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The judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme Court and such in lower courts as may be established by law.
Judicial power includes the duty of the courts of justice to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable, and to determine whether or not there has been a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction on the part of any branch or instrumentality of the Government.
JUDICIAL POWER is the power to apply the laws to contests or disputes concerning legally recognized rights or duties between the Sate and private persons, or between individual litigants in cases properly brought before the judicial tribunals.
It includes the duty of courts of justice:
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The judiciary is entrusted by the Constitution with the function of deciding actual cases & controversies.
It cannot be required by law to exercise any power or to perform any duty not pertaining to, or connected with, the administration of judicial functions. It is not its function to give advisory opinions. It is a function of executive officials.
The doctrine of separation of powers calls for the other departments being left alone to discharge their duties as they see fit. The president and congress are not bound to seek the advice of the Judiciary as to what to do or not to do. It is a prerequisite that something had been accomplished or performed by either of them before a court may enter into the picture. At such time, it may pass in the validity of what was done but only when properly challenged in an appropriate legal proceeding.
Furthermore, with so many cases pending in courts where in there is an actual and antagonistic assertion between the parties, it would not serve public interest at all if on matters moot and academic their time and attention would still have to be devoted.
Judicial power, under the constitution is “vested in one Supreme Court and in such lower courts as may be established by law.” The judiciary composed of the courts is one of the three main divisions of power in our government.
Under the provision, only the Supreme Court is a constitutional court in a sense of being a creation of the constitution. All other courts including the Sandiganbayan are statutory courts in the sense that they are creations of law. They are referred to as lower courts in the Constitution, meaning courts below the Supreme Court.
In the exercise of its legislative power, congress may abolish any or all lower courts and replace them with other courts to the limitation that the reorganization shall not undermine the security of tenure.
It cannot, however, abolish the Supreme Court; neither can it create an additional supreme court because the constitution provides for only “one Supreme Court”. Neither can it abolish the Sandiganbayan because it existence is constitutionally recognized although congress, in the exercise of legislative power, may determine its functions and jurisdiction. The decisions of the Supreme Court are binding all lower tribunals.
Regular courts the Phil. judicial system consist of hierarchy of courts resembling a pyramid with the Supreme Court at the apex. Under the Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980 are:
•administrative bodies under the executive branch performing quasi –judicial functions, like the National Labor Relations of the integrated judicial system. The same thing may be said of courts martial. The authority for the ordering of courts martial pertains to the President as Commander-in-Chief independently of legislation to aid him in properly commanding the Armed Forces and enforcing discipline.
The body to which the public administration of justice is delegated. It is an entity or body in which a portion of judicial power is vested.
A public officer so named in his commission and appointed to preside and to administer the law in a court of justice.
A court is an incorporeal entity composed of one or more judges. Judge alone does not necessarily constitute a court for a while he is an indispensable part he is only a part of the court.
Court cannot exist without a judge.
“ Nothing is more clearly touches the welfare and security of the average citizen than his sense that he can rely on the certain and prompt administration of justice. Law is respected and supported when it is trusted as the shield of innocence and the impartial guardian of every private civil right. But if the law is dishonestly administered, salts has lost its savour; if it be weakly or unfaithfully enforced, the guarantees of order fail, for it is more by uncertainty than by severity of punishment that offenses are repressed.”
“ where there is no judicial department to interpret and execute the law, to decide controversies, and to enforce right, the government must either perish by its own imbecility or the other departments of government must usurp powers for the purpose of commanding obedience, to the destruction of liberty.”
“It is in the court and not in the legislature that our citizens primarily feel the keen cutting edge of the law, If they have respect for the works of the courts, their respect for law will survive the shortcomings of any other branch of the government; but if they lose their respect for the works of the courts, their respect for law and order will banish with it to the great detriment of society.”
The congress shall have the power to define, prescribe, and apportion the jurisdiction of the various court but may not deprive the Supreme Court of its jurisdiction over cases enumerated in section 5 here of.
No law shall be passed reorganizing the Judiciary when it undermines the security of tenure of its Members.
1.No law shall be passed reorganizing the judiciary when it undermines security of tenure guaranteed for section 10; 2.The congress cannot diminish or other wise impair the original and appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over cases enumerated in section 5; 3. No law shall be passed increasing the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court without its advice and concurrence.
