Leni: Philippines needs more judges

MANILA, Philippines - The country needs more judges to wipe out the backlog of cases in lower courts, Vice President Leni Robredo said yesterday.

Robredo made the recommendation at the 18th national convention and seminar of the Metropolitan and City Judges Association of the Philippines in Iloilo City.

“There is a need to address the lack of judges manning our courts,” the Vice President said.

Robredo, who is a lawyer by profession, said almost one fourth of the lower courts in the country do not have a judge.

“In 2007, we had 1,710 judges. By 2009, we only had 1,647,” she said. 

“To make matters worse, our lawyers and judges have become targets of senseless killings themselves. By 2015, more than 40 lawyers and 20 judges have been murdered,” Robredo said.

She also lamented the “long, drawn-out court procedures,” which she said have been unfavorable to the poor and marginalized. 

 “This only drags the case, clogging courts with cases and jails with overstaying inmates – all of which weigh down government budget and governance efforts. We cannot let this practice continue,” she added.  

From 2005 to 2010, Robredo said the lower courts were congested with an average of a million cases every year or 4,221 cases per working day. 

This means each judge needs to handle an annual caseload of 644 or three cases to be resolved each working day, Robredo said.

In 2010, the court case disposition rate went down to 74 percent from 83 percent in 2009.

Robredo, however, lauded the various efforts that are now being undertaken by the Supreme Court (SC), under the leadership of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. 

Earlier this year, 635 slots for “court decongestion officers” have been opened up to declog court dockets nationwide. 

Launched under the Hustisyeah! program of the SC, this strategy seeks to reduce overall case dockets by 20 percent by the end of this year.

“This is particularly helpful since many of these officers would be assigned to handle cases in many far-flung cities and municipalities across the country,” Robredo said.