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CAUSE AND EFFECTS OF THE SLOW CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM OF THE PHILIPPPINES
is submitted by:
to
on December 6, 2013
NAME: SECTION:
CRITERIA:
Substance Mechanics Documentation Organization Materials TOTAL: (30) (20) (20) (10) (20) __________ __________ __________ __________ __________
(100) __________
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 1
OVERVIEW....................................................................................................... 1 RESEARCH AIMS ............................................................................................ 2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................ 2 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHOD ......................................................... 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD USED ........................................................ 3 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ......................................................................... 4
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
OVERVIEW
The Criminal Justice System (CJS) determines the policies and procedures to be followed to give justice to everyone, particularly those who have committed crimes and has been filed with a formal complaint. The CJS of the Philippines is decided upon by various laws 1 and is governed over by the Supreme Court. The process determines how a complaint will be filed, what will happen to it from the time it was filed until it reaches final decision from the judge/judges, who will carry the sentence, and how will the prosecuted return to his community2. In every case entered in the CJS and has been forwarded to be arraigned in a court, there will always be a prosecuting panel and the defense panel. The prosecuting panel consists of the complainant/s, witness/es, and the prosecuting lawyer/s. The defense panel is composed of the defendant/s, witness/es, and the defense lawyers. The CJS does not only include courts, lawyers, state prosecutors, and the judges, but also includes the police, correctional institutes, such as the National Bilibid Prison, and the community3. Each of these has their own role in the CJS and is vital to serving justice to the whole Filipino people.
Pablo Fegi Narag, Notes on the Philippine Criminal Justice System (Quezon City: Central Book Supply, Inc., 2008), 12-13 2 Oscar Gatchalian Soriano, The Philippine Criminal Justice System: Theories, Models and Practices (Quezon City: Great Books Publishing, 2010), 11-15. 3 Alicia Gonzales-Decano, "Where Lies the Delay in the Criminal Justice System?", The Lawyers Review Vol. 27, No. 3, March 31, 2003, 2-5.
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RESEARCH AIMS
This paper aims to: 1. analyze the current criminal justice system of the Philippines. 2. identify different laws that can affect our criminal justice system. 3. determine the causes of our slow justice system. 4. determine the effects of our slow justice system.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The proponent intends to answer the following: 1. What is the process of the current criminal justice system of the Philippines? 2. What are the 5 pillars of our criminal justice system? 3. What are the different laws that can affects our criminal justice system? 4. What are the causes of a slow justice system? 5. What are the effects of a slow justice system?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (New ed.). (2004). USA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. Soriano, 9. 6 Alicia Gonzales-Decano, "Where Lies the Delay in the Criminal Justice System?", The Lawyers Review v. 17 no. 3, March 31, 2003, 2.
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CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Formulation of Recommendations
The first part of the paper is the Analysis of the process of the Criminal Justice System of the Philippines. Under this includes the definition of CJS, 5 Pillars of justice and the complete process and its underlying concepts. In this part, the CJS will be analyzed part by part for a clearer understanding of the process and its concepts. The Rules of Court contains the criminal procedures, thus becoming the reference of the courts in criminal cases7. This will determine the process of the The next part is the Identification of Laws that govern and affect the CJS. This part is important in the identification of possible delays in the process of the CJS. Aside from the constitution, various laws still govern over the CJS, and these laws may be source of delays to the CJS. Under the Laws is the discussion of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines. It is the main law that governs over the CJS, which includes the acts considered as crime and the lenght of penalties that can be imposed 8. The identification of the delays contains the probable delays the CJS process contains. After the identification of delays is the tracing of its cause and subsequent effects to the CJS. The presentation of recommendations of the author will follow afterwards.
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Narag, 12-13. Soriano, 11-15. 11 Cirilo M. Tradio, Introduction to Criminal Justice System Philippines (Manila City: Rex Book Store, 1986), 6. 12 Narag, op.cit., 44-45.
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Narag, 100-109. 9
CHAPTER 4: PROPOSITIONS
PROPOSITION 1: The CJS is composed of five pillars, namely the Community, Police, Prosecution, Courts and the Correctional Institutions. EXPLANATION: These five pillars comprise the whole CJS. Each of these pillars is vital to giving justice to every Filipino. One pillar is as important as the other four.
PROPOSITION 2: The Five Pillars of our CJS determines the whole process of our justice system. EXPLANATION: Starting with the Community Pillar and ending with it, our CJS is a cycle. Going through every pillar will guide a case to the whole process.
PROPOSITION 3: The laziness and slow response of the police contributes to the slowdown of our CJS. EXPLANATION: These simple factors already become the start of the delays in our CJS. Slow response could be vital, not only in the life of the victim, but also for the immediate gathering of necessary evidences. Having all possible evidences could lead to the immediate determination of suspect, and getting fast serving of justice.
PROPOSITION 4: There is can be a mediation before arraignments, depending on the case. EXPLANATION: A mediation may happen depending on the case. Its purpose is to try to solve the issue between both parties, without having arraignments. This will help both parties to lessen the needed funding for the case, and will help to lessen the cases raised to the courts to be trialed.