Jurisdiction of Courts
The judiciary enjoys fiscal autonomy. Appropriations for the judiciary may not be reduced by the legislature below the amount appropriated for the previous year and, after approval, shall be automatically and regularly released.
The Supreme Court shall be composed of a chief justice and fourteen associate justices. It may sit en banc or in its sit discretion, in division of three, five, seven Members. Any vacancy shall be filled within ninety days from the occurrence thereof.
All cases involving the constitutionality of a treaty, international or executive agreement, or law, which shall be heard by the Supreme Court en banc, and all other cases which under the rules of are required to be hear en banc, including those involving the constitutionality, application, or operation of presidential decrees, proclamation, orders, instructions, ordinances and other regulations, shall be decided with the majority of the members who actually took part in the deliberations on the issues in the case and voted thereon.
Cases or matters heard by the division shall be decided or resolve with the concurrence of the majority of the members who actually took part in the deliberations on the issues in the case and voted thereon, and in no case, without the concurrence of at least three of such members. When the required number is not obtained, the case shall be decided en banc: Provided that no doctrine or principle of law laid down by the court in a decision rendered en banc or in division may be modified or reversed except by the court sitting en banc.
The new constitution retained the membership of the supreme court of 15 members including the chief justice under the 1973 charter (sec.4).
The phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in the 1935 constitution was deleted in the 1973 constitution clearly showing the intention to withdraw from congress the power to alter the composition of the supreme court.
The constitution requires any vacancy to be filled within 90 days from the occurrence thereof.
The supreme court may sit in en banc (i.e..as one body) or in division of three, five or seven members. On the basis of fifteen members the number of division will be five, three or two meeting separately.
Is an agreement entered into by the resident on behalf of the Philippines with the government of another country and is effective and binding upon the Philippines without the concurrences of congress.
Those made purely as executive acts affecting external relations and independent of legislative authorization.. They may be taken the form of a protocol, an instrument supplementary to a treaty or convention, exchange of notes, and other types of documents.
Those entered into in pursuance of acts of congress. They affect internal affairs and domestic rights. They include tariff and postal arrangements, visa fees, commercial relations, and matters affecting trademarks and copyrights, and the like.
Is the power of the courts, ultimately of the Supreme Court, to interpret the Constitution and to declare any legislative or executive act invalid because it is in conflict with the fundamental law.
In this paper I will define crime and its relationship to the law, the government structure and how it applies to the criminal justice system. I will identify choice theories and their assumption to crime. I will explain the components and goals of the criminal justice system and close with my final thoughts on whether the criminal justice system is really a system. What is a crime? A crime by definition is conduct in violation of the criminal laws of a state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse (Schmalleger, 2001, p. 7). What is law? Law by definition is a rule of conduct, generally found enacted in the form of a statute, that proscribes or mandates certain forms of behavior (Schmalleger, 2001, p. 114). The relationship between crime and the law is that without laws on the books there would be no crimes. Society would be in utter chaos. Society uses the consensus model and the conflict model to decide what acts are criminal. In the consensus model society comes together and as a majority decide what is right and wrong behavior and make laws accordingly.
These laws are moral based. In the colonial times adultery was a crime where the guilty sentence was corporal punishment. Today adultery is a personal issue not a crime. The conflict model different groups in society will have different ideas of what is right and wrong so whom ever has the power decides what a criminal act is. Our government has three branches, the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. These three branches make up the framework to our criminal justice system. The executive branch in federal, state, and local have the power to appoint judges, heads of the department of corrections, and police chiefs. The legislative branch in federal, state, and local levels decide what criminal acts are and what sentences are for those acts. They also provide the funding for the criminal justice agencies. The judiciary branch is made up of the trial courts which adjudicate the guilt of the person charged with the crime, the appellate courts interrupt the laws according to the constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in our justice system. The precedents it sets are used as the guidelines for lower level courts to reach their conclusions (Schmalleger. 2001. p. 120).
