary
disposition as the Supreme Court may determine. The Supreme Court shall adopt
special rules or procedures applicable to such cases in order to achieve an
expeditious and inexpensive determination thereof without regard to technical
rules. Such simplified procedures may provide that affidavit and counter-affidavits
may be admitted in lieu of oral testimony and that the periods for filing pleadings
shall be non-extendible.
22. Section 37. Preliminary investigation. — Judges of Metropolitan Trial Courts,
except those in the National Capital Region, of Municipal Trial Courts, and
Municipal Circuit Trial Courts shall have authority to conduct preliminary
investigation of crimes alleged to have been committed within their respective
territorial jurisdictions which are cognizable by the Regional Trial Courts.
The preliminary investigation shall be conducted in accordance with the procedure
prescribed in Section 1, paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d), of Presidential Decree
No. 911: Provided, however, That if after the preliminary investigation the Judge
finds a prima facie case, he shall forward the records of the case to the
Provincial/City Fiscal for the filing of the corresponding information with the proper
court.
23. No warrant of arrest shall be issued by the Judge in connection with any
criminal complaint filed with him for preliminary investigation, unless after an
examination in writing and under oath or affirmation of the complainant and his
witnesses, he finds that a probable cause exists.
Any warrant of arrest issued in accordance herewith may be served anywhere
in the Philippines.
