Hiring of more judges-at-large to decongest courts

MANILA, Philippines — The move of the Supreme Court (SC) to hire more judges-at-large will help decongest courts of pending cases, with funding for new posts in the judiciary included the P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 that President Duterte is scheduled to sign today, according to Sen. Sonny Angara.

Angara, chairman of the finance committee, said the SC’s move to create 50 judge-at-large posts is “a significant step toward providing swift justice in the country.”

Angara, the principal author of Republic Act 11459 or the Judges-at-Large Act, said the implementation of the law will help ensure that justice is served swiftly by freeing up the courts of their dockets.

“Eventually, the law will be implemented in full and we will have more judges to handle the cases that have piled up in our courts,” he said.

“For victims of crimes and their families, the long wait for the resolution of cases adds to the emotional and financial burden that they have to bear on top of the pain they experience. For the accused who are innocent, the fact that they are deprived of their liberty is an injustice to them. This is why we want cases to be resolved expeditiously,” he added.

The General Appropriations Bill contains a P2.5-billion augmentation of the budget of the judiciary for the creation of new positions in the SC and lower courts, repair and maintenance of halls of justice nationwide, hiring of decongestion officers, hazard pay of judges and funding of 50 judge-at-large posts.

The provision will also fund the construction of an office building of the Sandiganbayan and the operating expenses of the Court of Appeals and Court of Tax Appeals.

RA 11459 mandates the creation of 100 judge-at-large posts for the regional trial courts (RTC) and 50 posts for the municipal trial courts (MTC).

These appointed judges-at-large will have no permanent salas and may be assigned by the SC as acting or assisting judges to any RTC or MTC in the country “as public interest may require.”

They are entitled to salaries, privileges, allowances, emoluments, benefits, rank and title of regular RTC and MTC judges.

Last week, the SC announced the creation of 50 judge-at-large posts – 30 for the RTCs and 20 for the MTCs in partial implementation of the law.