Referral of Administrative Matters and Cases to the Divisions of the Court, the Chief Justice, and Chairmen of the Divisions

April 22, 2003

A.M. No. 99-12-08-SC (Revised)

REFERRAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS AND CASES TO THE DIVISIONS OF THE COURT, THE CHIEF JUSTICE, AND TO THE CHAIRMEN OF THE DIVISIONS FOR APPROPRIATE ACTION OR RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, a considerable number of administrative matters or cases are still referred to the Court En Banc for disposition, determination, or resolution; ETDHSa

WHEREAS, to relieve the Court En Banc from the additional burden which such matters or cases impose, and for it to have more time for judicial cases which require lengthy careful deliberations, administrative matters or cases shall be assigned to the Divisions of the Court, to the Chairmen of the Divisions, or to the Chief Justice alone;

NOW, THEREFORE, the Court hereby RESOLVES

I. To REFER to the Divisions for their appropriate action or resolution, on behalf of the Court En Banc, the following:

1) Administrative matters relating to, or in connection with,

(a) Inhibition of judges;

(b) Extension of time to decide cases;

(c) Transfer of venues;

(d) Compulsory, optional, or disability retirement of judges and court personnel; and any matter arising therefrom, such as withholding of portion of retirement benefits, conflicting claims of heirs, and application for survivorship benefits;

(e) Reports on financial and judicial audits;

(f) Reports on burning or destruction of court records; and

(g) Cases left undecided by retired or promoted judges.

The Division concerned may order the conversion into an administrative case any of the foregoing matters or cases which in its judgment may properly be treated as an administrative case.

2) Administrative cases involving, relating to, or calling for,

(a) The discipline of judges, officials, and personnel of the Judiciary: Provided, however, that if the penalty to be imposed is dismissal from the service, suspension for more than one (1) year, or fine of more than P20,000, the Division concerned shall refer the case to the Court En Banc for final determination or resolution;

(b) The preventive suspension from the service of judges and court personnel during the pendency of their administrative cases;

(c) The discipline of members of the Philippines Bar: Provided, however, that if the penalty to be imposed is disbarment, indefinite suspension, suspension for more than one (1) year, or fine of more than P20,000 the Division concerned shall refer the case to the Court En Banc for final determination or resolution; and

(d) Any other administrative matter which the Division concerned has resolved to consider as an administrative case, subject to the proviso in 2)(a) above.

II. To REFER to the Chairmen of the Divisions for their appropriate action or resolution, for and in behalf of the Court En Banc, administrative matters relating to, or in connection with,

(a) Appointment and revocation or renewal of appointments of regular (including coterminous), temporary, casual, or contractual personnel in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, the Lower Courts (including the Shari'ah courts), the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), and the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC); officers and members of existing committees; and consultants;

(b) Details of judges and court personnel, or the recall or revocation thereof: Provided, however, that the designation or assignment of an incumbent judge as acting Presiding Judge of a vacant court or as assisting judge of another judge, in addition to the regular duties of his own court, or the recall or revocation of such designation or assignment may be done by the Chief Justice alone;

(c) Creation of additional regular committees, ad hoc committees, task forces, or similar bodies; and appointment of the officers and members thereof, or the revocation or recall of such appointment;

(d) Extension of service of court officials or personnel after reaching the compulsory age of retirement;

(e) Resignations of officials and employees of the Judiciary, or their transfer to other branches, agencies or instrumentalities of the Government;

(f) Dropping from the roll personnel who are absent without leave;

(g) Withholding of salaries and other benefits of court personnel, or the subsequent release thereof, as may be, recommended by the Court Administrator or the Clerk of Court, as the case may be; and

(h) Foreign travels of Justices of the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan, Judges of the Court of Tax Appeals and the Lower Courts, and the officials and personnel of such courts; and the recall or revocation of the travel authority granted, as well as any matter arising from such travel authority or its recall or revocation.

III. To REFER to the Chief Justice for appropriate action or resolution, for and in behalf of the Court En Banc, administrative matters relating to, or in connection with,

(a) Recommendations for the detail of personnel from one office, division, or section in the Supreme Court and the Office of the Court Administrator to another office, division, or section;

(b) Rendition of overtime services and fixing of overtime compensation;

(c) Purchase of supplies, furniture, vehicles, and equipment, including computers and their accessories or paraphernalias; and approval or disapproval of claims for payment therefor;

(d) Awards of contracts for the supply of services, such as security, janitorial, photocopying services, operation of the canteen, and other allied or incidental services;

(e) Approval of requests for payment of electric, telephone and water bills, and bills for the services mentioned in the immediately preceding item;

(f) Requests for the repair of Halls of Justice and approval of claims for payment therefor;

(g) Disposal of old records and unserviceable vehicles, equipment, computers, and the like; SIcEHD

(h) Domestic travel of officials and personnel of the Judiciary; and

(i) Such other matters where the decision, action, or resolution thereon or approval thereof is vested in the Chief Justice by the Constitution, by law, by the Court En Banc, by resolutions of the Constitutional Fiscal Autonomy Group (CFAG), or by this revised Resolution, such as, the augmentation of items in the budget from savings in other items thereof, realignment of the budget allocation of the continuing appropriation of the Court (the Fiscal Autonomy Account), or the administration of the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF), or those which are traditionally vested in the Chief Justice as head of the Judiciary.

