Repeal of E.O. No. 37 dated March 10, 1945 and Recreation of Court of Appeals

October 4, 1946

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 52

AN ACT TO REPEAL EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBERED THIRTY-SEVEN, DATED THE TENTH OF MARCH, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE, AND TO REVIVE, WITH CERTAIN AMENDMENTS, SECTIONS ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE-A TO ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE-Q OF THE REVISED ADMINISTRATIVE CODE AS HEREIN AMENDED, SO AS TO RECREATE THE COURT OF APPEALS

SECTION 1. Executive Order Numbered Thirty-seven, promulgated by the President of the Philippines on the tenth day of March, nineteen hundred and forty-five, pursuant to Commonwealth Act Numbered Six hundred and seventy-one, and paragraph (1) of Executive Order Numbered Three hundred and ninety-five, promulgated by the President of the Philippines on the twenty-fourth day of December, nineteen hundred and forty-one, are hereby repealed.

SECTION 2. Sections one hundred and forty-five-A to one hundred and forty-five-Q of the Revised Administrative Code, as inserted therein by Commonwealth Act Numbered Three and as amended by Commonwealth Acts Numbered Two hundred and fifty-nine and Four hundred and twenty-five are hereby revived with the exception of sections one hundred and forty-five-A, one hundred and forty-five-I, one hundred and forty-five-J, one hundred and forty-five-K, and one hundred and forty-five-L, which are hereby amended so as to read as follows: cdt

"Sec. 145-A. The Court of Appeals. — The Court of Appeals of the Philippines shall consist of a Presiding Justice and fourteen Associate Justices who shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the Congress. The Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals shall be so designated in his commission, and the other Justices of the Court shall have precedence according to the dates of their respective commissions, or when the commissions of two or more of them shall bear the same date, according to the order in which their commissions have been issued by the President of the Philippines.

"The Court of Appeals shall, as a body, sit in banc, but it may sit in five divisions of three Justices each. The five divisions may sit at the same time.

"Sec. 145-I. Place of holding sessions. — The Court of Appeals shall have its permanent office in the City of Manila. Upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Justice, with the certification of the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals and when public interest demands, the President of the Philippines may authorized any division or divisions of the Court to hold sessions periodically at such time and place outside the City of Manila as the President may determine, for the purpose of hearing cases originating from a specified group of judicial districts.

"Sec. 145-J. Quorum of the Court. — Nine Justices of the Court of Appeals shall constitute a quorum for its sessions in banc; three Justices shall constitute a quorum for the sessions of a division. In the absence of a quorum, the Court or the division shall stand ipso facto adjourned until such time as the requisite number shall be present, and a memorandum showing this fact shall be inserted by the clerk in the minutes of the Court. The affirmative vote of eight Justices is necessary to pass a resolution of the Court in banc. The unanimous vote of the three Justices of a division shall be necessary for the pronouncement of a judgment. In the event that the three Justices do not reach a unanimous vote, the Presiding Justice shall designate two Justices from among the other members of the Court to sit temporarily with them, forming a division of five Justices, and the concurrence of a majority of such division shall be necessary for the pronouncement of a judgment.

"Every decision of the Court of Appeals shall contain complete findings of fact on all issues properly raised before it. acd

"All cases submitted to a division of the Court of Appeals for decision shall be decided or terminated therein within the term in which they were heard and submitted for decision: Provided, however, That when a case is complicated or otherwise attended with special circumstances which demand additional time for its study or consideration, the Court of Appeals, sitting in banc, may, upon petition of the division concerned, grant an additional period not exceeding three months for its disposition or termination.

"Sec. 145-K. Distribution of cases between divisions. — All the cases of the Court of Appeals shall be allotted between the different divisions thereof for trial and decision. Whenever in any criminal case submitted to a division the said division should be of the opinion that the penalty of death or life imprisonment should be imposed, the said Court shall refrain from entering judgment thereon and shall forthwith certify the case to the Supreme Court for final determination, as if the case had been brought before it on appeal.

"Sec. 145-L. Power of the Court to adopt rules. — The Court of Appeals, sitting in banc, shall make proper orders or rules to govern the allotment of case between the different divisions, the constitution of such divisions, the regular rotation of Justices between them, the filling of vacancies occurring therein, and other matters relating to the business of the Court; and these rules shall continue in force until repealed or altered by it or by the Supreme Court."

SECTION 3. Immediately after the approval of this Act, all cases which properly correspond to the Court of Appeals by virtue of the provisions of Commonwealth Act Numbered Three, as revived and amended, which may be pending in the Supreme Court and which have not yet been heard on argument and submitted for decision by this Court, shall be certified by the clerk of the Supreme Court to the clerk of the Court of Appeals, to be heard and decided by the latter in conformity with the provisions of this Act. Those cases pending before the Supreme Court in which reference has been made to referees or commissioners for the taking of evidence shall not be so certified until after such evidence shall have been received in the Supreme Court. cdt

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: October 4, 1946

Not published in the Official Gazette