Carpio accepts nomination for chief justice

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga - Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio disclosed here yesterday that he is accepting his nomination to lead the Supreme Court (SC) to replace the ousted Renato Corona.

Carpio also gave his personal thoughts on judicial reform including higher pay for judges and working closely with the executive branch on issues that affect the swift delivery of justice.

He told the convention of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) in Central Luzon that once he is formally appointed to head the SC he would decongest the backlog of cases; maintain the integrity and independence of judges, and foster transparency and accountability in the judiciary.

Carpio, the most senior of current members of the high court who was bypassed when Corona was appointed in May 2010, said yesterday he would send his conforme accepting his nomination to the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) on the last day for application and nomination this Monday.

Under JBC rules, submission of letter of acceptance is necessary to formally include a nominee’s name in the list of aspirants. Failure to send reply before deadline would be deemed a rejection of nomination.

A founding partner of the topnotch Villaraza Cruz Marcelo and Angangco Law Offices who served as chief presidential legal counsel during the term of former President Fidel Ramos, Carpio finished law at UP and placed sixth in the 1975 Bar examinations. Now 62, he declined his nomination for chief justice in 2010 due to belief the post was covered by the constitutional ban on midnight appointments.

This time, he admitted his interest to become chief justice.

“I will not turn down any chance or opportunity to lead the judiciary if given the opportunity,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the

IBP Central Luzon regional convention in

Backlog of cases

Clark, Pampanga.

“It’s part of my work. There’s no reason for me to depart from my work,” he added.

Carpio was automatically nominated for chief justice along with four other most senior justices in the high tribunal: Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Arturo Brion, and Diosdado Peralta.

Nine other magistrates of the SC had also been nominated: Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Roberto Abad, Martin Villarama Jr., Jose Perez, Jose Mendoza, Ma. Lourdes Sereno, Bienvenido Reyes and Estela Perlas-Bernabe.

Justices Brion and Abad both already accepted their nomination.

On the other hand, four others – Del Castillo, Mendoza, Reyes and Bernabe – have declined and instead endorsed more senior justices.

Carpio outlined plans for the “infrastructure needs of the judiciary, compensation of judges, court administration, and training and career paths for judges.

“The judiciary needs to learn and implement the lessons from the recent impeachment of the former chief justice. These lessons pertain to integrity, transparency and accountability in the judiciary,” he said.

Carpio pointed out that the number one problem of the judiciary is the backlog of cases in the courts.

“Trials ideally should take not more than two years to finish. At present 21 percent of trials take two to five years to finish and 13 percent take more than five years to finish,” he lamented.

He cited a constitutional provision prescribing cases to be resolved not more than 24 months by the Supreme Court, not more than 12 months by the appellate courts, and not more than three months by all other lower courts.

To solve this problem, Carpio batted for “a computerized case management system (CMS) for all courts, from first level courts to the Supreme Court.”

“The template for this CMS is the two-year old case management system of the Court of Appeals (CA) which is widely acknowledged worldwide as a success” and enabling the CA to decide on cases within the timeframe of the Constitution, he said.

The CMS, he noted, would enable the online monitoring in real time the rate of disposition of cases by any justice or judge.

“Right now, a litigant with a pending case in the CA can go to the CA website, type his case number, and instantly he will know if a decision or resolution has been issued, and if one has been issued, he can download a copy,” he added.

Carpio also batted for “a simplified trial procedure for all trial courts” as he lamented that the current procedure is “obsolete, cumbersome and time consuming.”

He said a simplified procedure must be patterned after the four existing special rules, namely the Revised Rule on Summary Procedure, the Interim Rules of Procedure Governing Intra-Corporate Controversies, the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases, and the Rules of Procedure for Intellectual Property.

“It is high time to expand these simplified trial procedures to all civil cases,” he stressed.

“Thus, in all civil cases not presently governed by special simplified trial procedures, the direct testimony of witnesses shall be by affidavit only, except for hostile witnesses, subject to cross-examination by the adverse party,” he said.

Carpio said this measure would cut down trial time by at least half.

He said that 80 percent of pending cases in the first and second level courts are criminal cases.

He blamed delays on the absence of public defenders and prosecution witnesses.

“The judiciary will have to work closely with the executive branch to address this important issue,” he said.

Carpio said more mediation units should be set up and judges trained on judicial dispute resolution to ensure that only cases that cannot be amicably settled go to trial.

“Out of 209,165 civil cases mediated as of May 2012, the success rate was 63.76 percent and out of 23,979 civil cases placed under judicial dispute resolution as of May 2012, the success rate was 39.53 percent,” he said.

Carpio also proposed legislation so that the appointment of judges from one trial court to another should be under authority of the Supreme Court.

At present, such lateral transfer of assignment needs JBC nomination for approval by the President.

Carpio also lamented that the overall vacancy rate in the first and second level courts is 25.6 percent, including those in unfunded and unopened trial courts.

In Manila, the ratio is one first level judge for every 55,072 residents, while in Makati the ratio is one for every 72,911 residents.

Carpio said the chief justice and all other applicants to the judiciary should execute bank waivers to verify their statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

He urged the Supreme Court to create permanent administrative tribunals to handle administrative complaints against judges and justices, “instead of the present ad hoc investigative bodies.”

He said the judiciary “should embrace transparency and accountability” by publishing its annual reports as audited by the Commission on Audit.