Bersamin to purge judiciary of misfits
Expeditious resolution of cases, upgrade of bar mechanics, enhanced legal aid for poor also part of 4-point agenda
Chief Justice Lucas P. Bersamin has vowed to purge the courts of misfits and scalawags as part of his four-point agenda in his 11-month tenure as head of the judiciary.
“I will purge the judiciary of misfits and scalawags and enforce the rules of discipline,” he declared.
He pointed out that in the provinces, “there is a very strong perception that justice is only for the strong, the influential and the wealthy.”
“Those judges and employees in the provinces who have contributed to this wrong perception about the Judiciary will have to go,” stressed.
Also in his agenda are the expeditious resolution of court cases, upgrade of the mechanics of bar examinations, and enhancement of the participation of law students in legal aid programs for the poor.
Bersamin laid this down during the testimonial dinner tendered for him Tuesday night by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila where he was a law professor
from 2001 to 2006.
Admitting that the present Rules of Court contain “provisions that institutionalize delays,” Bersamin said he will work hard “to update our procedural rules to make them embody and be attuned to the technological developments.”
He said that updated rules will “make the judicial system responsive to the public need for quick dispensation of justice.”
The updating of rules is one of the important functions of the Supreme Court (SC) aside from case adjudication, and this role of the SC “is very basic,” he said.
Start cleansing in Abra
Immediately, he directed Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez, who was in the testimonial dinner, “to start with my home province of Abra.”
“That is a marching order… no matter if they are my relatives or not. I am sure that you know what I mean,” he said.
On the bar examinations administered yearly by the SC, Bersamin urged the deans of law schools in the country to study the “Pass/Fail” approach that is practiced in the United States instead of grading the examinations and having topnotchers.
Currently, bar passers are determined by computing the average of their grades in the eight subjects given during the examinations. Normally, the passing grade is 75 percent. Bar topnotchers are determined on the basis of the examinees’ overall percentage rating.
Bersamin said law schools in the country could improve legal education by adopting “in a modified manner” the best practices abroad.
He said law schools should “adopt the best practices abroad on the legal clinic to improve the quality of legal education and ensure access to justice.”
Legal aid for poor
The Chief Justice said that while there are existing legal aid programs by the law schools, this will be “about legal clinics as a method of education and, at the same time, extending legal aid to the poor and underprivileged.”
“It is high time for all the deans in the Philippines to sit down and discuss this approach,” he said. Turning to UST officials, he said: “I encourage UST to lead the way.”
Calling himself a “Thomasian by blood,” Chief Justice Bersamin appealed to UST “to support me on this because I mean to start this very soon and very quickly. Join me in this effort because it is worthwhile.”
Aside from UST officials, the testimonial dinner was attended by Dominican priests, SC officials, justices, judges, law school deans, and UST law faculty members.
Bersamin was appointed Chief Justice last month by President Duterte. He succeeded retired Chief Justice Teresita J. Leonardo de Castro.
He is expected to head the judiciary until midnight of Oct, 17, 2019. On Oct. 18, 2019, he will turn 70, the mandatory retirement age for members of the judiciary.
Achievements
Chief Justice Bersamin, who finished his law degree from the University of East, was ninth placer in the 1973 bar examinations. He, thereafter, engaged in private law practice.
In 1986, he was named regional trial court (RTC) judge for Quezon City. In 2003, he was promoted as Court of Appeals associate justice.
On April 2, 2009, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, now Speaker of the House of Representatives, promoted Bersamin to the post of SC associate
justice.
Based on SC’s website, Bersamin “was the recipient of the Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos Award (Outstanding RTC Judge for 2002) during the 11th Judicial Excellence Awards (JEA).”
It said that in 2000, he was honored for his “Best Decision in Civil Law and Best Decision in Criminal Law awards, an unprecedented achievement that has yet to be duplicated.”
Aside from being a fellow at the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute in Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, Bersamin “was recognized as one of the University of the East’s 60 Most Outstanding Alumni Awardees during UE’s Diamond Jubilee Awards.”
“He was UE’s Outstanding Alumnus in the Judiciary in 2001. In 1991, he was cited as Outstanding Alumnus in Government Service, Judiciary and Outstanding Alumnus in the Field of Law by the UE Alumni Association, Inc.,” it added.
SC records showed that Bersamin wrote the decisions, among other rulings, on the cases involving the appointment of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, the acquittal of then President Arroyo on a demurer to evidence; on the grant of bail of former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile who was charged with plunder before the Sandiganbayan; and the declaration as unconstitutional the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
The same records also showed that as associate justice, Bersamin voted in favor of the ouster of Ma. Lourdes P. A. Sereno as Chief Justice; the burial of the late former President Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani; the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao and its extension; the constitutionality of the K-12 basic education program for high school; and on the denial of detained Sen. Leila de Lima’s plea to drop the drugs charges against her and for her release from detention.