An Act Amending Sections Forty-Seven, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, and Sixty-Three of Act Numbered One Hundred and Thirty-Six, Providing for the Organization of Courts in the Philippine Islands

November 16, 1901

ACT NO. 300

AN ACT AMENDING SECTIONS FORTY-SEVEN, FIFTY-TWO, FIFTY-THREE, AND SIXTY-THREE OF ACT NUMBERED ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX, PROVIDING FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF COURTS IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

SECTION 1. Section forty-seven of Act Numbered One hundred and thirty-six, providing for the organization of courts in the Philippine Islands is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following words:

"But, whenever it is impracticable for either the Attorney-General or Solicitor-General personally to repair to any province in the Islands and assist the provincial fiscal there in the discharge of his duties, or in any prosecution against an officer of any branch of the Government, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of section forty-five, it shall be lawful for the Attorney-General, with the prior approval of the Civil Governor, to appoint some person who may be eligible to the office of Attorney-General temporarily to represent him in such prosecution. The person so appointed shall have all the power of the Attorney-General or Solicitor-General in conducting the prosecution for which he may have been especially appointed as in this section provided. The compensation of the person so appointed shall be fifteen dollars per day for the time necessarily employed in the service of the Government, and actual traveling expenses necessarily incurred in performance of the duties."

SECTION 2. Section fifty-two of said Act is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following words:

"Whenever it shall be made to appear that the judge of any Court of First Instance, after holding the regular terms of court in his district, will have time exceeding one month's duration that can not be occupied in his regular judicial work, such judge may be designated in writing by the Secretary of Finance and Justice to assist the Attorney-General in the performance of the duties of his office in the city of Manila for the period of time when he will otherwise be disengaged. Upon such designation, it shall be the duty of the judge so assigned to assist the Attorney-General in the performance of the duties imposed upon him by virtue of the provisions of chapter three of this Act. The judge so assigned shall receive, as an allowance for expenses, an additional compensation of four dollars per day for each business day he is so engaged."

SECTION 3. Section fifty-three of said Act is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following words:

"But in those provinces of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Judicial Districts in which provincial governments have not been organized, the court may hold special sessions at such times and places therein as the judge may determine will best promote the public interests and convene private individuals; but the regular terms of courts in those regions as provided by law shall be held at the times and places required by law."

SECTION 4. Section sixty-three of said Act is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following words:

"Provided, nevertheless, That the judge, fiscal, and clerk for the Fourteenth Judicial District shall receive each an allowance of three pesos per day for subsistence while necessarily absent from Jolo in the performance of official duties at regular or special sessions of the court in other parts of the district: And provided further, That the judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District, the clerk and fiscal of the comandancia of Dapitan, and the Districts of Zamboanga, Cotabato, Davao, and Basilan, shall receive a like compensation, for the same purpose, when absent from their respective places of residence in the district in performance of official duties at regular or special sessions of the court in other parts of the district; but the judge shall not receive such allowance while holding court in the Province of Misamis."

SECTION 5. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

ENACTED, November 16, 1901.