HISTORY

Pre-Hispanic and Hispanic periods In the years prior to the official establishment of the Supreme Court, institutions exercising judicial power were already in existence. Before the Spaniards came, judicial authority in its primitive form was in the hands of barangay chiefs. !uring the early years of the Spanish government, these powers were vested upon "iguel #$pe% de #ega%pi, the first governor& generalof the 'hilippines. (e administered civil and criminal justice under the )oyal *rder of +ugust ,-, ,./0. 1he present Supreme Court was preceded by the Real Audiencia, a collegial body established on "ay ., ,.23 and composed, of a president, four oidores 4justices5, and a fiscal, among others. It was the highest tribunal in the 'hilippines, below only the Council of Spain. (owever, this body also exercised administrative functions, not just judicial functions. 1he Audiencia6s functions and structure underwent substantial modifications in ,2,. when its president was replaced by a chief justice and the number of justices was increased. It then came to be 7nown as the Audiencia Territorial de Manila with two branches, civil and criminal, later renamed sala de lo civil and sala de lo criminal. The Audiencia was converted to a purely judicial body by a )oyal !ecree issued on 8uly -, ,2/,, but its decisions were appealable to the Supreme Court of Spain sitting in "adrid. *n 9ebruary :/, ,22/, a territorial Audiencia was organi%ed in Cebu, followed by an Audiencia for criminal cases in ;igan. (owever, the pre& eminence of the Supreme Court as the sole interpreter of the law was un7nown during the Spanish regime. <nli7e the decisions rendered by the Supreme Court during the period of +merican rule, the decisions of the )oyal +udiencia are American period 1he Supreme Court of the 'hilippines was officially established on 8une ,,, ,0=, through the passage of +ct >o. ,3/, otherwise 7nown as the 8udiciary #aw of the Second'hilippine Commission. By virtue of that law, judicial power in the 'hilippine Islands was vested in the Supreme Court, Courts of 9irst Instance and 8ustice of the 'eace courts. *ther courts were subse?uently established. 1he judicial structure introduced by +ct >o. ,3/ was reaffirmed by the <S Congress with the passage of the 'hilippine Bill of ,0=:. 1he +dministrative Code of ,0,@ ordained the Supreme Court as the highest tribunal of the 'hilippines with nine membersA a chief justice and eight associate justices. Its decisions could be further appealed to the <.S. Supreme Court in Bashington, !.C. Commonwealth and independence

9rom ,0=, to ,03., although a 9ilipino was always appointed chief justice, the majority of the members of the Supreme Court were +mericans. Complete 9ilipini%ation was achieved only with the establishment of the Commonwealth of the 'hilippines in ,03.. Claro ". )ecto and 8ose '. #aurel were among the first appointees to replace the +merican justices. Bith the ratification of the ,03. Constitution in a plebiscite held on "ay ,-, ,03., the membership in the Supreme Court increased to ,,A a chief justice and ten associate justices, who sat en banc or in two divisions of five members each. +rticle ; of the 1reaty of "anila 4,0-/5 abolished the <.S. Supreme CourtCs appellate authority over the Supreme Court of the 'hilippines, but provided that 'hilippine appeals pending before the <.S. Supreme Court would be allowed to run to completion. <nder the ,0@3 Constitution, the membership of the Supreme Court was increased to ,.. 1he justices sat en banc or in divisions. 1he ,0@3 Constitution also vested in the Supreme Court administrative supervision over all lower courts which heretofore was under the !epartment of 8ustice. +fter the overthrow of 'resident 9erdinand "arcos in ,02/, 'resident Cora%on C. +?uino, using her emergency powers, promulgated a transitory charter 7nown as the 9reedom Constitution which did not affect the composition and powers of the Supreme Court. 1he 9reedom Charter was replaced by the ,02@ Constitution which is the fundamental charter in force in the 'hilippines at present. Section , +rticle ;III of the Constitution vests the judicial power in one Supreme Court and in such lower courts as may be established by law. Writ of Amparo 1he Supreme Court approved the Brit of +mparo on September :., :==@. D,/E 1he writ of amparo 4Spanish for protection5 strips the military of the defense of simple denial. <nder the writ, families of victims have the right to access information on their casesFa constitutional right called the Ghabeas dataG common in several #atin +merican countries. 1he rule is enforced retroactively. Chief 8ustice 'uno stated that GIf you have this right, it would be very, very difficult for State agents, State authorities to be able to escape from their culpability.GD,@ED,2E 1he )esolution and the )ule on the Brit of +mparo gave legal birth to 'unoCs brainchild. >o filing or legal fees is re?uired for +mparo which ta7es effect on *ctober :-. 'uno also stated that the court will soon issue rules on the writ of (abeas !ata and the implementing guidelines for (abeas Corpus. 1he petition for the writ of amparo may be filed Gon any day and at any timeG with the )egional 1rial Court, or with the Sandiganbayan, the Court of +ppeals, and the Supreme Court. 1he interim reliefs under amparo areA

