CANON 12

CODE OF PROFESSIONAL REPONSIBILITY

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CANON CANON 1212

A lawyer shall exert every effort and consider it his duty to assist in the speedy and efficient administration of justice.

ARTICLE III, SECTION 6 (1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION)

All persons shall have the right to a speedy disposition of their cases before all judicial, quasijudicial, or administrative bodies.

It is the duty of an attorney: (g) Not to encourage either the commencement or the continuance of an action or proceeding, or delay any mans cause, from any corrupt motive or interest.

RULE 138, SEC. 20 (G)

CANON 12
Acts Which Obstructs the Administration of Justice Are Condemned

Speedy and Efficient Administration of Justice, Common Aim of The Bench and The Bar

MEMORY AID FOR RULES UNDER CANON 12

o Adequate Preparation (Rule 12.01) o Forum Shopping (Rule 12.02) o Not to Delay Case (Rule 12.03)

MEMORY AID FOR RULES UNDER CANON 12

o Court Process (Rule 12.04)

o Proper Behavior (Rule 12.05-12.07) o Not to Testify on Behalf of Client (Rule 12.08)

CANON 12
RULE 12.01 RULE 12.02 RULE 12.03 RULE12.04 RULE 12.05 RULE 12.06 RULE 12.07 RULE 12.08

RULE 12. 01
A lawyer shall not appear for trial unless he has adequately prepared himself with the law and the facts of his case, the evidence he will adduce and the order of its profference. He should also be ready with the original documents for comparison with the copies.

RULE 12. 01
LAWYER MUST BE READY WHEN HE GOES TO TRIAL
A lawyer is not adequately prepared unless he has a mastery of the facts of his case, the law and jurisprudence applicable thereto and upon which he can appropriately anchor his theory or stance.

RULE 12. 01
LAWYER MUST BE READY WHEN HE GOES TO TRIAL
He must have collated every piece of evidence essential to establish his case and essential to demolish the pretenses of the opponents theory and capable of presenting and offering his evidence in an orderly and smooth manner without provoking valid objections.

RULE 12. 01
Without adequate preparation, the lawyer may not be able to effectively assist the court in the efficient administration of justice. Non-observance of this rule might result in: 1) The postponement of the pre-trial or hearing, which would thus entail delay in the early disposition of the case, 2) The judge may consider the client non-suited or in default or 3) The judge may consider the case deemed submitted for decision without clients evidence, to his prejudice.

RULE 12. 01
READINESS WITH ADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE
The lawyer who is presenting documentary exhibits must also be ready with the originals thereof for purposes of comparison with copies thereof to avoid objections which ordinarily delay the proceedings (Rule 130, Section 3, RRC) This duty is based on the mandate of the Code of Professional Responsibility and elementary standards of fair play.

RULE 12. 01
INADEQUATE PREPARATION OBSTRUCTS THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
A lawyer should never come to court unprepared. Most cases brought to court without preparation are cases lost. Half of the work of a lawyer is done in the office. It is spent in study and research.

RULE 12. 02
A lawyer shall not file multiple actions arising from the same cause.

RULE 12. 02
Rule 12.02 stresses the affirmative duty of a lawyer to check against useless litigations. His signature in every pleading constitutes a certificate by him that to the best of his knowledge there is a good ground to support it and that it is not to interpose for delay. The willful violation of this rule may subject him to(1) appropriate disciplinary action or (2) render him liable for the costs of litigation.

RULE 12. 02

Duplication or Multiplication of Suits, To Be avoided

FORUM SHOPPING

FORUM SHOPPING
There is forum shopping when as a result of an adverse opinion in one forum , a party seeks a favorable opinion (other than by appeal or certiorari) in another or when he institutes two or more actions or proceedings grounded on the same cause, on the gamble that one or the other court would make a favorable disposition.

Preventions and sanctions against FORUM SHOPPING

The plaintiff or principal party shall certify under oath in the complaining or other initiatory pleading asserting a claim for relief, or in a sworn certification annexed thereto and simultaneously filed therewith: a) that he has not theretofore commenced any action or filed any claim involving the same issues in any court, tribunal or quasi-judicial agency and, to the best of his knowledge, no such other action or claim is pending therein;

Preventions and sanctions against FORUM SHOPPING

b) if there is such other pending action or claim, a complete statement of the present status thereof; and
c) if he should thereafter learn that the same or similar action or claim has been filed or is pending, he shall report that fact within 5 days therefrom to the court wherein his aforesaid complaint or initiatory pleading has been filed.

