Justiciable and Political Questions

Justiciable Question

 Includes the duty to determine whether or not there has been grave abuse of
discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch
or instrumentality of the Government
  The controversy refers to the legality or validity of the contested act
 Ensured the proper observance of the norms of action prescribed by the
constitution
 Example: If the constitution provides how it may be amended, the judiciary as the
interpreter of that Constitution, can declare whether the procedure followed or
the authority assumed was valid or not

Political Question

 Refers to those questions which, under the constitution, are to be decided by the
people in their sovereign capacity; or in regard to which full discretionary
authority has been delegated to the legislative or executive branch of the
government
 It is concerned with issues dependent upon the wisdom, not the legality of a
particular act
  Example: Suspension or Expulsion of a member of the Congress must be based
upon the ground of “disorderly behavior” and concurred in by at least two-thirds
of his colleagues.
 Impeachment proceedings are political in nature and can only be resolved by the
legislators themselves in the exercise of their discretion.

In General

It is not clear, however, what discretionary acts are subject to judicial review, outside
of those specifically mentioned in the Constitution, and what acts remain prerogatives
of the political departments that, even with the said enlargement of judicial power,
cannot be examined by the courts of justice.

In application
IN RE: SATURNINO V. BERMUDEZ

“Petitioners have no personality to sue and their petitions state no cause of action. For the legitimacy of the Aquino
government is not a justiciable matter. It belongs to the realm of politics where only the people of the Philippines
are the judge. And the people have made the judgment; they have accepted the government of President Corazon
C. Aquino which is in effective control of the entire country so that it is not merely a de facto government but in
fact and law a de jure government.”