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PROPOSITION 5: Lawyers of either party may request for movement of a trial for whatever reason may happen, such as unavailability of witness/es because of personal matters. EXPLANATION: After the pre-trial, the court gives 3 initial trial dates, with 2 months intervals. If, for any reason, the lawyer or the witness/es are unavailable, the lawyers may request for movement of trial. This causes another delay in our CJS, as the next trial will be filed after about 2 months again.
PROPOSITION 6: Each party involved must submit Judicial Affidavit/s at least three days before an arraignment. EXPLANATION: The Judicial Affidavit contains the witnesses' testimonies. It will help both parties prepare for the arraignment. It will also ensure that the witnesses will be present during the arraignment. This will help in speeding up the cases because both parties are already prepared once they meet in court.
PROPOSITION 7: The defense may file a Demure of Evidence within the duration of a case. EXPLANATION: A Demure of Evidence means that the defense believes that the evidences presented in court cannot prove the involvement of the defendant in the crime. If this is filed, the trials will be suspended until this is solved. The effect of this depends on its outcome, if the judge approves this petition, the case is dismissed immediately, otherwise, it becomes a delay and the trial continues.
PROPOSITION 8: The judge may require both parties to submit a memorandum after the trials. EXPLANATION: This memorandum is a summary of all things presented in court. It will help the judge remember all evidences presented in the trials, and will help in speeding up the decision-making.
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PROPOSITION 9: After all the trials, the judge must release a judgment within 30 days. EXPLANATION: This mandate ensures that all cases will be decided after all the trials. The time period ensures that no further delay may happen. This will also prevent the stacking up of unsolved cases and ensure the continues flow of our CJS.
PROPOSITION 10: The cross-examination of a witness may happen on the next arraignment. EXPLANATION: This causes another delay, as it will add up to the things needed to be done on the next trial day.
PROPOSITION 11: Depending on the maximum years in prison, prisoners waiting for conviction will be released if they reached the maximum number of years in prison, in their case, under certain circumstances. EXPLANATION: This does not only protect the innocent, but also speed up the CJS by reducing the cases in line for conviction.
PROPOSITION 12: If the accused is acquitted, the complainant could not appeal the case. EXPLANATION: If the accused is acquitted, the complainant cannot appeal the case as it counts as double jeopardy. It will be a violation if his constitutional rights. This will also lessen the cases appealed and will help to speed up the cases appealed already.
PROPOSITION 13: Our Constitution greatly affects our CJS. EXPLANATION: According to Narag (2008, 12-13), There are constitutional provisions that affect the CJS, such as stated in Art. II, Sec. 2, we adopt the generally accepted principles of international law, thus includes international criminal laws. There are other constitutional provisions, like Art. III or the Bill of Rights, which can also affect our CJS.
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PROPOSITION 14: The Supreme Court is adding constantly amending our CJS to remove the delays in the system. EXPLANATION: In an interview with Atty. Ortiguerra, she mentioned that recently, lawyers are required to submit the affidavits of both parties involved at least 2 days before the scheduled trial. This will help the lawyers in the preparations and will ensure of the attendance of the witnesses of both parties. In the event that the witnesses are not present on the actual trial, they will not cause delay as their affidavits were already submitted, thus, it will stand as their statement. This is a proof that the government is aware of our slow CJS, and is making necessary revisions to speed it up.
PROPOSITION 15: The delay in our CJS can be found in all of its Five Pillars. EXPLANATION: As a system, the pillars of our CJS in linked to one another, thus, a delay in one of the pillars will have an effect in the other pillars as well.
PROPOSITION 16: A delay in a part of our CJS will have a domino effect in the succeeding parts as well. EXPLANATION: A simple delay in one part of our CJS will definitely cause a delay in the succeeding parts as well. According to Gonzales-Decano (2003), the cooperation between the five pillars is a must. In this manner, there will be a collaborative effort between the pillars in solving a criminal case.
PROPOSITION 17: There are delays caused by court-related agencies. EXPLANATION: These problems, such as tardiness of staffs and judges, delay in the mail and the like still contributes to the delays in the CJS.
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PROPOSITION 18: Another cause of the delays in the CJS is the filing of various motions. EXPLANATION: There are lots of motions, like Motion for Reconsideration, which can be filed when a case is at the Prosecution Pillar until the Court Pillar. Whenever a motion is filed, the trial or investigation on the actual case is temporarily suspended to solve the motions first. This is another cause of delay because motions are time consuming, and are sometimes used as delaying tactics by lawyers.
PROPOSITION 19: The delayed CJS has a great effect in the safety of the Filipinos. EXPLANATION: Having poor CJS allows criminals to continue do their illegal actions and put the lives of the people in the Philippines in danger.
PROPOSITION 20: Another effect of our slow CJS is the downfall of the trust of the public to the government. EXPLANATION: Because of the slow CJS, the Filipinos have no trust in the government to serve justice to all.
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B. RECOMMENDATIONS
After a diligent research, the proponent recommends that: 1. There should be a better cooperation among the five pillars of the CJS. 2. The people involved in our CJS should be more aware of the responsibilities and how their actions affect these responsibilities. 3. The Supreme Court, together with the Department of Justice and Judicial and Bar Council of the Philippines, review the whole CJS and implement revisions and new court rulings to speed up the current CJS. 4. Allow court hearings in the afternoon and prioritize the old cases filed already to lessen the congestion in our correctional institutes.
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