SC SACKED 20 JUDGES, 1 JUSTICE

In Supreme Court’s annual report says it had sanctioned 309 court personnel from 2016, 2017

The Supreme Court has dismissed 20 judges and a Sandiganbayan justice from service after they were found administratively guilty of various offenses in the performance of their duties since 2012.

In its judiciary annual report released yesterday, the High Court said that from 2016 to June 2017, it sanctioned about 309 court personnel ranging from reprimand, suspension, dropped from roll, and termination of casual employment for the first half of 2017.

“The Court takes this power and duty very seriously that it has taken against erring judges, court employees, and lawyers,” said the SC report.

Lawyer Theodore Te, the SC spokesperson, presented the annual report during the briefing at the Michael Richartz Hall at the University of San Carlos-Talamban campus yesterday.

In 2016, the high court said it disciplined 18 of its personnel with penalties ranging from reprimand, warning, fine, suspension, and dropped from the rolls.

For the period 2012 to June 2017, the SC said it suspended 16 court personnel; fined 139; reprimanded 31; admonished 50, and forfeited the benefits of four court personnel.

Likewise, the SC admonished 48 personnel; forfeited the benefits of 32 employees; censured one; dismissed from service 82 personnel; fined 226; reprimanded 281, and suspended 157 court employees in the lower court employees of the same period.

In the first half of 2017, the SC has decided six cases filed against justices and 121 cases against lower court judges.

The ruling resulted in the dismissal of one judge; the suspension of another; the imposition of a fine against 10; and a reprimand on one judge.

The Office of the Bar Confidant also reported the SC disbarred 16 lawyers and suspended 76 others from the practice of law.

It also suspended 10 lawyers from both the practice of law and notarial practice; and suspended 4 lawyers from notarial practice only.

Likewise, the SC reported the highest case disposal in the judiciary with 6,247 cases since 2010.

The Court of Appeals and Court of Tax Appeals followed with case disposals of 13,948 and 440, respectively. The Sandiganbayan disposed of a total of 371 cases in 2016.

On the other hand, the high court outlined the judiciary’s multi-pronged and strategically phased reform and development program.

These include the Enhanced Justice on Wheels (EJOW), the Judicial Affidavit Rule Judicial Affidavit Rule, Hustisyeah!, a onetime case decongestion program; the Enterprise Information Systems Plan (EISP), which aims to speed up the adjudication of cases; the e-courts system, an automated case management system developed by the trial courts; the Automated Hearing System, which captures court activities in real time; and the Continuous Trial for Criminal Cases, which seeks to speed up the resol ution of criminal cases. /