PPG: JUDICIAL BRANCH (4TH QUARTER)

• Judicial Branch


  Made up of a Supreme Court and lower courts
• Judicial Branch


  • Interprets the meaning of laws
  • Applies laws to individual cases
  • Decides if laws violate the Constitution
  • Judicial power vested in Supreme Court and lower courts established by law
• Scope of Judicial Power

  • Adjudicating Power - power to settle legal disputes
  • Power of Judicial Review - power of Supreme Court to interpret and make judgment with respect to the law
  • Incidental Power - powers necessary for discharge of judicial function
• Judicial and Bar Council (JBC)


  • Primary task is to recommend appointees to the Judiciary and the Office of the Ombudsman for the President's perusal
  • Aims to enhance the quality of the search, screening, and selection process, as well as insulate the process from undue influence
• Roles of Supreme Court

  • Highest court in the land
  • Ensuring each branch of government recognizes the limits of its own power
  • Protects civil rights and liberties by striking down laws that violate the Constitution
• Supreme Court is composed of a Chief Justice and 14 associate justices who serve until the age of 70
• Court of Appeals


  • Philippines' second-highest judicial court, just after Supreme Court
  • Consists of 68 Associate Justices and 1 Presiding Justice
  • Established under Batas Pambansa Bilang 129 known as "The Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980"
• Sandiganbayan


  • A special court established under Presidential Decree No. 1606
  • Rank is equivalent to the Court of Appeals
  • Tries and decides criminal and civil cases against government officials and employees accused of graft and corruption and similar other cases

  
• Sandiganbayan shall sit in five (5) divisions of three justices each, with divisions stationed in Metro Manila, Cebu City, and Cagayan de Oro City
• Court of Tax Appeals


  • A special court of limited jurisdiction, with the same level as the Court of Appeals
  • Created under Republic Act No. 1125
  • Consists of 8 Associate Justices and 1 Presiding Justice
  • Has original and appellate jurisdiction over cases involving violations of the National Internal Revenue Code or the Tariff and Customs Code, decisions of Regional Trial Courts in local tax cases, and collection of taxes the assessment of which has already become final
• Regional Trial Courts


  • Established among the thirteen regions in the Philippines, with as many courts in each region as the law mandates
  • Consisting of regions I to XII and the National Capital Region (NCR)
  • Changed from being called the Court of First Instance to Regional Trial Court

  
• Metropolitan Trial Courts


  Municipal Trial Courts in the towns and cities in the Metropolitan Manila area
• Municipal Trial Courts in Cities


  Equivalent of the Metropolitan Trial Courts in cities outside Metropolitan Manila
• Municipal Trial Courts


  • Every municipality in the Philippines has its own Municipal Trial Court
  • Referred to as Municipal Circuit Trial Court if it covers two or more municipalities
• Shari'a District Courts


  Equivalent to the Regional Trial Courts in rank, established in certain specified provinces in Mindanao where the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines is being enforced
• Shari'a Circuit Courts


  Equivalent to the Municipal Circuit Trial Courts, established in certain municipalities in Mindanao where the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines is being enforced
• Chief Justice


  • Appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, has life tenure
  • Presides over the Supreme Court in its public sessions and private conferences
• Associate Justices


  Designation given to a justice on a judicial panel who is not the chief justice
• Judges


  Appointed to the Judiciary by the President of the Philippines from a shortlist submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council
• Lawyers/Attorneys


  Licensed to practice law, with the practice of law including any activity, in or out of court, which requires the application of the law, legal procedure, knowledge, training, and experience
• Prosecutors


  Required to apply the law to criminal cases, protect the rights of the persons involved in criminal proceedings, respect human dignity and fundamental rights, and ensure public security