There are eight choice theories as to why people commits crimes. These theories are the classical and neoclassical, biological, psychobiological, psychological, sociological, social process, conflict, and emergent(Schmalleger, 2011, p. 80-81). In classical and neoclassical theory crime is caused by exercising your free will. In biological theory crime is caused by criminal genes. In psychobiological theory crime is caused by human dna, nutrition, hormones, physical trauma, body chemistry, and environmental contaminants. In psychological theory crime is caused by a diseased mind or inappropriate behavioral conditioning. In sociological theory crime is caused by the structure of society and the organization or disorganization of society. In social process theory crime is caused by the failure of self-direction, inadequate social roles, or associating with defective others. The conflict theory crime is consequence of social, political, economic inequities. The emergent theory crime is socially constructed (Schmalleger, 2011, p. 80-81)
The major components to the criminal justice system the police, the courts, and corrections (CJi, 2014). The police, made up of sheriff and police departments, enforce our laws, investigate crimes, make arrests, and insure public safety (Schmalleger, 2011, p. 17). The courts, made up of judges, prosecutors, and defense lawyers, conducts fair and impartial trials, decide criminal cases, ensure due process, impose sentences on the guilty, and provide a check on the exercise of power by the other justice agencies (Schmalleger, 2011, p. 17). Corrections are made up of jails, prisons, probation, and parole. Correctional agencies carry out the sentences imposed by the courts, provide safe and humane custody and supervision of the offenders, rehabilitate, reform, and reintegrate offenders back into society, and respect the legal and human rights of the convicted (Schmalleger, 2011, p. 17). The process of the accused through each component starts with the investigation and arrest. The police gather evidence at the scene of a crime, the do an investigation and attempt to reconstruct the sequence of events and who committed these events (CJi, 2013).
After an arrest is made the suspect is booked. During booking the suspect is fingerprinted, picture is taken, personal information, details of the charges are recorded and an administrative record of arrest is made (CJi, 2014). The suspect is also read his rights and a statement acknowledging the advisement of rights and understanding of them is signed by the accused. The second step in the process are the pretrial activities. They start with the first appearance usually within the first 48 hours after the arrest (CJi, 2014). The suspect must be brought in front of a magistrate, the charges and the rights are read again. Bail may be set in the form of cash or property. Many suspects are released on their own recognizance. If the suspect can’t make bail they go to jail to await the next step. The court will appoint a lawyer if the suspect can show a financial hardship. At the preliminary hearing the court will establish if sufficient evidence exists against the suspect. The judge will decide if there is probable cause to believe that a crime was committed and the suspect committed it (Schmalleger, 2001, p. 19).
The next step in the process is the information or indictment. Information is a formal written accusation filed on the basis of the outcome from the preliminary hearing (CJi, 2014). The indictment is returned by a grand jury. The Grand jury hears evidence from the prosecutor and decides if the case should go to trial (CJi, 2014). Then it is time for the arraignment. This is the first appearance of the defendant before the court that has authority to conduct a trial. The accused stands before the judge and is read the information or indictment against them. Their rights are read to them again and are asked to entry a plea. The acceptable pleas are guilty, not guilty, or no contest (CJi, 2014).
A plea of no contest can’t be used as an admission of guilt in civil proceedings or private law suits (Schmalleger, 2011, p.19). The third step in the process is adjudication. The 6 th amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees every criminal the right to a fair trial by a jury. The trial involves an examination of all issues of fact and decides on relevant laws relating to the case for the purpose of convicting or aquitting the accused (CJi, 2014). The forth step in the process is sentencing. The judge can sentence the offender to pay a fine, be placed in on probation, or incarcerated. Multiple charges can be served consecutively, one after another, or concurrent, at the same time (CJi, 2014).
The final process is corrections. The offenders are sent to prison, they are classified and assigned to facilities and treatment programs. If the judge gives them a suspended sentence they are placed on probation. When an offender serves part of their sentence and released they are placed on parole until they end of their sentence (CJi, 2014). There are 5 goals of the criminal justice system. They are deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation, and restoration. Deterrence inhibits criminal behavior through fear of punishment. Incapacitation removes the offender’s ability to commit crimes. Retribution is taking revenge on the offender. Rehabilitation is correcting the behavior with education and treatment. Restoration attempts to make the victim whole again by repairing the harm that was done (CJi, 2014). I believe the criminal justice system is because it has integral parts or components that work together. The system may have flaws but it is still one of the greatest systems in the world.
Reference
Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal Justice Today: an introductory text for the 21 st century (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NY: Pearson Educations.
University of Phoenix. (2014). Criminal Justice Interactive [Multimedia]. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, CJA/204—
ManagementIntroduction To Criminal Justice course website.
Judiciary in the Philippines. (2016, Sep 28). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/judiciary-in-the-philippines-essay
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