EDITORIAL - The right to a speedy trial

The public will be glad to know that the Supreme Court is moving to decongest local jails and speed up judicial proceedings. The SC directive, meant to uphold the rights of the accused to bail and a speedy trial, sets time limits for court proceedings that members of the judiciary and all legal professionals must follow.

The time limits are in accordance with the Speedy Trial Act of 1998. Republic Act 8493, which covers criminal cases, was enacted way back in February 1998, but the nation has forgotten or is largely unaware of the law, considering the continuing snail’s pace in the administration of Philippine justice.

Under the guidelines issued by the SC, a criminal case must be raffled off to a court within three days upon filing of the information. Within 10 days after the raffle, the accused must be arraigned. A pre-trial conference must be held within 30 days after a plea is entered, or 10 days if the accused is under preventive detention.

A regular trial must be terminated within 180 days, or 60 days in a trial by affidavit. The days will be reckoned from the start of the trial, minus delays or postponements allowed under the Rules of Court. This is where the SC may have to tighten regulation if it wants speedy justice.

Consider the Maguindanao massacre case. After more than four years, the case does not seem close to resolution. Prosecutors and defense lawyers are bickering over who should bear the blame for the delay. In the latest development, the defense panel, smarting from accusations of resorting to delaying tactics, cited 114 instances wherein prosecutors moved for an early suspension or cancelation of scheduled court proceedings. Prosecutors, for their part, say they have been prevented from presenting witnesses through petitions filed by the defense before the trial and appellate courts.

With nearly 200 suspects initially tagged in the massacre, the slow pace of this trial may be understandable. But ordinary cases, including those with a single defendant and even those involving misdemeanors, also crawl along in the Philippine judicial system. For the Supreme Court, cracking the whip to speed up justice is long overdue.