Justice reform in the Philippines - Henry J. Schumacher (The Freeman)

See - Justice reform | Cebu Business, The Freeman Sections, The Freeman | philstar.com


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Specific proposals aimed at developing the Philippine judicial system include the following:

* The recent bills filed by the House Committee on Justice in relation to the enactment of a Whistleblower Act and strengthening the Witness Protection law should be passed by the 16th Congress without delays.

* The salaries of prosecutors and members of the judiciary should be made more competitive by removing the DOJ, Office of the Ombudsman, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, and Supreme Court from the Government Salary Standardization Act.

* The Supreme Court, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Commission on Audit should be enabled to receive a reasonable percentage from the national budget without having to “lobby” for their financial resource allocation with people that they are potentially investigating.

* There should be an effective mechanism to aggressively investigate judges suspected of corruption and pursue legal and administrative actions once offense is established.

* Responsive procedures for business disputes should be established.

* Specialized courts for cases related to business and intellectual property rights should be created.

* Consistency between local ordinances and national policies should be ensured.

* The Supreme Court should consider expanding its use of amici curiae, providing information on the implications of decisions on the economy and business, before decisions are made.

* All judicial vacancies must be filled expeditiously.

* The competency of public lawyers and judges should be further improved through continuous trainings and capacity-building seminars.

* An inventory of laws should be created with the aim to identify laws that have become redundant and have them eliminated.

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