temporary protection order 41'*5, inspection order 4I*5, production order 4'*5, and witness protection order 4B'*, )+ /02,5.D::E 1he +sian (uman )ights Commission 4+()C5 has critici%ed the Brit of +mparo and (abeas !ata for being insufficient, saying further action must be ta7en, including enacting laws for protection against torture, enforced disappearance, and laws to provide legal remedies to victims. +()C said the writ failed to protect non&witnesses, even if they too face threats.D:3E Habeas Data *n +ugust 3=, :==@, 'uno vowed to institute the writ of habeas data as a new legal remedy to the extrajudicial 7illings and enforced disappearances. 'uno explained that thewrit of amparo denies to authorities defense of simple denial, and habeas data can find out what information is held by the officer, rectify or even the destroy erroneous data gathered.D:-E *n 8anuary ::, :==2, the Supreme Court Hn Banc approved the rules for the writ of (abeas !ata 4Gto protect a person6s right to privacy and allow a person to control any information concerning themG5, effective on 9ebruary :, the 'hilippines6 Constitution !ay.D:.E an!"a!e Since the courtsC creation, Hnglish had been used in court proceedings. But for the first time in 'hilippine judicial history, or on +ugust ::, :==@, three "alolos City regional trial courts in Bulacan will use 9ilipino, to promote the national language. 1welve stenographers from Branches /, 2= and 2,, as model courts, had undergone training at "arcelo (. del 'ilar College of #aw of Bulacan State <niversity College of #aw following a directive from the Supreme Court of the 'hilippines. !e la )ama said it was the dream of Chief 8ustice )eynato 'uno to implement the program in other areas such as #aguna, Cavite, Iue%on, >ueva Hcija, Batangas, )i%al and "etro "anila.D:/E #"dicial corr"ption *n 8anuary :., :==., and on !ecember ,=, :==/, 'hilippines Social Beather Stations released the results of its two surveys on corruption in the judiciaryJ it published thatA a5 li7e ,00., ,K- of lawyers said manyKvery many judges are corrupt. But 4-0L5 stated that a judges received bribes, just 2L of lawyers admitted they reported the bribery, because they could not prove it. D1ables 2&0EJ judges, however, said, just @L call manyKvery many judges as corruptD1ables ,=&,,EJb5 G8udges see some corruptionJ proportions who said & manyKvery many corrupt judges or justicesA ,@L in reference to )1C judges, ,-L to "1C judges, ,:L to Court of +ppeals justices, -L i to ShariCa Court judges, -L to Sandiganbayan justices and :L in reference to Supreme Court justices. 1he September ,-, :==2, 'olitical and Hconomic )is7 Consultancy 4'H)C5 survey, ran7ed the 'hilippines /th 4/.,=5 among corrupt +sian judicial

systems. 'H)C stated that Gdespite India and the 'hilippines being democracies, expatriates did not loo7 favourably on their judicial systems because of corruption.G 'H)C reported (ong Mong andSingapore have the best judicial systems in +sia, with Indonesia and ;ietnam the worstA (ong MongCs judicial system scored ,.-. on the scale 4%ero representing the best performance and ,= the worst5J Singapore with a grade of ,.0:, followed by 8apan 43..=5, South Morea 4-./:5, 1aiwan 4-.035, the 'hilippines 4/.,=5, "alaysia 4/.-@5, India 4/..=5, 1hailand 4@.==5, China 4@.:.5, ;ietnamCs 42.,=5 and Indonesia 42.:/5.D:0ED3=E In the September :3, :==2, 1ransparency International Corruption 'erceptions Index 4global survey ran7ing countries in terms of perceived corruption5, the 'hilippines dropped to ,-,st, down ,= places from :==@, among ,2= countries surveyed. It scored a :.3 in the Corruption 'erceptions Index 4C'I5, lower than :==@Cs :.., on a scale where ,= is the highest possible grade.D3,ED3:ED33E ;incent #a%atin, 1+> executive director, saidA Be are compared to our nearest neighbors 1hailand, "alaysia, Indonesia and ;ietnam, with ;ietnam seen as eventually overta7ing us in a few years. 1he difference is that 4in other countries5 when business sets aside money to grease the wheels, they 7now that they will get what they paid for. In the 'hilippines, there is no certainty.GD3-E $%anta& 'orte S"prema( GBatch the Supreme CourtG coalition was launched at the 1raining Center, Nround 9loor, Supreme Court Centennial Bldg on >ovember ,@, :==2, Gto ensure the fair and honest selection of the @ +ssociate 8ustices of the Supreme Court on :==0.G "embers of Bantay Morte Suprema include retired 'hilippine presidents, retired Supreme Court justices, legislators, legal practitioners, the academe, the business community and the media. former Senate 'resident 8ovito Salonga, <' #aw !ean "arvic #eonen, Senate "ajority #eader and 8udicial and Bar Council member Mi7o 'angilinan, the 'hilippine Bar +ssociation, +rtemio 'anganiban, and )odolfo <rbi%tondo, of the -2,===&strongIntegrated Bar of the 'hilippines 4IB'5, and the chambers of commerce, witnessed the landmar7 event. BMS will neither select nor endorse a candidate, but if it receive information that ma7es a candidate incompetent, it will divulge this to the public and inform the 8BC.G +t the BMS launching, the memorandum of understanding 4"*<5 on the public monitoring of the selection of justices to the SC was signed. "eanwhile, the Supreme Court +ppointments Batch 4SC+B5 coalition of law groups and civil society to monitor the appointment of persons to judicial positions was also re&launched. 1he SC+B consortium, composed of the +lternative #aw Nroups, #ibertas, 'hilippine +ssociation of law Schools and the 1ransparency and +ccountability >etwor7, together with the online news maga%ine Newsbreak, reactivated itself for the 8BC selection process of candidates.