Justice

NUMBERS—people, cases, funds—are a messy, maddening mix in the courts. The numbers defy all myth and romance about the majesty and dread that literature ascribes to the men and women in robes, and indications are they pose a perpetual challenge for the administrators of the country’s judicial system. Indeed, attempts of the judiciary to keep…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Justice (DoJ) ordered all city and provincial prosecutors to follow provisions of Republic Act No. 9406 or An Act Reorganizing and Strengthening the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), which exempts its clients from the payment of docket and other fees.

Justice delayed, they say, is justice denied. If that is the case, then our justice system is in dire need of reform. It is not uncommon for the resolution of a case to be pending for years on end.

MORE than 3,000 inmates have been released since 2008 under a Supreme Court-initiated project to declog court dockets and decongest jails, Chief Justice Renato C. Corona said on Friday.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona has vowed to provide those who have less in life with more where the law is concerned. The chief justice over the weekend said that beside the existing programs and reforms that had been instituted by his predecessor, retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno, more would soon be implemented to…

MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Alberto Agra has issued new guidelines that would speed up the investigation and referral of cases to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

To clear his office of a backlog of cases and petitions before he bows out of service on June 30, Justice Secretary Alberto Agra says that he has tapped 25 more lawyers to help him resolve the motions for review involving more than 700 pending cases.

MANILA, Philippines – It won’t be an easy task for Chief Justice Renato Corona once he assumes the country’s top judicial post, especially considering the limited resources allocated to the judiciary.

MANILA, Philippines – From January 2007 to March 2009, the Commission on Human Rights found 120 children aged 12 to 17 detained in 11 different police precincts nationwide.

FERNANDO Zobel de Ayala, chairman of Manila Water Inc., and other officials of the company were sued before the Quezon City Prosecutors’ Office after a car fell into a road excavation in an on-going project.

For tourist destinations, the initiative is to have gun-free zones and discipline zones. The targets are: 10 percent in 2010; 50 percent in 2020; and 100 percent in 2030.

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) ordered all first-level courts in the country to hear small claims cases, giving complainants wider access to a litigation system that does not require a lawyer.

How did the Philippine National Police (PNP) become a Performance Governance System (PGS) participant? The following is a report of the PNP and the PGS. The PNP was chosen as one of the first six national government agencies to participate in a program designed to raise the standards of governance practice at the national level.

Will PNP’s good governance reforms continue? ONLY half a year after the Philippine National Police (PNP) was initiated into the Public Governance System of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (with its balanced scorecard), the PNP has already achieved much of its goals for 2010 and is palpably on the way to accomplishing goals for…

MANILA, Philippines – Two months before he leaves the Supreme Court (SC), Chief Justice Reynato Puno batted for further development of family courts that handle cases involving women and children.

Gloria’s graft-ridden gov’t root of widespread poverty—Erap It is no surprise that the Philippines under President Arroyo is again still in the bottom list of corrupt economies.

Contentious defense pact between RP, US constitutional THE Supreme Court (SC) affirmed with finality on Tuesday the constitutionality of the controversial RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), allowing American and Filipino soldiers to conduct joint military exercises on Philippine soil.

In my column last week I discussed property relations between spouses. I was flooded with e-mails relating to the subject. For the benefit of all others who may be similarly situated, I shall  answer two of the more complicated questions here but will also discuss a Supreme Court decision clarifying how the properties between spouses…

In the recent months, I have somewhat been besieged by clients on the verge of bitter separations. And believe it or not, the bitterness, the angst and the spite mostly centered on issues of property rather than what went wrong in their relationship that the caused their break-up.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

The Supreme Court (SC) has resolved the pending case over a bank’s foreclosure of the St. James School. In its decision, the high court, through Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, denied for lack of merit the petition filed the school’s owner, Jaime Torres, against the China Banking Corpn.

Decisions, orders or resolutions by the secretary of the Department of Justice are not open to appeal, and petitions to review them may not be filed before the Office of the President, according to a Supreme Court ruling.

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday allowed appointed government officials seeking to run in next year’s elections to stay on in their posts and actively campaign even after filing their certificates of candidacy (COC).

MANILA, Philippines—If Filipinos are wondering how government officials and employees become millionaires overnight, buying expensive cars, moving to upscale homes, or taking frequent trips abroad, the answers can be partly found by checking their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN).

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has expanded the coverage of its program which provides free legal assistance to policemen who are facing charges related to their duties.

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines—For the past two years, the novel “Justice on Wheels” program of the Supreme Court has helped resolve more than 2,300 criminal and civil cases filed in courts across the country, Chief Justice Reynato Puno said here on Friday.

The Supreme Court has exempted indigent clients of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) from payment of legal fees. The High Court, in a 25-page resolution penned by Associate Renato Corona, approved the Rule on the Exemption from the Payment of Legal Fees of the Clients of the National Committee on Legal Aid (NCLA)…

Dear PAO, My wife received insulting text messages from her former staff. We are sure of the identity of the ‘texter’ because she gave her number when she was still working with my wife, and we also verified her number with the other employees. I replied to one of the text messages and told her…

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has deferred the implementation of the Rule on Mandatory Legal Aid Service from July 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010.

MANILA, Philippines – Only seven percent of Filipinos believe that the judiciary is tainted by corruption, the 2009 Global Corruption Barometer reported.