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Saturday, November 20, 2004
Libre: Guideline for judges
By Mel Libre
Seriously Now
Of late, we have been fed with attention-grabbing headlines about misbehaving judges. Though the complaints have yet to be subjected to due process, the impression given is that our courts of law are wanting in honest, upright and competent judges.
In a recent lecture during a symposium on the New Code of Judicial Conduct at the Eugenio Lopez Center in Antipolo City, Supreme Court Deputy Court Administrator Zenaida N. Elepano said that the top causes for dismissal of RTC judges are ignorance of law (22.71 percent), bias and partiality (13.22 percent), misconduct (12.54 percent) and abuse of authority (5.42 percent), while for MTC judges these are ignorance of the law (18.50 percent), misconduct (13.56 percent), abuse of authority (9.25 percent) and bias and partiality (6.85 percent).
For the period 1994-2004, out of 2,419 cases filed against RTC judges, 1,703 were dismissed, while out of 1,858 cases filed against MTC judges 1,564 were not given due course. For the same period, 38 RTC judges were terminated, while 50 MTCC judges were booted out.
It should be pointed out that most of the complaints against judges were dismissed since these were found to be harassment cases filed by losing parties. Sadly, there are still litigants who cannot accept defeat in a fairly decided case. But what is most revealing is that graft and corruption is not listed among the top causes of action against erring judges. The reason maybe because corruption is very difficult to prove.
What is disturbing is ignorance of the law being at the top of the list. This is not surprising since courts handle cases of all nature, save for a few that have been designated as special courts. A judge has to be more than knowledgeable not only in court procedure but also in civil and criminal cases as well those that do not fall under the jurisdiction of special courts. Add to that the volume of cases that the judge has to decide upon and the pressure by the Supreme Court to make administrative reports.
With the New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary effectively implemented June 1, 2004, the Bench will have to be more observant of his conduct in his official function as well as in his personal life. The Code is taken from the Bangalore Draft, a document intended to be the Universal Declaration of Judicial Standards applicable to all judiciaries.
Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. was an active participant in the Round Table Meeting of Chief Justices held at the Hague which adopted the document after numerous consultations. The Code expounds on six canons, namely Independence, Integrity, Impartiality, Propriety, Equality and Competence & Diligence.
Under the Davide Watch, it is certain that the Supreme Court will make certain that the Code does not become just another piece of well-written document but a living guideline for all Filipino judges.
(November 20, 2004 issue)
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