En Banc Resolution Dated 28 June 2022 in A.M. No. 99-7-07-SC (Re: Resolution Prescribing Guidelines for Qualifying for Judicial Office)

January 13, 2023

OCA CIRCULAR NO. 08-2023

 

For information, guidance, and strict observance, quoted below, and attached as Annex "A", is the Resolution of the Court en banc dated 28 June 2022 in A.M. No. 99-7-07-SC (Re: Resolution Prescribing Guidelines for Qualifying for Judicial Office):

A.M. No. 99-7-07-SC (Re: Resolution Prescribing Guidelines for Qualifying for Judicial Office). — The Court Resolved, upon the recommendation of the Office of the Court Administrator, to AMEND paragraphs 3 and 4 of the resolution dated July 20, 1999, to read as follows:

3. Immersion Program

A. All [1] new and original appointees; and [2] judges of the first level courts promoted to the Regional Trial Courts who have already taken their oath of office shall undergo an immersion program. Unless otherwise directed, a judge given a lateral promotion or transfer need not undergo an immersion program;

B. All new and original appointees shall undergo the immersion program for thirty (30) working days. Judges of the first level courts promoted to the Regional Trial Courts shall undergo the immersion program for fifteen (15) working days;

C. Newly-appointed and promoted judges shall commence undergoing the immersion program within three (3) days from the date they took their oath of office. The immersion program shall be under the supervision of the Executive Judge specified in the notice from the OCA;

D. Should any judge be unable to undergo the immersion program within three (3) days from the date they took their oath of office, he/she should immediately inform in writing the Court Administrator of such inability and the reason/s therefor;

4. Actual Assumption and Exercise of Judicial Office

A. Judges given lateral promotion or laterally transferred shall perform their judicial functions and discharge their duties and responsibilities immediately after furnishing the Office of Administrative Services of the OCA with copies of their oath of office;

Should there be a judge designated as Acting Presiding Judge of the court/sala of the appointee, the said judge should cease performing his or her functions and discharging his or her duties as such Acting Presiding Judge upon actual assumption and exercise by the appointee of his or her judicial office;

B. Before undertaking the orientation seminar-workshop and while undergoing the immersion program, judges of the first-level courts who have been promoted to either single-sala or multiple-sala Regional Trial Courts shall not perform their judicial functions. They may only act on administrative matters (e.g., the conduct of inventory of pending cases, personnel management matters, etc.). Also, they cannot act on judicial matters which are urgent in nature or which need immediate action (e.g., applications for temporary restraining orders; complaints for preliminary injunctions; applications for bail; petitions for the issuance of the writ of habeas corpus, etc.);

C. Before undertaking the orientation seminar-workshop and after completion of the immersion program, judges of the first-level courts who have been promoted to either single-sala or multiple-sala Regional Trial Courts can only act on administrative matters;

Should there be a judge designated as Acting Presiding Judge of the court/sala of the appointee, the said judge should cease performing his or her functions and discharging his or her duties as such Acting Presiding Judge upon completion by the appointee of his or her immersion program and orientation seminar-workshop;

D. Before undertaking the orientation seminar-workshop and while undergoing the immersion program, new and original appointees to the Judiciary, although they have already taken their oath of office, cannot perform judicial functions. However, they may act on administrative matters;

E. Before undertaking the orientation seminar-workshop and after completion of the immersion program, new and original appointees to either single-sala or multiple-sala Regional Trial Courts cannot perform their judicial functions. They may act on administrative matters only;

Should there be a judge designated as Acting Presiding Judge of the court of the new and original appointee who has already completed the immersion program and undertaken the orientation seminar-workshop, the said judge should cease performing his or her functions and discharging his or her duties as such Acting Presiding Judge. [Amendments in bold]

(SGD.) RAUL B. VILLANUEVACourt Administrator

ANNEX A

A.M. No. 99-7-07-SC