Senate Bill 2065 “Judges At-Large Act”

The proposed measure seeks to create 100 positions for regional trial judges-at-large
and 50 positions for municipal trial judges-at-large natiowide to be assigned by the
Supreme Court as acting or assisting judges in regional trial courts or second level
courts and in the municipal trial courts or first level courts that are overloaded with
cases.

KAREN:

Good morning, Your Honor. My name is Karen Javier and I am the Deputy Prime
Minister for the Government in the Motion of Creating Judges At-Large. First of all, as
regards the current status of the Bill, as of June this year, the House of Representatives
has adopted the Senate version of the proposed “Judges-At-Large Act of 2018.” With
this move, House Bill No. 7309 and Senate Bill No. 2065 is deemed passed by the two
legislative chambers, with the measure now ready to be enrolled for the President’s
signature.

By way of reiteration, this House supports the creation and opening of

positions for judges at-large for two primary reasons: one, it is practical; and
two, it is beneficial.

INTO THE FIRST REASON, this House intends to illustrate the framework so as to
manifest the Bill in practice and dispose the same into action, as opposed to being
merely an ideal or abstraction. Statistics defeat the constitutional provision on the
speedy disposition of cases. The proposal is to assign judges at-large to assist in the
disposition of cases that are loading the docket so that justice could be served in the
earliest time possible. In this light alone can the theory of speedy dispensation of justice
be brought into practice.

First, into the practicality as regards the appointment and questions on the
qualifications of the judges at-large, the Judicial and Bar Council shall recommend to the
President appointees to the judges-at-large positions. For all practical purposes, these
judges-at-large, according to the measure, shall have the same qualifications as their
counterpart judges; such that, to be appointed as an RTC judge-at-large, one must be a
natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, and has been engaged in the practice of law
or has held a public office in the Philippines requiring admission to the practice of law as
an indispensable requisite for at least 10 years.

And to be appointed as an MTC judge-at-large, a person must be a natural-born

citizen, at least 30 years old, and has been engaged in the practice of law or has held a
public office in the Philippines requiring admission to the practice of law as an
indispensable requisite for at least five years. Giving the same qualifications to the
judges at-large is practical in that no new standards shall be set in order to fill in the
positions and it shall be made easier for the Supreme Court to choose among the
recommended appointees.
 Second, into the practicality as regards the funding. In a Senate Finance
Committee Hearing, it was revealed that 591 trial courts were considered vacant, even
though these were funded. It was further discovered that the funds for these vacant
courts were disbursed as additional compensation for sitting judges and personnel, when
they could have been disbursed as fees for judges who could have actually heard and
tried the pending cases in those vacant courts.

Again for all practical purposes, under the Bill, the judges at-large shall only have the
same salaries, benefits and ranks as their counterpart judges, but with additional
"displacement allowances" to cover their housing, food, transportation and other
necessary expenses incurred during their detail to courts outside their places of
residences.

Now, under Sec. 8. of the proposed Bill, pertaining to the funding, the amount
necessary for the implementation of this Act shall be charged against the available
appropriations of the Judiciary under the current General Appropriations Act. Thereafter,
such sums as may be necessary for its continued implementation shall be included in the
annual General Appropriations Act.

The Supreme Court, upon the recommendation of the court administrator and the
plantilla committee, shall determine the amount of displacement allowance for each
detailed judge-at-large.

WE NOW GO TO THE SECOND REASON, BENEFICIALITY.

Justice delayed is justice denied. We can hope for the best that all the pending cases
in all levels of trial courts will be heard and tried on time by the regular judges in their
own salas, but we have to admit that is almost impossible in the current situation.

Appointing regular judges as assisting or acting judges has been proven to be an

inefficient solution since those who are deployed often have to divide their attention
between their own salas and the vacant courts to which they have been assigned.
Backlog in trial courts is something that needs to be addressed by the government.
Clogging of dockets also adversely affect the dispensation of justice in that judges no
longer have sufficient time to study, analyze and research to come up with good,
reasonable decisions. With the passing of the bill, deployed judges at-large, instead of
regular judges, can have undivided attention and focus on the cases in the courts to
which they have been assigned. This will allow them to hear and try, with complete and
full understanding, pending cases in areas where there are low rates of disposition of
cases. This will also speed up the resolution of cases not only in the metropolis but
elsewhere.

Second, this will serve as a solution to the problem of court delays due to the
shortage of judges to hear and try cases, especially in the countryside.
 Third, the passing of the Bill will now avoid the continued happening of situations
where an accused is left with no choice but to wait in vain while in jail, sometimes even
long enough to exceed the time of penalty that could have been imposed only had the
case been disposed of immediately.

Fourth and most importantly, people can somehow expect the wheels of justice in
the country to turn positively and swiftly. This will build trust and confidence in the
judicial system by providing for this innovative remedial measure, and put an end to the
growing repulsion and skepticism that people have been accustomed to for the past
years.

With that, Your Honor, I rest my case.

*if asked about the implementation*

Sec. 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — 16 Within sixty (60) days from the
approval of this Act, the 17 Supreme Court, in consultation with the Secretary of 18
Budget and Management shall promulgate the necessary 19 rules and regulations for the
effective implementation of 20 this Act.