Preventions and sanctions against FORUM SHOPPING

Failure to comply with the foregoing requirements shall not be curable by mere amendment of the complaint or other initiatory pleading but shall cause for the dismissal of the case without prejudice, unless otherwise provided, upon motion after hearing. The submission of false certification or non-compliance with any of the undertaking therein shall constitute indirect contempt of court, without prejudice to the corresponding administrative and criminal actions. If the acts of the party or his counsel clearly constitute willful and deliberate forum shopping, the same shall be ground for summary dismissal with prejudice and shall constitute direct contempt, as well as a cause for administrative sanctions.

(ROC, Rule 7, Sec. 5)

RULE 12. 02
Client and not Counsel Should Sign The Certification Against Forum Shopping

Forum Shopping Inapplicable to Disbarment Proceedings

Forum Shopping Is A Reprehensible Manipulation of Court Processes And Proceedings

FORUM SHOPPING

Essential element of FORUM SHOPPING

A lawyer could be charged with engaging in forum shopping only when two or more cases are pending involving the same parties, causes of action and reliefs prayed for. If one case had already been litigated before and it is refiled by the same party, the defense of the defendants should be RES JUDICATA and not forum shopping.

Specific instances Of FORUM SHOPPING that merited sanction

When a case is filed in court while an administrative proceeding is pending in order to defeat administrative processes and in anticipation of an unfavorable court ruling. Where the court in which the second suit was brought has no jurisdiction. When counsel omits to disclose the pendency of an appeal, in filing certiorari case.

RULE 12. 03
A lawyer shall not after obtaining extensions of time to file pleadings, memoranda or briefs, let the period lapse without submitting the same or offering an explanation for his failure to do so.

RULE 12. 03
A lawyer who asked for extension of time must act on good faith A lawyer who files a Motion for Extension of Time within which to file pleadings, memoranda or briefs, must comply within the period granted, unless for valid reasons, he is granted another period, in which latter case, he should comply before the lapse of the period so granted. Lawyers should file their pleadings on time or they suffer the consequences.

Informing the court is necessary in order to prevent unnecessary delay in the disposition of the case or any accident therein. The delay is ordinarily caused by the waiting period for the arrival of the pleading, memoranda or brief. When it is found out later that the counsel did not opt to file anything, time had already been frittered away.

RULE 12. 04

A lawyer shall not unduly delay a case, impede the execution of a judgment or misuse court processes.

RULE 12. 04
Execution of Final Decision Should Not Be Unduly Thwarted
Once a judgment has become final, the winning party be not, through subterfuge, deprived of the fruits of the verdict. Courts must therefore guard against any scheme calculated to bring about that result.

RULE 12. 04
A lawyer should not enter his appearance in a case which had long been terminated by final decision. He should not appeal a decision manifestly for delay as this is a violation of his attorneys oath and is obstructive of the administration of justice.

RULE 12. 04
Lawyer Should Not Misuse the Rules of Procedure
a lawyer should utilize the rules of procedure to attain the ends of justice and not to frustrate them.

RULE 12. 04
A Judge Should Prevent Dilatory Tactics of Lawyers
A judge should be quick enough to prevent a lawyer from resorting to dilatory tactics which obstruct the administration of justice. A judge must cultivate a capacity for quick decision.

RULE 12. 05
A lawyer shall refrain from talking to his witness during a break or recess in the trial, while the witness is still under examination.

RULE 12. 05
Coaching Of Witness During Break or Recess Condemned When a witness testifies on the witness stand, he is placed under oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. This is to prevent the lawyer from coaching or teaching the witness to answer in a certain way, or to rectify certain statements damaging to his cause at the resumption of the trial. It is to uphold and maintain fair play with the other party and to prevent the examining lawyer from being tempted to coach his own witness to suit his purposes.

RULE 12. 06
A lawyer shall not knowingly assist a witness to misrepresent himself or to impersonate another.

RULE 12. 06
A lawyer may interview witnesses in advance of trial or attend to their needs if they are poor but he should avoid any such action as may be misinterpreted as an attempt to influence the witness what to say in court. Court will not give weight on a testimony of a witness who admits having been instructed. A lawyer who presents a witness whom he knows will give a false testimony or is an impersonator may be subjected to disciplinary action.