All other administrative matters or cases which are either expressly declared above to be cognizable by the Court En Banc or are not covered by the foregoing referrals shall be acted upon or resolved by the Court En Banc. The Chief Justice may likewise refer to the Court En Banc for its action or resolution any other matter which, in his opinion, should be resolved by it.

Implementing Guidelines

To effectively and efficiently carry out the foregoing referral system, the following guidelines are hereby adopted:

1. The foregoing rule on referral notwithstanding, any of the administrative cases or matters which had been referred to the Court En Banc prior to the date of effectivity of this revised Resolution shall remain in the En Banc until they are finally disposed of. ATcaHS

2. New administrative matters or cases yet to be filed with the Court and originating from the Office of the Court Administrator, the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, the Court of Tax Appeals, the Lower Courts, and other agencies of the Government should be forwarded, transmitted to, or filed with, the Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court. The latter shall forthwith determine whether the cases or matters are, pursuant to the above rules on referral, cognizable by the Divisions of the Court or by the Court En Banc; assign them a docket number; and submit them to the Raffle Committee concerned for their raffle among the Members of the Court. These matters or cases shall thereafter be included in the agenda of the Division concerned or the Court En Banc, as the case may be, for its meeting immediately following the raffle.

3. Matters which are, by this referral system, to be referred to the Chairmen of the Divisions or to the Chief Justice alone must forthwith be forwarded to the Office of the Chief Justice for appropriate action.

4. Administrative matters or cases directly filed with the Office of the Chief Justice may be indorsed by the Chief Justice, for such purpose as he may determine, to (a) the Office of the Court Administrator if they involve judges and personnel of the Court of Tax Appeals and the Lower Courts; (b) the Clerk of Court of the Supreme Court if they involve officials and personnel of the Supreme Court and the Office of the Court Administrator; and (c) the Presiding Justices of the Court of Appeals and the Sandiganbayan, as the case may be, if they involve officials and personnel of their respective courts: Provided, however, that if such matters may be acted upon or resolved by the Chief Justice alone or Chairmen of the Divisions, the Chief Justice shall act on them alone, or submit them to the Chairmen of the Divisions for appropriate action as the case may be.

5. Any report or memoranda submitted by any official of the Judiciary required to make a study or evaluation or conduct an investigation or submit recommendation relative to the matters or cases assigned to the Division or the En Banc should be directly forwarded, to or filed with, the Clerk of Court of the Division concerned or to the Clerk of Court of the Court En Banc, as the case may be, for inclusion in the agenda of the Division or En Banc for its meeting immediately following receipt by the Clerk of Court concerned of the report or memoranda. These should not be filed with the Office of the Chief Justice.

6. Pleadings filed by the parties in any pending administrative case or matter shall be filed in like manner as pleadings in judicial cases or matters and forthwith transmitted to the Division concerned or the Court En Banc.

 

7. The papers on matters which the Chairmen of the Divisions or the Chief Justice alone, as the case may be, has acted upon or resolved shall be transmitted either to (a) the office or official concerned, copy furnished the Clerk of Court, or (b) the Clerk of Court, who shall forthwith transmit them to the concerned office or official, or implement them, if necessary and called for.

The provisions of previous Circulars, resolutions, or orders inconsistent herewith are deemed repealed or modified accordingly. ADcHES

This Revised Resolution shall take effect on the 1st day of May 2003.

Promulgated this 22nd day of April 2003.

(SGD.) HILARIO G. DAVIDE, JR.Chief Justice

(SGD) JOSE N. BELLOSILLOAssociate Justice

(SGD.) REYNATO S. PUNOAssociate Justice

(SGD.) JOSE C. VITUGAssociate Justice

(SGD.) ARTEMIO V. PANGANIBANAssociate Justice

On Official Leave

LEONARDO A. QUISUMBINGAssociate Justice

(SGD.) CONSUELO YNARES-SANTIAGOAssociate Justice

(SGD.) ANGELINA SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZAssociate Justice

SGD.) ANTONIO T. CARPIOAssociate Justice

(SGD.) MA. ALICIA AUSTRIA-MARTINEZAssociate Justice

(SGD.) RENATO C. CORONAAssociate Justice

(SGD.) CONCHITA CARPIO-MORALESAssociate Justice

(SGD.) ROMEO J. CALLEJO, SR.Associate Justice

(SGD.) ADOLFO S. AZCUNAAssociate Justice