Tuesday, November 04, 2008 SC orders RTC judges to visit jails monthly
THE Supreme Court (SC) wants trial court judges to conduct monthly jail visits and spot “illegal or unnecessary detentions” as part of a program to bring courts closer to the front lines.
SC Chief Justice Reynato Puno issued the instruction last Friday in a memorandum, a copy of which has been endorsed to the Office of the Clerk of Court (OCC) of the Regional Trial Court in Cebu.
“Failure of presiding judges and executive judges to personally conduct the jail visitation and/or submit complete and accurate reports shall cause the withholding of their salaries,” read the memorandum.
Supt. Efren Nemeño, warden of the Cebu City Jail, welcomed the directive. He said judges in Cebu periodically visit penal facilities. The memorandum, he added, would make the visits regular.
Term
He confirmed that some inmates inside penal facilities, while not illegally detained, have been there longer than the maximum imposable prison terms of the crime they are charged with had they been convicted. He said this is one of the contributors to overcrowding in jails.
“In Cebu City, we make periodic reports (to the judges). We have a paralegal assigned to monitoring who is now overstaying. So its very easy to spot them,” he said.
“Jail visits from judges would really help because we can directly inform them of the status of each inmate,” he said.
Dignity
The directive came as a result of the two-day Forum on Increasing Access to Justice, Bridging Gaps and Removing Roadblocks, which Chief Justice Puno opened last June 30.
With it, the SC hopes to “prevent illegal or unnecessary detentions and ensure the protection of the dignity and well-being of detainees.”
Presiding and executive RTC judges, together with their staff, are required to personally conduct monthly jail visitations and inspections.
Part of the inspection is that they inquire into the health conditions of the prisoners and determine whether the right of the accused to privately consult with counsel is being observed.
Presiding judges are required to gather “relevant data from such jail visitations and inspections” and then submit monthly reports indicating any information necessitating immediate action that they are also ordered to recommend.
Moreover, they are also tasked to “take immediate action on the conditions unfavorable to the detainees and urgent matters within their competence without the need of the Executive Judge’s intervention.”
Executive judges, on the other hand, are tasked to insure that jail inspection do happen and to submit a compliance report every quarter.
They are also under instruction to get jail wardens and other heads of detention centers to submit monthly reports on how many detainees still have pending cases under the courts.
“They should also check on the capacity, sanitary facilities, ventilation, food, medicines, access to health care, and the visiting hours of the detention centers,” the memorandum read. (KNR)