RULE 12. 06
Assisting In Misrepresentation or Impersonation Condemned
If a lawyer knowingly assists or induces a witness to misrepresent himself as an eyewitness when he is not, or to impersonate a person involved in a case subjects a lawyer to disciplinary action. A lawyer renders himself totally unfit to assist in the administration of justice.

RULE 12. 06
Criminal Liability of Witness
The witness who commits the misrepresentation or impersonation is criminally liable for False Testimony either under Arts. 181, 182 or 183 of the Revised Penal Code depending upon the nature of the case. The lawyer who induces a witness to commit false testimony is equally guilty as the witness.

RULE 12. 06
Criminal Liability of Witness
There is nothing more fatal to justice than a corrupt witness. A lawyer who presented a witness knowing him to be a false witness is criminally liable for Offering False Testimony in Evidence The lawyer who is guilty of the above is both criminally and administratively liable.

RULE 12. 07
A lawyer shall not abuse, browbeat or harass a witness nor needlessly inconvenience him.

RULE 12. 07
It is misbehavior for a lawyer to frighten or shout at witnesses, to terrorize them or tear them down arrogantly, cross-examine them with incessant questions beyond what is fair and necessary or maligning or abusing them with such other similar acts where disrespect instead of respect, is the tone of the action.

Rule 132, sec. 3. Rights and obligations of a witness. A witness must answer questions, although his answer may tend to establish a claim against him. However, it is the right of a witness: o To be protected from irrelevant, improper, or insulting questions, and from harsh or insulting demeanor; o Not to be detained longer than the interests of justice require; o Not to be examined except only as to matters pertinent to the issue;

o Not to give an answer which will tend to subject him to a penalty for an offense unless otherwise provided by law; or

o Not to give an answer which will tend to degrade his reputation, unless it be to the very fact at issue or to a fact from which the fact in issue would be presumed. But a witness must answer to the fact of his previous conviction for an offense.

RULE 12. 07
Lawyer Should Treat Witnesses With Fairness Judges are Equally Mandated To Be Courteous To Litigants and Witnesses

The lawyer has a duty to always treat adverse witnesses and suitors with fairness and due consideration. The client cannot be made the keeper of the lawyers conscience in professional matters. He has no right to demand that his counsel abuse the opposite party and the latters witnesses or indulge in offensive personalities. Improper speech is not excusable on the ground that it is what the client would say if speaking in his own behalf

If it is the judge who subjects the witness to harsh treatment, the lawyer has the right to protest in a respectful and dignified manner the action of the judge and to make the incident of record without being held liable administratively or for contempt of court.

RULE 12.8
A lawyer shall avoid testifying in behalf of his client, except: a.) on formal matters such as the mailing, authentication or custody of an instrument and the like b.) on substantial matters, in cases where his testimony is essential to the end of justice, in which event he must, during his testimony, entrust the trial of the case to another counsel.

rationale
The underlying reason for the impropriety of a lawyer acting in that dual capacity lies in the difference between the respective functions of a witness and an advocate. The function of the witness is to tell the facts as he recalls them in answer to question. The function of an advocate is that of a partisan. It is difficult to distinguish between the zeal of an advocate and the fairness and impartiality of a disinterested witness.

RULE 12.8
Inhibition, A Question of Propriety The inhibition is not a question of competency to testify but one of the propriety for the dual role of being a witness and a lawyer at the same time for a client, especially when the procedure followed is one of self-examination will generally invite criticism and confusion in the proceedings.

Although the law does not forbid an attorney to be a witness and at the same time an attorney in a cause, the courts prefer that counsel should not testify as witness unless it is necessary and that they should withdraw from the active management of the case. Canon 19 of the Code of Legal Ethics provides that when a lawyer is a witness for his client, except as to merely formal matters. Such as the attestation or custody of an instrument and the like, he should leave the trial of the case to other counsel. Except when essential to the ends of justice, a lawyer should avoid testifying in court in behalf of his client. (PNB v. Uy

Teng Piao, 57 PHIL 337 (1932)

PREPARED BY: Guico, Katherine Mae L.

Rojas, Mark Genesis Vergara, Justin

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